Anybody out there having the hesitation problem, can you let us know what day your truck was built? And what day it left the factory?Mine was built first week in Jan., but then it was on "quality" hold for more than three weeks. My truck left the factory 01/26 and is schedule for delivery on 02/25. Maybe the quality hold was addressing this issue?

Thanks
Odie

 

I wonder how many engines are affected. With mine having a ship date of 23 Feb., I wonder if it will be afflicted with the disease. I would think that if they had a fix available, and were building all current engines with the fix, those of you who have the issue wouldn't be having to wait until March. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

 

This has already been eluded to but does anyone know if gasoline in a diesel engine will cause these symptoms? Sure seems like a logical explanation. Is there some kind of litmus paper that can be slipped down the fill tube or drained on from the water drain port to test for gasoline?

 

Like I said my truck was made 1/7/2004. It was in the infamous quality hold. If it was on hold because of the miss fire then they held it but never fixed it! My guess is they are making good trucks now and will depend on the dealerships to fix the bad ones that the factory released to the public.

My truck was shipped begining of feb.

I just want to point out again that my truck is perfect except for the miss fire. Also it does have the engine oil smell in the cab when the HVAC blower is on and you are stopped. I looked under the truck and you could see a fog coming out of the engine. I think this is just the crankcase vent. My truck is a little high on oil. I believe by reducing the oil level the smell will go away. Also extending the vent hose to the rear of the truck would help too in my opinion. I have not tried either theory though.

Other than those two probs my truck is sweet. Very smooth even at high speeds. No vibs or shimmys. And no rattles when traversing bumps and ruts!

I am still undecided what I am going to do about the miss fire though. I have low tolerance for things that are not perfect when new. Especially the things that really count....i.e. the engine!

If you have a truck on order I wouldn't stress too much about this problem. Like I said before I drove a newer 600 and it ran like a bat out of h***!!!! You will either have the problem or won't. Once the truck is warmed up to 200 degrees and you drive it a few minutes around town you will know.

At least these things have a great warranty!!!!!

 

Thanks for keeping us informed. I'm definitely curious about what the outcome is going to be in terms of what DC, and your dealer are willing to do.

 

PapaPerk

How many miles do you have on your truck now? I just picked mine up on Wednesday Am and drove it from St Louis to Richmond VA. So I now have approximately 900 miles on my new truck. Mine wasn't doing the same thing as yours but it was having a slight problem. While on the interstate with the cruise on at approx 2200-2500 rpm it would start bucking or shuttering like it was having problems. If I gave it a little more throttle it would go away. It was intermittent throughout my trip 12.5 HRS all interstate. I never saw any somke with mine. Towards the end of my trip the problem pretty much resolved itself. I put some conditioner in the tank just to make sure that wasn't the problem and I havn't noticed any more problems. Mine was built the same time as yours 1/08, went to storage on 1/09 shipped on 1/26. I was wondering if some of these problems might have to do with fuel issues. If they closed the plant for the holidays and didn't build any diesel trucks. I don't know where they get their fuel from or what the quality is.

But I'm happy to finally have my new truck and everything else seems perfect.

 

I have 2000 miles on my 600 now, pulled the boat around town today for somthing to do. Problems I have so far.... Wiper delay is screwed up, missing under cab plugs just have tape, transmission is dripping very small amount of fluid around the bottom of the bellhousing, slight rear end wine, some kind of rattle that I can't figure out coming from underneath.
Took it in to the dealer all was opts check good except for the tranny leak, they put dye in it. Gonna go back next week somtime.
As for the engine mine was making a funky sound from 1000-1500 rpm when i floored it, but a different fuel station took care of that!
The dodge dealer I used seemed like they did not have a clue about things, might be hard to get things fixed up.

Time will tell!
bish

 

MedicShawn

My truck has about 150 miles on it. My truck also bucks when going down the interstate at about 74 mph. RPM is around 2100 (same as when it has problem accelerating). I think it is the same problem as the acceleration problem. You can't see smoke because you are going too fast. However if you do not have problems when accelerating then you may not have the problem. The problem is most noticeable during acceleration. Remember it is not full throttle acceleration......it is smooth driving acceleration.

Fuel may be a concern. However it seems to me if it was a fuel problem the engine would have difficulty at full throttle as well. My truck got 8 gals from the factory and then the remainder was put in by the dealer.

 

Yeah we definitely have different problems. I haven't had any problems resurface again, although I've only had my truck since Wednesday the 11th. Keep us posted on your progress. Hopefully it will turn out to be something simple like a loose connection. You have an automatic don't you? Maybe it could be a malfunction with the transmission? Good luck I hope your problem is resolved soon so you can enjoy your new truck.

 

No I have a 6 speed. I believe what the tech told me is correct. There is a software problem for the injectors. The problem occurs when the engine goes from low throttle to med throttle. Injectors must start miss firing. DC knows of the problem. It appears that there are more than a few trucks with this problem. The tech said that DC phone tech indicated that DC gets about 5 to 6 calls on this problem per day!

I am glad your truck does not have the problem.

I will keep you posted.

 

PapaPerk

Sounds like your truck is doing what mine was doing before they drained the tank. This was one of my original problems and they told me it was caused by gas in the tank. It still hesitates at times but not like it did. Although, I still have that dang clanging, banging in the engine. The service advisor told me DC said its the rocker arm hitting the valve cover, but the shop supervisor told me Cummins said its caused by the three injection events.
Both said that a new program flash will be out in March and that it will help with the noise but it won't cure it all together. Hope you have better luck than I have.

 

<<The service advisor told me DC said its the rocker arm hitting the valve cover, but the shop supervisor told me Cummins said its caused by the three injection events.
Both said that a new program flash will be out in March and that it will help with the noise but it won't cure it all together. >>

I think this begs the question, if there is no COMPLETE fix for the problem, why is it that some 4.5's have it and some don't? Am I being too simplistic here?

 

How do we know that the pinging sound is a problem? Perhaps some people just can't hear it or paying attention to it. I've never heard a new 600, but I think I'm going to go to the local dealer and see what it sounds like. Since the post injection event is new and has never been done before on any engine that I'm aware of, I would think a change in noises would be a certainty. I may be wrong, though. I guess we'll find out after the flash in March.

 

I was going to place my order on Monday morning. The plan was to use a dealer on the other side of the state due to really good prices compared to here at home. But all the issues I'm hearing with this new engine at the beginning of the introduction cycle have me a bit worried. After all the nightmares I've had with GMC and Chevrolet over the years, I just plain don't want to have to sort out a new vehicle with Dodge. And in my case buying from a dealer 6 hours away, and then trying to sort out these kinds of issues with a local dealer would be just horrific !!! After a career in manufacturing, I expect small issues at the beginnings of a new product introduction, but I also expect DC to prep the dealers and update them quickly with status on these events. Thats all part of protecting a very valuable reputation. And its that reputation that brings in these early customers.

It's also obvious that the change over, hasn't gone as well as projected. The availability of trucks, stalls on orders, quality holds etc. all point to a challenging release process. They'll get it handled, no doubt in my mind. But if they don't move quickly, and take care of the early customers properly, they could find a glut of inventory on the lots as folks go cold on this model.... for a while. I'm rethinking whether to wait another couple of months before placing my order. I want to see the folks posting problems on this board coming back with great writeups about dodge dealers treating these early customers like the valuable commodity that they are! Great Dodge supporters willing to plunk down their hard earned cash on a new product, based on DC's steller reputation. And if we don't see those posts, I'll hold my order even longer.

DODGE, take care of these folks, they're your're most imprortant customers of all !!

NW

 

I think overall these trucks are pretty good. Mine had a slight bucking/surging at 2200-2500 with the cruise set. I think mine was just poor gas. I have almost 1000 miles on it and thats the only problem so far in fact it's getting better every tank. It's at the point where it's almost gone now. I think the ones with problems are pretty few and far between. I'll keep Mine