I just traded in my 2000 Dakota Sport for a 2007 Ram 1500 SLT. Very VERY happy with the truck. Before I decided it was time to unload the Dakota, the engine was making a noise during cold starts. I never investigated it any further except I switched back to synthetic oil from the straight weight oil... noise seemed to be less but never went away totally.. so assuming it was something getting ready to fail, I traded it last weekend for an 07 1500 SLT short bed with the 4.7
I loved the Dakota the second I saw the first gen II Dakotas and knew I had to have one. For the few glitches I had with it, it wouldn't prevent me from buying another one. I just love them. 4.7 perfomance is more than enough for the truck even with a 21 foot glass bow rider in tow. stopping could be tricky with the rear drums, but all in all the freak'n truck had heart.
anyhow, my question is technical here. When I start the Ram, it immediately fires up, runs up to 2000 rpms for a second and idles back down to about 1100, and then drops off about a 100 rpms for the next few seconds. Is there ANY way to defeat this so the engine fires up at a lesser rpm? it seems harsh on a cold engine especially in these parts where it routinely drops below 0 in the winter.
Also, during 4-5 upshift, the transmission seems like it goes into the twilight zone and seems like the engine is going to keep reving up. I don't know if this is normal... however, because it still has under 5K on the odometer, I tend to be very light on the throttle and thought maybe this is the reason it was doing this. under heavier throttle it doesn't seem to do it.