This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving 65mph down a 3 lane highway, I heard a humming noise. I pulled over to the side of the road. I looked under the truck. The rear of my drive shaft was laying on the ground. Had it towed to a repair shop (cost $133.59). Repair shop had to make repairs to the rear axle housing/differential (cost $3,543.48). Total cost with tow bill $3677.07.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, a grinding noise was heard and a burning oil odor entered the cabin. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear axle pinion became loose. The vehicle was repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V796000 (power train). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 121,355.
Pulling up to stop sign traveling about 5-10 mph. Drive shaft fell out and rear end locked up. Had vehicle towed to shop and total bill was over $1200 including tow. Has other Dodge Ram had this problem.
Truck lost all power, throttle lamp blinking. Stalled on roadway, would start but would not give throttle to move the truck. Turned key off then back on a few times and would let me apply throttle for a few seconds, then back to no power. I did this a few times just to get off the roadway. There is no throttle cable so it is a computer control problem.
I was driving and was hearing a whining noise from the rear differential. I took it in for a service. During the service the shop found a chipped tooth so because the truck was under warranty the shop was nice and only charged me the time to pull the cover. I took it to a loyal dealer and it took a week to fix because I was needing my vehicle to go on a planned vacation the next week. Then at 73000 and a year later the trucks diff started to make a whining noise again and I called the local dealer again and they told me that I was out of warranty and it was going to cost me $2600. So I called around and 4 wheel drive parts gave me a better price so I had them change the gear ratio (4.56) and put an after market lsd (auburn locker) and now I am schedule to take the truck in again because it is making noise again at 95777 miles.just sick of the problem and not looking forward to the possibility of the diff seizing and putting my family in danger or possible death. $ wheel drive parts told me that the chyrsler 9.25 diff is a very bad diff and they recommended me to switch it out to a dana 60 because that is the diff the 3/4 ton have and never have a problem. Just cost to make the switch is very expensive. I like the truck just not this weak spot in the vehicle.
- Bonney Lake, WA, USA
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The contact owns a 2004 Dodge ram1500. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, a loud noise was heard from the rear of the vehicle. The contact later discovered that the rear shaft had become separated from the vehicle due a failed to pinion nut, which also caused the rear brakes to seize. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The current and failure mileage was 119,000.
While driving on interstate at 65mph red lightning bolt light on dash starts flashing and truck stalls, it was almost impossible to steer and brake the vehicle safely to get off road, this was very dangerous situation with other passengers. Called dealer, they cant offer any inside to problem without vehicle at shop to read codes, no codes shown and vehicle can not be drivin, $40,000 for 89000 miles.
I was driving to work when my 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 started making a whining noise so I drove directly to my mechanic approx 15 mile drive. The noise got progressively worse turning to a grinding noise about two miles from the mech. When I was slowing to make my turn into the mechanic's driveway the rear axle assembly locked up and dropped the drive shaft. Had I been driving at a faster rate of speed this would of been serious, possibly causing driver injury.
While driving Saturday, 11/23/2013, I noticed a vibration and humming noise coming from the front of my vehicle. Also, when I turned the car would croak or moan. I could tell something was wrong because my brake pedal became very spongy and had to be pressed in fully in order to stop the car. I began to head home with the truck as I did not want a safety hazard where I could not stop the vehicle. I also noticed that in order to steer straight, I had to hold my steering wheel approximately 30 degrees left. Upon getting the truck home I immediately saw my problem. My front passenger tire was sitting in the wheel well on an angle. Large amounts of smoke were pouring out of the undercarriage, and rubber goo was leaving a trail where I drove. I jacked the car and removed the wheel, and could see even more. My wheel hub assembly was separated and broken. This caused my tire to sit on the hub crooked and lean against my control arm. The heat from this friction was so intense that it melted my cv boot, which is why I had a rubber goo trail. It also melted the ABS sensor on the wheel hub itself. Causing my ABS to go out. The hub itself had a piece completely fallen off, as if a weld broke. The heat also warped my rotor, and cracked my brake pads in that side. Luckily, I did not have any wheel separation or total failure of the braking system, causing crash or injury. I was barely able to utilize braking and drive home at about 20mph with hazards on. The wheel hub assembly has been recalled in several year Dodge Ram 1500S, including 2004, 2006, and others, for bearing issues. However Dodge claimed it was only a faulty part in 2wd applications. Now we know this is not true. I have a 4WD Ram that had the hub assembly fail and a partial braking failure. I am out of room, but I have pictures of the parts broken on the car, and pictures of the removed parts as well.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while parked, he noticed that the floor shifter had become detached. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they stated there was not a recall for the vehicle. The failure mileage and VIN were unavailable.
As I was driving down the interstate I began to hear a noise in the rear end of my Ram 1500 pickup truck. I moved over to the right hand lane traveling interstate speed between 65 and 70 miles per hour when the drive shaft of the truck came loose from the rear axle of my vehicle. I contacted my father which is a mechanic and told him what had happened and he informed me that he received a letter from Dodge about a warranty recall for the bolts backing off that hold the drive shaft. I pulled the drive shaft out from under the truck and put my finger into the hole where the pin fits and the nut was still there and it had backed off the pin. When I contacted the dealership and showed them a picture the service tech's response was "[xxx]" we will get it towed in and fix it. Apparently he didn't realize it was an older truck but you would think that if the drive shaft was different on the newer trucks and older trucks wouldn't you be able to tell the difference? fortunately no one was hurt but I am out almost $2,000 bucks. I could understand if the bearings went out but Dodge has a recall on this same issue and this failure put me and my family in danger. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)....updated 01/07/15
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while traveling 50 mph, the vehicle vibrated violently and the rear wheels seized. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 190,000. The VIN was unavailable.
I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab 5.7L hemi 2wd and it continues to stall every now and then at low speeds or at a complete stop. Vehicle will start right up with no problem but battery gauge takes a few seconds to rise to operating levels. Transmission also feels like it wants to slip at time of stall. Had engine and trans changed, battery and alternator checked out okay as well. Did some research and found that a lot of incidents happen after vehicle transmission ha been serviced or transmission fluid is low; other individuals who have experienced this problem have said they had the erg valve, tps sensor, map sensor and even software. I don't know what the problem is but you end up spending hundreds of dollars trying to figure this out. I don't know why Chrysler doesn't address this issue.
I now having problems with rear end for the 4th time since I got this truck. I paid to have repaired first time. 3 months later it went again. Dodge dealer gave hard time but they found it defective again. Fixed. Only a year and 1/2 later it is going again. I only put 18000 miles on this last one. I need to know what can be done to fix the rear in my Ram truck. It is too expensive to pay out of my pocket. 4 times? never had that with a Ford. Problem is I need the truck and fixed income and can't pay dealers to keep fixing the rear. Help. I need to know if there is anything I can do about this problem as it goes back to shop on July 31. The Dodge people say I am out of any warranty. I can't afford a new truck either. The dates listed is close to when this last issue started. It does not reflect back when the others first started but about 2 or 3 years now since first rear went.
I was driving at freeway speed, around 70 mph. Suddenly, I heard a noise from the rear of the truck and I noticed my speedometer went to zero. I was still moving at the same speed. The fault code identified a failure in the speed sensor in the rear differential. I was out of warranty, so I pulled the differential cover off and found what was left of the speed sensor in the bottom of the housing. I also found pieces of what was later identified as C clips from my lsd clutch assembly. The inductive portion of the speed sensor protrudes into the differential housing and was hit by the flying pieces of C clips. The carrier bearing also had a grove cut into it by these clips as they worked their way out. I am told that if I had not caught this, it would have resulted in carrier bearing failure and lock up of my rear axle. I removed all of the metal C clip pieces and removed the remaining C clips that had not yet fallen out. I don't know if there is any connection, but my left rear leaf spring cracked in half on the lower main leaf. I had to replace the spring assembly at my cost. I now have a permanent whine at low speeds and currently have 125,000 miles on my truck. I am certainly glad that I found these metal pieces when I did! there appears to be many complaints regarding this failure in my truck model, ranging from model years 2003 through 2006 Ram 1500 equipped with the 5.7 hemi. At this time, Chrysler has not acknowledged the patterned failures in these rear differentials.
While driving on the interstate, I heard a pop and saw smoke coming out of my truck. Waiting for the tow, I noticed that the transfer case housing had cracked and had spewed oil all over the bottom of the truck causing the smoke. After some research I found that the 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 (my truck) had been recalled because the transfer case on a possible 500+ vehicles had not been torqued properly. The NHTSA summary states "this could cause the transmission adapter or transfer case housing to crack and leak fluid". the campaign id number is 03V503000. According to Chrysler the range of vins involved is 4J116316 through 4J174991. My vehicle, being 4956, is inside this range, but was not was not listed by Chrysler (I'm assuming because it was one of the vehicles that had "already been inspected or repaired"). it seems more than coincidence to me that my truck was made in the same plant, in the same lot and inside the same VIN range, and exhibited the same symptoms (a cracked transfer case housing), but Chrysler customer service maintains that my VIN is not included in the recall. I am currently facing more than $2K in repairs for a pickup truck with only 44K miles on it and it is a direct result of Chrysler allowing this vehicle to slip through the cracks with safety recall no. C39. My vehicle has obviously not been "inspected or repaired", and Chrysler needs to make it right.
Engine stalls upon breaking. This is an intermittent problem. Loss of complete power going 45 mph, all 4 breaks locked up on there own, vehicle restarted on it's own. Sometimes does not want to restart. Check engine light does not come on, nor throw codes. Over the past 3 years this has happened apx 50 times. No warning leading up to complete loss of power. Parts already replaced include: Fuel pump, crankshaft position sensor and ignition switch. None of which have resolved the issue.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact was traveling 35 mph when the vehicle began exhibiting an abnormal grinding. The vehicle was towed to their mechanic where the contact was informed that the rear differential was failing. The dealer was contacted and advised that the failure was common for his year, make and model between 75,000 and 100,000 miles. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 93,000.
2004 Ram 1500 5.7 hemi stalls at low engine speeds, often at stop signs, traffic lights, or parking lot maneuvers. Will usually start immediately back up, sometimes requires slight accelerator pressure when cranking in order to obtain self-sustaining engine speed. During decelerations, engine RPM is erratic and will often encounter a drop in rpms to approximately 400 RPM before engine dies. Issue seems to be more common when engine is cold, but has occured under all conditions. This has been a persistent problem for about 1.5 years, happening anywhere from once a day to a dozen times. Multiple dealerships and mechanics have looked at this, without result. The computer has been updated, the sensors, egr valve, and intake manifold cleaned, and the throttle body has been replaced. Still not fixed. Vehicle has been well maintained. This is an expensive, dangerous, and frustrating condition. Having 3 kids in the car at any given time also adds to my frustration.
2004 Ram 1500 5.7 hemi stalls at low engine speeds, often at stop signs, traffic lights, or parking lot maneuvers. Will usually start immediately back up, sometimes requires slight accelerator pressure when cranking in order to obtain self-sustaining engine speed. During decelerations, engine RPM is erratic and will often encounter a transient drop in RPM's to approximately 400 RPM before engine dies. Issue seems to be more common and severe in cold weather, or when engine is cold, but has occurred under all conditions. This has been a persistent problem for about two years, happening anywhere from once a day to a dozen times. Multiple dealerships and mechanics have looked at this, without result. The computer has been updated, the sensors, egr valve, and intake manifold cleaned, and the throttle body has been replaced. Still not fixed. Vehicle has been well maintained and has less than 55K miles. This is an expensive, dangerous, and frustrating condition.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Auburn, IN, USA