New Dodge Owner

[jafo]

Hello everyone. I'm not only new to these forums but I'm also a new Dodge truck owner. I mean real new. I've drove Chevy's all my life. Have always wanted to own a Dodge truck and now here I am.

I bought a 2002 Dodge SLT 4 door 4x4 that I really like. This is a whole new learning experience for me. So please excuse me if I ask an obvious question that may be common knowledge to life long Dodge drivers.

I have a couple questions regarding the truck. First is this truck came with one key. So I stopped by the hardware store to get a spare. I find out these keys have transponders in them. OK. They cut a key and it wouldn't unlock the door but it would start the truck. We tried three times with no success. Where would be the best place besides a dealer to get a key cut? There seems to be a special little cut that's hard to reproduce. Is the transponder for the door or the ignition?

Second question is the wipers. The wipers won't go back into it's home position. Motor replacement? Also, I'm assuming the motor is hidden under the cowling?

Thanks for any insight and the truck grows on me every time I drive it.

 

[Harley Harrold]

Hello everyone. I'm not only new to these forums but I'm also a new Dodge truck owner. I mean real new. I've drove Chevy's all my life. Have always wanted to own a Dodge truck and now here I am.

I bought a 2002 Dodge SLT 4 door 4x4 that I really like. This is a whole new learning experience for me. So please excuse me if I ask an obvious question that may be common knowledge to life long Dodge drivers.

I have a couple questions regarding the truck. First is this truck came with one key. So I stopped by the hardware store to get a spare. I find out these keys have transponders in them. OK. They cut a key and it wouldn't unlock the door but it would start the truck. We tried three times with no success. Where would be the best place besides a dealer to get a key cut? There seems to be a special little cut that's hard to reproduce. Is the transponder for the door or the ignition?

Second question is the wipers. The wipers won't go back into it's home position. Motor replacement? Also, I'm assuming the motor is hidden under the cowling?

Thanks for any insight and the truck grows on me every time I drive it.

I had my spare key cut at Lowes, China-Mart cut three for me at different times without success. The key only unlocks the drivers door, will not start the truck. A locksmith can get you a working transponder key also. Transponder is to interface with the ignition.
The wiper problem is probably the park circuit in the wiper motor.

 

[jei3us]

Dodge parts at the dealership cut me a oem spare for about $7.

 

[jafo]

Thanks for the responses.

I decided to replace the wiper motor yesterday and you'll never believe what I found. After pulling the cowl off and looking at what I needed to do to get the motor out, I seen something I have never seen in my life. One of the previous owners had WELDED the transmission linkage to the motor shaft! I just started laughing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

So guessing, I figure that the linkage must have stripped out and the splines no longer gripped the linkage so they decided to weld them together. Would have worked if they had taken the time to properly line up the linkage with the transmission so the wipers would park properly. Also, they failed to bolt the transmission linkage to the motor. The motor was flopped onto the topside of the linkage then bolted to the firewall. Unbelievable.

So as it stands, I had trouble locating the correct motor and linkage. I'll get the right stuff in awhile, but for now, I just adjusted the wiper arms to where they no longer park up to high. They work about right now.

As far as the key. I'll just run to the dealer. It's about 2 minutes from work.

 

[usaf2006]

Welcome! Post some pictures when you get a chance