Vehicle
Ram Dakota
The mid-size pickup, sold as a Dodge until 2011 and briefly as a Ram after, and also as the Mitsubishi Raider — all the same truck, and worth knowing because the service history is scattered across those names. The 3.7 V6 and 4.7 V8 are the engines most carry. The 3.7's rocker arms and lash adjusters fail and set cylinder-specific misfires with a distinctive tick, which reads on a scan tool exactly like an ignition or injector fault; it is the same failure the Jeep Liberty and Nitro are known for, because it is the same engine. On four-wheel-drive trucks the transfer case is electronically shifted and its position sensor is a common source of driveline warnings.
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Generations
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Second generation 1996–2004
The mid-size pickup that offered a **V8** where nothing else in its class did — the 5.2 and 5.9 Magnums, alongside the 2.5 four and the 3.9 V6. The R/T of 1998-2003 is the 5.9 with a lowered chassis and is the one whose axle and brake parts differ from the rest.
- Body styles
- Pickup
- Platform
- Chrysler N-body
- Engines
-
- 2.5 four-cylinder — AMC 150 · petrol · 89 kW (120 hp)
- 3.9 Magnum V6 — EHD · petrol · 130 kW (175 hp)
- 4.7 V8 — EVA · petrol · 175 kW (235 hp) · from 2000
- 5.2 Magnum V8 — ELF · petrol · 172 kW (230 hp)
- 5.9 Magnum V8 — EML · petrol · 186 kW (250 hp) · R/T
- 2.5 — diesel · Brazil
- 3.7 V6 — petrol
- Transmissions
- 4-speed 42RE automatic · 4-speed 44RE automatic · 4-speed 46RE automatic · 4-speed 45RFE automatic · 5-speed 545RFE automatic · 5-speed NV1500 manual · 5-speed NV3500 manual · 5-speed AX-15 manual
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive · Four-wheel drive
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Third generation 2005–2011
Shared with the Mitsubishi Raider; the 3.7 V6's rocker and lash-adjuster failure mimics an ignition fault.
- Body styles
- Pickup
- Platform
- Chrysler DN
- Engines
-
- 3.7 V6 — petrol
- 4.7 V8 — petrol
- 5.7 V8 — HEMI · petrol
- Transmissions
- 3-speed A998 automatic · 4-speed A500 automatic · 5-speed manual · 4-speed 42RLE automatic · 5-speed 545RFE automatic · 6-speed Getrag 238 manual
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive · Part-time four-wheel drive with low range
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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