1996 Dodge Dakota engine and engine cooling problems
27 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the engine and engine cooling on the 1996 Dodge Dakota — 14% of all complaints for this model year.
What owners report
“At idle/park my 1996 dodge dakota 4x4 v8 5.2l slt will sputter and sometimes kill the engine. Now I'm not sure if that's a safety feature so the engine doesn't over flood itself, but I've replaced the iac valve, pcv valve, distributor rotor/cap, and spark plugs with no improvement. I recent had a…”
filed Jan 19, 2014
“1996 dodge dakota slt, 5.2l, 4dr ( 99,000 mi) failed ca emission test on 7/8/06. Suspected reason for the high emission was failure of the catalytic converter. Daimler chrysler corp. (dcc) will not replace this converter at their expense even though they have a recall on some 1.5 million 1996 -…”
filed Jul 19, 2006
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Related service bulletins
Valve Body. These may cause over drive cycling.
R2118796A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 26, 2016
Engine and Engine Cooling problems in other Dakota years
| Year | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Dakota | 1 | 1% |
| 2007 Dakota | 3 | 2% |
| 2006 Dakota | 9 | 3% |
| 2005 Dakota | 12 | 3% |
| 2004 Dakota | 12 | 6% |
| 2003 Dakota | 34 | 12% |
| 2002 Dakota | 34 | 5% |
| 2001 Dakota | 53 | 8% |
| 2000 Dakota | 50 | 6% |
| 1999 Dakota | 70 | 11% |
| 1998 Dakota | 60 | 11% |
| 1997 Dakota | 49 | 11% |
Other reported problem areas on the 1996 Dodge Dakota
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.