Dodge Owners - Montana Owners Club

BigAl52 · 03-14-2006, 03:30 PM

Just wondered if any of you Dodge owners have had any electrical issues as far as the speedo goes with your trucks. Mine is currently in the shop and the speedo is floping and jumping around. The dealer who I have not very much faith in says its the instrument cluster but a friend of mine and his guys in the know say no. Instrument cluster is 1100.00 so I hope my friend is right. According to him the signal comes to the plug under the dash before it goes to gauges. When the scanner is plugged in under the dash it reads the jump in the signal from underneath. So it may be some bad wires or the computer on the firewall. All I know is I don't like things like this cause you always wonder if it will be fixed. 2003 Dodge 2500. Sure do like the truck but at this point I am wondering.

Al

Montana Sky · 03-14-2006, 04:22 PM

Hope you are able to get your speedometer fixed without costing you an arm and a leg.

Charlie · 03-15-2006, 03:44 AM

A friend of mine had a '74 Chevy truck that the speedometer gear in the tranny was broken. He did not want to pull the transmission to replace the gear so he mounted a GPS on the dash to monitor his speed. If this is the only problem with your instrument cluster you might give this some consideration......lots cheaper than $1100.

Kathi · 03-15-2006, 02:09 PM

The only problem we have ever had with our truck is the headlights stopped working. We never knew when they stopped because we never drove at night till we got up here to Montana. All of the sudden one night we were out late and on the way home couldn't see where we were going...So we took it to the dealer and presto chango it was fixed...Thats the only problem we have had. Thank goodness...

houseof many dogs · 03-15-2006, 03:10 PM

Is there a way to check for a recall on that problem?

Never had such a problem on my 2003/3500. I think speedometers are not a mechanical link like in the old days. That would lead me to believe in a grounding issue or a corroded plug - maybe near the firewall?

Sounds like your dealer may be a parts pusher vice a troubleshooter.

BigAl52 · 03-15-2006, 03:46 PM

I failed to mention in my first post that the problem hear also affects the shifting of the trasmission. At times when starting off from a stop the truck will not go over 20mph. The only way to fix the problem is turn the key off and start the truck again. This tends to make some people mad in traffic as everybody on the street is in a bigger hurry than you are. There are two sensors underneath for the speedo and the scanner at the dealer says it's the one in the tailshaft of the tranny but that was not the problem. So that is when they came up with the instrument cluster. Will see and when and if the problem gets fixed I will post the result. Thanks Al

Virgil · 03-17-2006, 08:32 AM

Have not had any electrical problems in the Dodge. This is my second Dodge. The first had a V-10 in it. I really was impressed with that motor but I was less impressed with the tranny. I am on the hunt for a new "quiet" Dodge. I haven't decided between SRW and DRW yet though. I am looking for 4.10 gearing and auto tranny. I will likely upsize my Monty as I get closer to retirement and I want to make sure I have enough TV to pull whatever I decide on. As someone stated earlier, I believe all the new speedometers are electro magnetic and the old cable systems are gone. That is why they show speed in reverse. It doesn't know which way the driveshaft is turning. Just that its turning.

H. John Kohl · 03-17-2006, 10:25 AM

I have the 03 six speed. I have not had any electrical problems. Good luck trouble shooting it and tow safe.

FredG · 03-17-2006, 11:11 AM

I had an 04 Ram 2500 that had a problem where the spedometer and tachometer dropped to zero randomly while driving. If I remember correctly, all they did was flash (reprogram) some module. After that, not only did the panel work properly, but the fuel efficiency went up due to improvements to the shift points.

I recommend that you do a google search for Dodge TSBs. Many of the sites I used to visit have taken down the TSBs at Dodge's request because "Customers approach dealers for fixes on vehicles when it doesn't apply to their vehicle".

houseof many dogs · 03-20-2006, 02:11 PM

Bigal52 - any updates?

BigAl52 · 03-20-2006, 04:18 PM

I have not confirmed for sure yet but we seem to be making progress. Turns out we may have 2 issues here. Replaced the speed sensor at the real wheel even though it checked okay and the speedo has not acted up so far. I am still skeptcial but will be closely watching. We also did get star involved with this issue. Star is Chryslers big boys that the dealers talk to when they have issues they cannot fix. Now if I can get the transmission to start out in low gear all the time it should be good to go. Tranny wants to start out in second and only shift to third. This is only periodically and can be reset by cycling the ignition off and back on again. All this electronic stuff can make one crazy. I will post more when more progress is made. Al

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