Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-102
I have a 1998 Dodge 1500 SLT Larime extended cab with a 5.9L and automatic trans. It started using oil at about 16,000 miles. After four trips to the dealer they replaced the intake manifold gasket. That seemed to work. My power seat quit working after three years. I recently had the oil changed and the transmission drained and cleaned. At around 60,000 miles the rear end started making a whurring noise. I am now looking at around $2,000.00 to replace pinion gears and most of the rear end. I wonder what the recalls are for this truck.
I have a 1994 Ram 1500. Bought it used with 11,000 miles on it. The previous owner I knew personally and knew he was very meticulous about taking care of his vehicles. He just couldn't afford the payments anymore.
Anyway, at 30k, the transmission went out. I paid almost 3000 dollars to have it rebuilt. After almost a year of wrangling with Chrysler, they agreed to reimburse me two hundred and eighty five dollars. The rebuilt shop had written them a letter stating it was premature failure of the torque converter and pump.
I don't do a lot of traveling and right now have 73k on the truck. I have replaced the U-joints (285.00), the catalytic converter (400.00), had a transmission cooler installed when I was told I was once again getting high temp readings (350.00). New shocks (350.00). I again have a vibration in the transmission. Have been told it is probably the torque converter again (800.00). The paint is blistering severely on the roof and sides of truck. A new paint job is about 5000.00. I am currently fighting Chrysler to repaint it as I found out they had a hidden warranty on the paint for 10 years or 100000 miles.
Good luck and my sympathy to anyone who buys a Dodge!!
I have owned a 1998 Dodge Ram 4x4 for about 3 weeks and got to drive it for about a total of one week. It has spent the rest of the time in the transmission shop. We are now going on the 3rd trip. I called them today and they are now taking the transfer case apart. You put it in overdrive and it starts grinding shut it off and it drives fine. I'm a diesel mech. on 18 wheelers so I'm no dummy when it comes to mechanics. Tearing into the transfer case looking for a problem with the overdrive (give me a break). I'm glad I found this sight because it shed a little lite on the torque converter problem. I agree Dodge needs to do something because I have always thought they were top of the line vehicles now I wonder.
I recently purchased a used 98 Ram Quad Cab with 70,000 miles. It drove and operated great... for about a week. I,ve seen some of the problems others have listed and am experiencing some of the same transmission problems. Some times after having to stop abruptly the truck won't move right away when I give it gas. The engine revs then slams into gear. I've been a mechanic for over 15 years and have NEVER had a vehicle this bad. The truck looks great, but, mechanically speaking Tonka could have built a better truck. I can't believe how bad the gas mileage is. I've replace the cap and rotor, plug, wires and it still seems to have a severe ignition miss. My advise buy FORD or CHEVY, heck for that matter Toyota or Nissan would be a far better investment, unless you like spending money for no apparently good reason. Hey if you do I have a 98 dodge for sale CHEAP!!! Any one who has any suggestions to improve gas milage I'd like to hear some suggestions. My e-mail address is me2g@qwest.net Thank you
We own a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 extended cab 4x4. We also replaced the transmission, along with your other complaints I have read we are having a valve problem. Our garage told us that the truck was recalled for this problem, but sometime between the first owner trading it at 21,000 miles and us buying it we were missed on the recall. Dodge will not pay for the parts because of the mileage on the truck. We paid to have the problem supposedly taken care of now at 102k miles they tell us the engine is no good and we need another one. They want us to spend another 5300 dollars on rebuilding the engine of buying a factory engine. I don't think so. Believe me after the way you are treated when you take you vehicle to the Dodge dealer in our area. I WILL NEVER, EVER BUY ANOTHER DODGE... PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ON.
1998 1500 5.9L 4x4 short-bed quad cab
- Freeze Plugs, all leaking at 60K. Dealer admitted that they have replaced a lot on the 1998's
- Both mirrors cracked from faulty defrost switch
- AC Evaporator replaced
- Truck now has 85K and needs the entire steering assembly replaced
- Stereo going out
- What next?
October 2002 bought a used 99 Dodge Ram 1500 with 48,000 miles, thought it was a good purchase. Plus I purchased an extended warranty. Repairs since then - catalytic converter, intake manifold gasket, thermostat housing, ignition coils, all spark plugs and wires. All of these took place at the end of February and beginning of March. The mileage on the truck at that time - 60,000 miles give or take a few. Now in April the recommendation of rebuilding the engine or replacing. The warranty company declining the claim, they feel that there is coolant in the oil causing the rod bearings to fail. The selling dealership telling me that they can do the repairs at a reduced rate $3,000 instead of $5,000, thanks for the deal. So to summarize it all up I still have a loan payment on the 4th of each month with four and a half years left on my loan. Does anyone have any suggestions???
1998 Dodge Ram 4x4 Quad Cab (360 CI) Automatic
I bought this vehicle brand new (ordered it - took 7 weeks to come in). It was a pretty good truck for about the first 2 years. Then the little things started going wrong. I ran out of gas because the fuel gauge sending unit on the gas tank failed & was showing just over 1/8 of a tank left. WRONG!! The factory warranty covered this, but that warranty has since expired & the fuel gauge is broken again. I have run out of gas because of this 3 times now. Thank GOD for trip odometers, so I can tell when I need to tank up. Speaking of tanking up, I do A lot of that with this truck. The mileage with this truck STINKS!!! The steering is really loose. The insulation under the hood is falling off because of cheaply made fasteners, and you can forget about that "light" under the hood that's supposed to come on every time you open the hood. It burns out often. Maybe it's because I've had to open the hood so many times. Then there are the brakes. I had to change my front brake pads at 20,000 miles, then again at 41,000 miles. The 2nd time, however, I installed ceramic brake pads. This seemed to help with less brake dust on the rims and more than 20,000 miles of life in the pads. But the cost was around $100 just for the pads, not counting labor. Then at 50,005 miles, the transmission failed. It was due to the torque converter literally coming apart... something about tiny little black plastic shavings coming from inside the torque converter and eventually stopping up the cooler on the radiator. I had to replace the entire radiator & put a new torque converter, not to mention other work to the transmission due to the overheating problems caused by this. That bill alone was $1,020.00. And guess what? The truck now has 75,000+ miles, and the torque converter is failing again... something about not locking up. The Dodge dealership charged me $55 just to run a "scan test" to find this out, but when I brought the truck to the Transmission shop that did the last repairs on it, they performed this same test for FREE! What gives with these Dodge dealerships??? Now I'm looking at having to install an external transmission cooler (recommended by the transmission repair shop), just to possibly "prolong" the life of a transmission that should already have PLENTY of life in it! I've also recently had to change the rear speed sensor located on the rear axle, because my Anti-Lock Brake light & the regular Brake Light on my dash wouldn't go off. Actually, I had to change 3 different speed sensors all together in the last 3 weeks. I had 2 of the sensors changed at the dealership, & along with that "scan test" that performed, the total bill was $256. I brought this receipt to my local repair shop, & he they told me that THEIR bill for the same type of services would only have been around $120. To sum things up, I'm very dissatisfied with the overall reliability of this truck & the extremely HIGH cost to have any type of repair work done at the dealership. I can assure you I will NEVER own another Dodge truck or any Chrysler vehicle again!!!
I have a 1998 1500 4x4 and had the trans rebuilt at 60,000. and continued having problems with the shifting. I was told it was due to the overdrive and there was nothing wrong. It overheats regularly, but now I have discovered another very serious problem.
CAUTION: If your electric seat has quit or giving problems be careful! I just took the panel off the side of my seat and found that the wire harness rests on a sharp area of metal and the pressure of sitting on the seat has caused the metal to cut into the wires. As soon as I took off the panel the wires began arcing. It's a wonder it hasn't caught on fire. I'm sure they won't fix that for free. My local Dodge folks don't seem to want to help anyone.
Does anyone want to buy a 1998 Dodge Ram that has
a new steering column, transmission going out, and
all around rough riding truck??? Never mind I
wouldn't do that to my worst enemies.
DODGE??? NEVER AGAIN!!!
I just purchased a used 1998 quad cab 4X4 Sport without investigating. I have serious gas issues also. Around the city, driving easy, I get around 8 mpg. On the highway at 75-79 mph, I get an average 12 mpg. This is beyond "SUCKS"!
I bought this truck from Findlay Toyota in the Henderson Auto Mall while looking for a vehicle with better gas mileage than what I had. The sales man, who is one of their managers "knowing my request", told me it would get 16 and 18 mpg. What a lie and to what extent will a car salesman go to screw a customer to place money in their pockets.
Anyway, I was just wondering if you have found any information on this problem? If so, I would really appreciate your insight, and if not, anything I may hear, I will forward to you.
Besides this vehicle having over 100,000 miles of highway miles, (traveling between Nevada and Utah), and the steering a little wondering, the driver's power seat cushion suspension failure, I have had no other problem.
Play Safe & Have Fun, johnstratton@juno.com.
You know fellas! Its the world we live in now. Everything is made as cheap as possible. The bottom line to businesses is the only thing that matters, Not customer service, nor quality products. It just has to look good in the box. They can lie on there adds etc. One fella said it good. They are only interested in prophit and getting there parts from the cheapest suppliers possible. Caring about the product days are over. What is the world coming too? "The almighty Dollar profit" What a shame!!
I own a 97 Dodge extended cab 4WD. In the month of June, 2003, the automatic transmission went out at approximately 75,800 mile. This was after having it serviced at 30,000 miles and 60,000 miles. The tranmission had to be completely rebuilt at a cost of approximately $2900.00. I then started hearing other horror stories about dodge truck transmissions. Even the physical therapist treating me for a pinched nerve in my leg was aware of the problem. So much for "Ram Tough".
Bought 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab in May 31, 2003. Took it in to get it tuned up 3 weeks later, and the computer came back with a torque converter problem. No problems as of yet and had 900 miles of their 1000 mile warranty from the dealer already driven, so I didn't take it back to the dealer (couldn't afford to not have a vehicle at that time). About 2 weeks after that, transmission kicks out of overdrive a couple of times. Took it and had the bands tightened and the fluid changed. Then haul my 5X8 DJ trailer 45 miles with overdrive off, and ruin the tranny. I'm a student and can't afford the repairs. I love the way it looks and rides, but wish I'd have never seen it. My dad helped pick it out with me and he's just plain sick about it!
I just bought a used 2000 Dodge Ram 1500. After reading these comments, I am scared to death of taking it to the shop. It makes strange noises when I turn the wheel. I don't know what a torque converter does. My truck has about 45k miles. It is a 4x4. If anyone can give me an idea of what is wrong, I would appreciate it.
Melissah@peerlesscompanies.com.