Sorry for dumping this on you guys for my first post but I'm up against it right now.

I bought new a 03 2500 HD 305hp diesel, 4x4, auto, Larimie, quad cab, long box July 03, this is a Mexican built truck. I live in Ontario Canada so the truck is in Km not miles.

Ok my question / problem is:
Aside from my truck has a number of intermitting electric problems the truck is adding km to the odometer - I have like doubled what should be there. I have experienced km's being added twice, I know for FACT that it is happening. First was a 90 km round trip run that put on over 2,200 km and the second was a 10 km round trip run that put on 275 km's. The dealer has tested and says the engines mileage matches my odometer reading - case closed!
The dealer will not contact the technical dept at Chrysler because the dealer does not believe me. The customer service dept at Chrysler is a total waist of my time because they just refer me back to the dealer. What the heck do I do? How do I get my hands on the schematic diagram not for the truck but for the electronics?

Here is a list of intermitting problems the truck has:
- Kilometers being added to the odometer reading. This is happening either when I shut the vehicle off, while it is off or when I turn the vehicle on. I feel very confident that it is not happening when I am driving. I have test rode my Dodge against my wife's Honda several times, the km's have been the same.
- ABS and brake idiot lights on the dash were coming on - eventually they stayed on and dealer changed the ABS sensor unit and some sort of wiring harness because the contacts were rotted out of it.
- Driver side window electrical switch sometimes doesn't work.
- Driver side heated mirror sometimes doesn't heat.
- Automatic dimming mirror (inside the cab) sometimes doesn't dim.
- When I first start the truck up the running headlights will dim and go brighter on their own.
- The ventilation fan inside the truck will sometimes provide equal volume of air to the driver side as the passenger side with the A/C on but never with heat on. With the fan speed set to high, the driver side is getting full effect whereas the passenger side is getting like the lowest speed worth of output.
- I have experienced the inside doom light not coming on sometimes as well. I played with the light switch on the dash (back and forth numerous times) and the problem seems to have righted itself.
- The truck is now shifting into 3rd gear at 72 km's with a regular foot. With a slightly stronger than regular foot it will shift into 3rd at 80-82 km's then into overdrive. I have to milk the crap out of it to get the tranny to shift into 3rd at 60-62 km's.
- Fuel mileage can range from 550 km's to just over a 1000 km's.

 

Welcome Aboard. Sorry to hear of your woes. First thing I'd do is find another dealer, pronto.

Sounds like your truck has some electronic gremlins. Did you say you bought it in July '03? If so, its now about 14 months old; is this the first time its been acting up?

Has the truck ever been flooded out? Water intrusion into the wiring harness can create all kinds of havoc. I don't know how it can add km's when its shut down.

 

If your truck did come from Mexico, there is a RECALL for some that were shipped via ship that got all wet, inside and out. You may want to check into this and see if yours is one of these. It sounds like your truck has been in a flood and they just let it dry out then shipped it Canada and sold it to you

Check under the carpet and see if the padding is bad and look under the dash iand see if can find any signs of of rust or sea water damage

 

Soooo! that's how some of them are getting such good mileage. Also another way to wind the warranty down fast.

Hope they can correct your problems. Did not mean to be funny about your situation with the above statements.

 

bulabula,

I have stopped into dealership number two and three, well they tells me, if they check the vehicle over and don't find anything wrong with it they will have to charge me for the shop time. Well paying for the shop time is one thing (NOT) but that doesn't fix my problems.

I'm no dummy when it comes to vehicles either (I apprenticed in mechanics, was o/o of a shop that built drag engines and drag chassis and was an o/o of a body shop) so I am in complete understanding of the challenges in sourcing out intermitting problems. Because the problems seldom raise their ugly head and are not leaving error codes on the computer I will probably be facing service charges - we all know what happens when you don't pay the shop bill......I won't be getting the truck back without a fight - then the relationship between that dealership and me will be a wash too.

No this is not the first time these things have been acting up, they've been coming and going since I first got the truck. I figure I should have approx. 8-10k km's on her, not the 22k that is showing on the odometer - I seldom drive the truck; it is my tow vehicle. Over the year the truck has been into the selling dealership for these problems, but the problems were never fixed and now my relationship with the dealer is over (period) as of late last week - things have now come to a head and I am after solutions.

Hmmmmmm flood you say..........very interesting. The dealer did say that the contacts from the ABS sensor to the wiring harness (under the hood) were corroded away. Also I've noticed the bolts that bolt down the front seats are rusting..........Hmmmmmmm........I'm going to have to look things over very closely. Hmmmmm.........my truck did take three extra weeks to get from Mexico to Canada. Thanks for the heads up.

SuperGewl,

I will pull the carpet this weekend and check a number of other things as well - thanks.

AaronT,

Oh yah the mileage is all over the chart, but then again what am I basing it on....a screwed up odometer reading?

 

Your lights dimming at startup may be due to the current drain of the intake heater grid. It is very common for this to happen as it pulls a lot of current. As for the adding of km on the odo, you need to start keeping a log of your driving / fuel consumption as proof. This will help back up your claims.

 

my odo has been pretty much spot on ['cept for the ±10% tire correction]

if the abs module is acting funny, isn't that picking up the speed in the rear just like the speeco pickup sensor in the diff? if it is reading funny, it can make it think it is going way fast and the km's will add up on the odo.

my odo shows like 13,6xx km when it should be over 15k now i think... oh well... this way is good, the other way is not

 

So, you want me to stop borrowing your truck at night without you knowing about it? How selfish can you be!

 

Had a similar problem in our '01 with the odometer. I assume the Gen III's are the same. You'll find that the odometer display is also the odometer computer. Once in awhile they fail. Solution is a new display panel. It's really no big deal once the problem is understood.

Light dimming... Normal for the truck when temps are low enough to trigger the heater grid.

Other probems... I hope you never tried to MIG or TIG anything on your truck. That's a surefire way to kiss electronics goodbye.

 

Oh well...my welding must have been "lucky". If you get a real good ground right next to where you are MIG'ing or TIG'ing, there should not be a problem. I never disconnect the battery or anything else...