I have a 98 Dodge Dakota with 5.2 V8. On the way home today all my gauges and warning lights started going on and off and then gauges stopped working all together and all the warning lights stayed on. The engine was running fine and after pulling over and checking things out, I made the last mile or so home OK. Checked fuses and battery connection and everything looked Ok. Relay or Computer?
View 4 RepliesWhile driving home after replacing a dead battery, clearly I didn't tighten the negative cable enough as it popped off while I was driving (I only found this out after I got home though). But even after popping off, the truck kept going, albeit with the battery gauge maxed out and the dashboard/headlights flickering. I turned off what I could (it was night, so I needed headlights!), but it still accelerated well, and there were no noticeable performance issues at all. When I got home, I tightened the cable, started it up again just fine, ran it for a minute, then turned it off and restarted it fine again with no problems.
My concern is: am I looking at serious electrical issues long term, or should I be ok? I'm just trying to make sure that driving without a negative cable for less than a mile doesn't fry certain parts of the car, and end up causing big issues down the road. (Truck is a 2000 dodge dakota slt)
I was asked to look at this Dakota because the Brake warning light and the ABS lights come on.
I get no stored codes with my code reader, and upon test driving it I found that the lights both go off when you shut off the truck, but each time you start up and drive off....those two lights will come on the first time you hit about 30mph and then stay on until you shut off the truck again. Restart and the lights are off until you drive off and hit about 30mph again.
Backing out of the shop, stopping, turning around, down the driveway 50yds and stopping at the road....the lights stay off, even though I just used the brakes three times at least. Get on the road and hit 30mph and they go on.
The two fuses, one in the fuse block by the drivers door and the other (ABS) fuse in the Power distribution box test good.Both brake lights work at the rear as does the high mount brake light. Fluid is at the full mark.
I pulled all four wheels and drums on the back and inspected everything and everything looks good and the E brake cables are intact and working as they should. Brakes were replaced (not by me) and have a little wear, but plenty of material left. No leaks of any lines, calipers, or cylinders. Front rotors are not scored from a sticky caliper, they do have a little minor rusting but because it has been idle for a few months.
I have the same year and drive train in my Dakota. Their truck has about the same stopping power as mine, but I did notice that I did not feel the surging in the ABS as I feel in my truck. I tested this by traveling at about 40mph with the passenger wheels in the gravel and drivers wheels on the pavement and applied the brakes hard. In my truck I felt the surging, but not in theirs. Note that my truck has a tall cap and always carries an extra 800 pounds of gear in the back.Maybe the heavier weight makes my ABS kick in quicker, but I would think weight wouldn't matter.....one wheel is slipping...period.
I have a 1998 Dodge Dakota in very good shape. I bought it from my brother who has owned it since 2000. I drove the truck from Reno, NV to southeast Alaska where I live, and all along the pacific coast. It rained a LOT and I noticed pooling of water on the floor at my feet, soaking the carpet completely and pooling up. I thought I was tracking water in the truck from my boots. BUt I have had it here in Alaska for 7 months now, and it is still HORRIBLE! It rains here all the time and I can't get rid of the puddles. There are no plugs in the floor for drainage and I can't figure out where it is coming in. The windshield looks good, and the door seals look good also. I cannot figure out where the water is getting in so I can stop it. THe truck is going to rot and rust if I can't fix it! And here's the thing, the water is pooling on BOTH sides of the floor-passenger and driver. I am baffled. No one ever sits on the passenger side so its not coming from boots! there is no way for water to flow from one side of the floor to the other.
View 2 Replies2001 Dakota: With the Ignition "ON" (engine running or not)any lights that are ON blink off and on. if the Ignition switch is in the "OFF" or "accessories" positions they work normally. It can be just the dome lights, the Park lights or all of the lights. It some times takes 10 to 15 minutes for this to begin, but once it starts, it is continuous. I have checked the switches, the relays, and every connection I can find. I unplugged the connector from the dash to the chassis and it stopped. I ASSume that means it is probably not the "Central Timing Module," otherwise the problem would continue. I don't know what could be in that circuit that would overload the system only with the Ignition ON.
View 3 RepliesI have a 2000 Dakota 5.9 truck that has all of a sudden started to idle rough, loses power over 3000rpm or any kind of reasonable acceleration , with a big sucking sound from the throttle body ( no leaks), seems like it is not getting fuel. Someone mentioned it maybe the "MAP" sensor.
View 2 Replieswe had a shop replace a thermostat in oct 10, last week our truck started running hot so we put in about 3 qt of 50/50 coolant. it returned to normal temp the next day we noticed some foam coming out of the overflow. when we opened the hood it looked like a brownish/red color and is a thick foam. When taking it back to the garage they cannot tell what it is. They have tried to flush it out and say they put in 3qt of fluid and only get out 1qt. It can be chunky at times. What it could be?
View 1 RepliesSo my 96 Dodge Dakota's instrument lights went out a couple days ago, I thought it was just a fuse, so naturally I check all the fuses. Come to find out they're all fine, I replaced a few to see if maybe it was just an old fuse. Still nothing. Then last night I noticed that the instrument lights came on between off and on for the lights. So I assume its a wiring problem. Then as I drove down the road I hit a bump and all the lights went off then kicked back on. Needless to say I can't drive around with lights that won't stay on. Where should I check for the cause of this problem?
View 2 RepliesMy father-in-law sold me his Dodge Dakota, that he bought brand new in 2005. He says he never had any problems, but shortly after acquiring the truck, ALL of the dash lights began flashing... oil, CEL, ABS, brake, seatbelt.... all of them. And, when backing up, the reverse lights flash on and off. And ONE time, my headlights flashed. It doesn't seem to affect the way it drives, but some other strange things are happening as well. After this flashing continued for several days, the truck would shut off a few seconds after starting. This happened several times in a row, then it wouldn't even turn over. Nothing at all happened when I turned the key.
At this point, I had it towed to a dealer service center, where they got it started, and informed me that I had some loose ground wires, and needed a new battery. They thought they thought they had fixed it, but the very next day, the flashing started again. I returned the truck to the service center, where they got it to stop flashing, but didn't know why it was doing it.... So, now it has been going on for a long time.... the truck runs fine for a week or so, flashing dash lights and all, then I have the starting issue. But, if I let it sit for a day or two, all of a sudden it starts, and the cycle continues. Flashing lights, dies after starting, won't turn over, sits for a couple days, starts right up.
I have 2006 Pt. Cruiser Touring with 150,000 miles on it. It has been well cared for with oil changes, tire rotations, tune ups, and preventative maintenance done regularly.
My problem is this. Sometimes when I drive the vehicle, all the warning lights on the dash board will light up, and all the gauges go dead. But the car keeps running and does not decelerate or lose power. The lights shut off within 3-6 seconds, with the seat belt lights being the last to go out. I have paid over $600 dollars for 6 hook ups to the computer at the dealer with no codes showing.
I have just replaced the belts, cam & crank sensors, spark plugs, spark plug wires, battery, alternator, hoses, water pump, timing belt, and it still does this. This morning when driving to an appointment, it did this again 3 times within 5 minutes. I had activated the cruise control when it did this. When I turned the cruise control off, it did not do it again. But in the past, this has happened when I was not using the cruise control. And it happens at all speeds, 60, 20, 35, or 40 MPH. What is wrong with my car.
The battery light came on in my '04 F150 a couple of days ago. Terminals were in need of cleaning, so I took care of that. The next day after driving 50 miles to and from work, the battery light came on again, along with the ABS & Brake light started flashing. After shutting the truck off, it would not start.
Three days later, I have now installed a brand new alternator and battery, only to have the same symptoms pop up about one minute after start up. The warning lights are now accompanied by the passenger airbag light and all engine instruments needle sweep back and forth. Dash lights go dim and bright intermittently as RPM varies.
Do I need old fault codes cleared or is this a PCM issue?
Just got a new-to-me 2006 F350 Super Duty XL with the 5.4L V8 and 5-speed auto. I haven't had a full-size truck in a few years and forgot what I was missing!
When I bought the truck, all gauges were inoperative except for the fuel and oil pressure gauges. The previous owner told me they would work intermittently and at some point just stopped. The usual warning lights - ABS, CEL, and "the wrench" - were all lit, and from Googling and searching this forum, it looked like an easy fix - probably a pinched or frayed shifter wire, or possibly a cluster repair.
I took it home and did a self test on the gauges. The "sweep gauges" made everything swing fine, so I was thinking it might not be a problem in the cluster. I pulled the steering column apart, removed the Tow/Haul overdrive wire from the plastic retainer, re-ran it with some slack, taped the end where it comes out of the shifter (even though I saw no breaks/frays) cleaned the connections, gave it a dollop of dielectric grease in the connector, and put it all back together. VOILA - GAUGES and no warning lights! You can imagine the touchdown dance in the driveway.
Fast forward a few weeks and....back to no gauges and warning lights lit. Figuring the overdrive wire had finally given up, I ordered and installed a replacement shifter figuring it was an easy and cheap fix. No joy - same problem. Tried cleaning and reseating the connection. Nothing. I've searched FTE like mad and it seems like 95% of the problems are with the wire exiting the shifter fraying and/or blowing a fuse, but this is a new shifter. I've also checked fuses #2, #24, #33, #36, #41, and #45 (some referenced #19 but I don't have a fuse there). All were unbroken - just put them back in and reseated firmly. I did a code pull via OBD2 and have a "rear catalytic efficiency degraded" code...not sure if that's related, but figured I just had an exhaust issue.
I may take the dash cover off and try to clean and reset the connections on the gauge cluster, as well as do the same for the PCM. Is it possible that the tow/haul overdrive wire to the PCM (where the shifter connects to) is bad? How to test and/or replace if it comes up bad?
2000 Dakota, 4.7 V8 ... The 'CHECK GAUGES' light comes on intermittently. As soon as it comes on, the voltmeter gauge drops to zero (it is a brand new battery); the temperature gauge does flip flops; the truck dies right now. Walk home and come back later, and it starts up again. When you get home, you sure don't feel secure in taking it on the road again. The shop checked it and of course there was nothing wrong when they had it Where do I start the troubleshoot? Is it computer or?
View 1 Repliesmy speedo only works at 65 mph the same gos for the curse control once you drop below that they go dead also when this started the ABS ,check eng,and brakes lights came on changed the speed control unt did not work ?????
View 2 RepliesI have a 2003 Toyota Prius with ~250,000 miles. Yesterday I was driving and the vehicle started to "stutter" and the warning lights came on. My ScanGauge indicated code P3125. I drove normally for 2-3 miles and parked for a bit. When I returned, I was able to start up and drive home with no problems (about 20 miles of highway and stop & go traffic), and drove most of this morning, but around noon it happened again and this time the vehicle would hardly move at all. It had no reverse and I had to push it out of the parking spot. I managed to limp home and park it.
View 11 RepliesTwo weeks ago I bought a new 2012 Outback. While driving in the manual auto mode, the cruise started flashing, the check engine came on, the traction control light came on and the brake light was on. The dealer said it was because I did not tighten the gas cap, letting air in. They reset it but a few days later it came back on again and this time they said it was miss fire code. Since they couldn't figure out the issue, they did the right thing and traded it in for another, identical 2012 Outback. Now, 8 days later, all the same lights have come on.
View 7 Replies97 Dodge Dakota Sport V8. Has spark, turns over, won't fire.
View 1 RepliesMy dad has a 2001 Dodge Dakota extended cab with a 3.9L v6 (standard transmission). It will start and run for a while and it will die, if you turn the key it will start up again but will eventually die. He has changed the spark plugs & wires, the distributor cap & rotor, the MAP sensor, and the throttle valve sensor. It still does the same thing.
View 1 RepliesSo, my oil light comes on after startup like usual then shuts off. Anywhere from 2-5 minutes of the vehicle running light comes back on and does not shut off unless I restart the vehicle. Have changed oil pressure switch and oil pressure is reading in the normal range..
05 dakota with 175000 kilometres
Battery died and car (LS 460) was jumped started. Every warning light is on how do I turn them off. Car was running perfectly until battery was drained.
View 3 Replies1999 Dodge Dakota
3.6 liter w/air conditioning
I'm pretty sure I made a mess of things. My Serpentine belt was all cracked and making noises while idling and driving. It was time to replace it. It's a long story, but my auto mechanic told me to drive my truck for a week and then give him a call. Well.... I didn't do that. My battery went dead and I charged it up and it lasted a month. Yesterday, it wouldn't start so I bought a Serpentine belt and installed it. As far as I know, I didn't damage anything while I was working on it.
The battery was still dead and I charged it, however, the key was turned on while I was charging it. I don't know how I did that, but I did.
The problem I'm having is that the engine is now idling at 2000 RPM. I scanned it and there are no codes or pending codes.
Today, I went out and drew a diagram of how the belt is routed and it's the same as the diagram under the hood. I had a friend take a look at it and he agrees that I put it on correctly.