I have a 2002 2500 4X4 6sp CTD. I was driving around a corner and went to downshift into 3rd gear and when I put it in gear, nothing, I went to 4th, nothing. I had no warning, no noise, no grinding, no hard shifting, the thing just went out. If you are sitting at idle and stick it in 3rd or 4th and let out the clutch nothing happens no noise, no power thru the tranny. I bought the truck in April of 2002 with a promotional 100000 mile powertrain warrenty. The truck has 39250 miles on it, I use my truck everyday but never abuse it. I limped it to the dealer shifting from 2nd to 5th and they act like the powertrain warrenty is not going to cover it and I'm thinking it's going to be very expensive to fix. Any thoughts or suggestions on what it might be? Of course the dealer is still trying to find the problem and they've had the truck since Monday.

Thanks in advance

 

On what basis are they claiming that the powertrain warranty will not cover it? I would read your powertrain warranty carefully before they try to b.s. you any more. If the powertrain warranty won't cover something like this, what is it supposed to cover? I would think the only way that they could deny your claim is if they could prove that you altered the transmission in some way and that caused it's failure or if you really abused it. Read that warranty information carefully and don't let them mess with you. Some dealers (not all) will do anything they can to screw you if you don't know your rights.

 

Remember alot of the time its not what you know, its who you know. It is good to have a friend who is the service manager

 

Go to www.dodgeram.org and follow the links to the TSB's. You will find one on failures attributable to 3rd gear on the NV5600. This is an all too common problem, and you are not alone! Press the issue with Dodge.com on their complaint forum if necessary.

 

Only way that the dealer is going to find the problem is a tear down of the tranny. Can't really do that if it is still in the truck. Diag is going to be on a bench.

 

Called 4 times today and finally talked with someone who said they were waiting on parts to put it back together. The service person I finally spoke with told me he thought a shift fork broke. When I questioned hime on the warranty issue he assured me it was covered. I hope so. Why can't you ever get a straightforward reassuring answer from these people? No one knows anything and no one can ever give the same answer twice. They must train these people to evade answering questions the same way politicians are trained. Thanks for your input and I'll post the final result tomorrow . . . hopefully.

 

ARRRGHH!

This always gets me,, DENY DENY DENY,, Why can't they bring it in under coverage, instead they make you feel like your #1 goal in life was to break this truck, and have them fix it.

Why can't these guys be like, Yah, It's under Warrenty, Bring it in!
Instead of, yup, your the idiot, you broke your truck, now you have to pay, ,maybe you shouldn't have broke it.

I hate dealers trying to bend people over... That's where they get their bad reputations.

Off Soap Box.....

Merrick

BTW,, Glad you got it fixed. there are three main shafts in the 6-speed. One shaft for 1-2 another for 3-4 and another for 5-6 (I'm not sure where R goes...)

 

Well I am still waiting. The parts came in and it should all be put back together today, but they want to make sure and take it for a test drive to make sure everything is working properly and it should be ready to pick up tomorrow. What??? Does this mean some service guy is going to hot rod my truck all night to "make sure it's okay?" I love my truck but sometimes I wonder if it is really worth it. I have been driving our backup Dodge war wagon (1980 gas 360 4X4 dually), it ain't pretty, it ain't fast, but people get out of your way when they see it coming. And at least I can work on it. Oh well.

 

desertram- The truck IS worth it! I feel your pain dealing with a bad dealer. I am sure they will fix it, but I would let the service manager know the impression you got from his employees concerning the warantee. MCummings is right! It is BS that they go out of their way to make YOU look bad and try to get out of honoring the warantee! But, like it was said above, not ALL dealers are bad. My local dealer stinks, but a dealer in my wife's hometown is great and ALWAYS takes good care of me! Good Luck!-Steve

 

Well I finally picked up my truck on Friday 1/23 after 11 days of "it should be ready tomorrow." The dealer replaced the 3rd and 4th gear shift fork and rail assembly. The 3rd and 4th rail pin was broken. The tranny is tight now going into 3rd and 4th, with downshifting into 3rd the tightest. It was covered under warranty with a $100 deductible. All I can say is I hope it lasts, or if it does go out again it is within the next 60000 miles. I didn't get to talk to anyone who worked on it. Does anyone know what would cause that pin to break? Is there something I am doing that may have caused the problem? I always shift with the clutch, never grind the gears, I do downshift a lot when towing or hauling, and in the mountains. Any thoughts from you tranny guys.

Thanks

 

A $100 deductible? Mine's only $50.

 

"I limped it to the dealer shifting from 2nd to 5th and they act like the powertrain warrenty is not going to cover it and I'm thinking it's going to be very expensive to fix. Of course the dealer is still trying to find the problem and they've had the truck since Monday." Tow ins usually get thrown in the pile of "to do's" after the people with appointments are taken care of. Depending on the appointment load this can take some time. Most likely you were talking with a service writer who gets his info second hand from the tech working on the vehicle. Depending on the writers personal automotive experience, and the information the tech has provided them this story can vary. Being you sound like you have some understanding of the inner workings of the manual trans you may have required a bit more of a "technical" description of the work going on than some others. Some call up and could care less about whats wrong, or understand. They just want it fixed. On the "is it covered issue", a good writer will NOT step up and tell you that all is well and covered 100% no problem (we save that for the sales department ) without having the OK from higher powers. Basically I imagine the trans would have to be torn down and inspected and the part numbers run to be sure it's covered.


"Called 4 times today and finally talked with someone who said they were waiting on parts to put it back together" On the first contact with someone at the dealer get a name and always call back and have your call directed to them. The two dealers I have worked at when a vehicle came in a service writer would initiate the paper work and stick with it until the job was out the door. Yes it's hard to get ahold of these guys sometimes and I don't think I could do there job. They are constantly trying to please people in front of them, get tickets up for the techs, answer the phone, answer to the service manager, figure up estimates for customers and contact them with the numbers, usually all at the same time!. This is probably why it's hard to find a good writer.

"after 11 days of "it should be ready tomorrow" As frustrating as it can be, on jobs like these you can sometimes order parts until you are blue in the face and upon doing the repair you may find one snap ring, or bearing that you overlooked and end up having to order. It sucks, but it happens, and it doesn't do the techs much good to have your truck taking up hoist space for that long.

While I'm not "sticking up" for poor dealerships I thought I might add a little insight from the "inside". Now if I only had enought time to tell you the story of the Cummins engine job that took me a month......

 

J Body,

Thanks for the insight. I guess my biggest problem is the lying. I am a General Contractor and deal with screwed up schedules all the time. I have found that if I am totally honest with my clients and tell them the truth even when it's my fault, they are much more understanding. But when you tell someone it should be tomorrow and it's not, time after time it gets old. If I really don't know when something is going to happen I explain to them what the process should be and keep them informed. I did try to deal with the same person but she was gone a lot. I finally got my truck after acting like a 3 year old and calling 4 times in 2 hours asking when my truck was going to be ready, and leaving 2 more messages for the service manager. If they are that busy it brings up 2 questions: 1) What is wrong with the product? and /or 2) Why don't they expand and hire more people?

Probably a dead horse unless anyone has any suggestions about how the problem may have occured.

Thanks for everyone's input,
Karl

 

I am glad to see that I am not just one of the few people who have been led around like dog chasing a dinner bone. Sorry to hear of your misfortunes but I know exactly how you feel. When I go into my local Dodge dealership the first question they ask is "Did you buy the truck here?" which always puts me in the wrong frame of mind to try and deal with someone. I bought my truck brand new and also purchased the (Gold) extended warranty as they refer to it where I bought my truck and the only thing it covers is the bottom of my glove box. I got a nice little credit like card and all of that stuff, that made me feel so good about buying the truck the day I drove it off the lot. They said when I bought the truck that the warranty covered "Everything but the trim on the side of the truck," yeah right. The only work that has been covered on my 01' truck is any recall work that had to be done or checked out. All in all I love my truck but the misrepresentation when you buy a new 35 to 40 thousand dollar truck is very unnerving. Sorry its so long but maybe you will feel a little better about your situation to know that your simply one of many frustrated Dodge owners.!
__________________________________

01' 2500 edge chip, 4" exhaust Brushgaurd, custom rear bumper, Stainless nerf bars, due in middle feb Trans Go Shift Kit, and many miles pulling my 30.5' 5er to and from work.

 

I agree with you 100% on the "lying" comment. I have had my rear chewed big time for telling it like it is.....but after things cool down usually the customer sees there getting the straight story and most appreciate it in the end no matter how long a certain repair takes.....of course some don't but that's the way it goes. On Daryls comment on the "did you buy it here" question I often hear our writers ask this or "have you been here before" (which is better). Sometimes they just want to know this so it will be easier for them to open a work order on you as it's easier if you already in the system. Again, I'm not sticking up for any certain dealer, just giving another point of view.