Follow up on reinbursments from Dodge

[randye]

To anyone who owns a 2007 or later Dodge one ton tow vehicle.To refresh what I had done.When my Dodge 3500 had to go to the shop w/a plugged Particulate filter,We were stranded in Cedar City Utah. I had to rent a car,to get the DW back to work Sunday Eve. Two nights hotel room and rental car. I wrote a letter to Dodge Manufacturers and let them know that if thier engineers had done their jobs,we wouldn't have to spend needless days in strange towns. If the computer in the trucks would operate properly,customers wouldn't have to write these letters. Any way 10/22/08 I recived a call from them and after about 30 mins I was able to get it thought to the agent,he was not american. That I wanted to know the status of my claim. He talked to his supervisor and they agreed to sent me a check for the room and car rental. So if any of you fall prey to a problem with your Dodge, keep all receits they want the originals, keep a copy for your records. I felt at least a small victory for the small guy. Thanks for your time. randye.

[bsmeaton]

They'll send you a check to the Ritz Carlton if you ask - they are passing all their debt to GM by the end of the month anyway!

Couldn't resist - glad you got resolve.

[Amps]

As if GM has the money to pay.

[sreigle]

Last I read, GM has not been able to come up with the cash. I guess Cerebrus would get GMAC and GM would get Chrysler. I'm not sure where the cash comes in. If they come up with the money I hear it's nearly a done deal.

Randye, thanks for the tip. I'm sorry to hear you had a problem with the DPF. We have over 41,000 miles on ours now and no DPF problem so far.

[randye]

While we were in albuquerque, I when to the Dodge dealer. I found someone who knows alot about the DPF. He said if I had the dealer fix the Loading up of the Particulate Filter then the flash for the computer should take care of furture problems. If not cut down on the idle time, don't let the engine idle after you stop for any lenth of time. If you take short trips less than say half an hour turn on the exhaust brake and the turbo will have to run faster to keep it cool and that will burn off the shoot that the engine produces. If the regeneration signal comes on and you can't run 55 mph for the 45 mins shift the Trans down to 5th or even 4th, that will bring up the rpms and you won't have to run the engine as fast. If the Filter says its full just stomp on it, drive it like you stoled it you can't hurt the cummings engine and it still should clean it self out. Hope this helps anyone that may have a problem with the DPF. Thanks Randye

[sreigle]

When the DPF gets full to some percentage it is supposed to show on the computer monitor what that percentage is. And the chimes will sound. Ours actually did this shortly after a recall where they replaced an emissions sensor with a new style. We got a few miles and it chimed that it was something like 90% full. We turned around and headed back to the dealer. By the time we got there it was saying 75% (might have been 80%, I can't remember). The dealer was supposed to flash the computer to handle the new emissions sensor but forgot to do that. He flashed it and that fixed it. He also told me he screwed up (I was impressed he admitted it). It was the dealer's fault, not the truck's.

Also, you might check to see if your dealer did the following. If not, ask him to do so. When we purchased this truck new, our selling dealer's service people "turned on" the fast idle feature. If we're going to idle for more than a couple of minutes I just hit the cruise on button so the cruise light is lit, then press resume followed by set. That takes the idle up to 1100 rpm and they said we can idle at that speed as long as we want. Sometimes I have to press resume and set twice to get it to work but usually it works first time. The cruise light has to be lit in any case. Apparently something has to be set in the computer to enable this feature.

Also, you can check for any computer fault codes without buying an obdii reader. With engine off, turn the key to the ON position, first detent from off. Then turn it to the second detent (run position, not start), back to the first, back to the second. Do this three times, stopping in the Run position. Any trouble codes will flash on the odometer, one at a time. When done, it says "done". If there are no codes, it will just show a series of dashes. You can cross reference those codes to see what the problem is. I found some lists online and downloaded them. I haven't found one specific to my Dodge but it has all the common ones listed.