If you can't get your Ram HVAC air flow dial to work properly or if it won't change zone it's likely there's a recall to protect you if your fortunate to be one of the 250,000 trucks with a VIN # for those years. Chrysler initiated a Customer Satisfaction Notification K17 and L14 for defective equipment that involves reprogramming HVAC control Head and inspect/replace actuators for Ram P/U 2009-2010. If you've experienced that don't assume they'll take care of you. I've never heard of a HVAC actuator before this recall and I've owned dozens of cars (maybe 40) in my lifetime. Turns out they'll only fix certain VIN#'s even if it fits the description of the recall to the "T".

I found that out with a $108 diagnostic fee and now they want $345 to repair it even though they're doing for 250,000 other owners that are fortunate enough to have the "right" VIN #. As it turns out the dealership (Olathe Dodge) slipped in that recall when I took my truck in for a oil change in Oct, 2011 and was paid by Chrysler to fix it (reprogram the head under the L14 recall) even though I had no problems with it at the time. But that was under a recall L-14 and ineligible for the replacement unbeknown to me except the NHTSA forced the other K-17 for 250,000 vehicles and mine, like a lot of other weren't included. Supposedly my manufacture date had the corrected part.

Here's the scary thing. It's bad too if the corrected part is obviously not corrected at all since mine not only failed but failed exactly how the other VIN's failed. That's even after I called Chrysler and told them. Surely common sense would prevail but Chrysler failed there as well offering no help. They said if the correction didn't fix the problem and still doesn't work they would fix it at no charge. NOT TRUE! Recall K-17 included the other quarter of a million vehicles but mine didn't make the cut for some ridiculous reason (part had been corrected....not). Now I'm forced to fix it myself which there are a number of YouTube postings how to do it. It's a $30 actuator and Chrysler allows up to 4 hours for the dealership to replace it even-though it will take you less than an hour and if you're handy, it will take you about half that time. Here's the ball breaker; My wife worked for Chrysler for 21 years and retired a couple years ago but do you think that matters? Not a bit. I played that card too. That's a sorry state of affairs especially since she worked at the Zone office in Kansas City and did favors for all the dealerships all the time for 21 years. If they needed something, she did it if it was possible. If there should be any exceptions it should be with her even-though it should be done for anyone if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's a duck. Everyone one fitting the year and description of the recall should be included instead of a couple VIN#'s that slipped through. For my screw job they offered me a couple oil changes for my disgruntlement and only after multiple phone calls and almost a full day of back and forth complaints.

Here's the rest of the story: I've bought 4 vehicles from that dealership alone going back as far when Steve Oliver owned the dealership and even as recent as a couple months ago when I bought a used 2014 Grand Cherokee LTD that I later found out was a rental car that wasn't disclosed at the time of the sale. We even bought a car there that was wrecked by a lot person 2 weeks after we bought it and while they fixed it, it was a major crash that took a week and a half to fix. I've referred a number of friends there too. Finally after pulling every string I went to pick up my truck that was not fixed prepared to pay the $108 diagnostic fee but I asked for the service mgr so I could leave a few parting thoughts (Pissed). He actually agreed with how wrong it was and told me he didn't care how he got paid either from me or Chrysler but said he'd go to bat for me and made some calls to corporate and somehow magically got the bill reduced to $100. For what I don't know but it's better than where I was so I succumbed to the nonsense. It was going to cost $108 for the diagnostic and another $30 for the part plus I'd have to do the work myself. Good enough but still not right. His name is Mike and is their service manager. I appreciate his endeavor knowing he can only do what they let him do and at least he tried, all-be-it for $100 they shouldn't charge me but at least someone took the initiative. Thanks Mike. Good guy at last!

BTW, He mentioned they've done about 1000 recalls on those 09-10 Ram actuators in his dealership so it's not an uncommon problem and I'm sure probably as many have gotten the screw job as well. That's when the NHTSA should step in and make Chrysler cry like they've made everyone else that they didn't take care. Their screw up has actually become a huge profit center for them if you assume as many or even half of the people with problems had to pay for the work. I've seen it online complaints as high as $481. Multiply that by 100,000 people who lost the function of their HVAC controls and had to pay for the repairs Chrysler made another $48,000,000 on their own screw up or if they were done for what they quoted me it's still $36,000,000. Pretty good built in income for cars sold with defective parts that customers had to pay for. Chrysler (Mopar) is the only one that make those parts too.

The recall letter starts with verbatim: At Chrysler Group LLC, you can be assured that we are changing the way we look at quality. To prove our commitment to quality, the company is investing in and prioritizing improvements for every vehicle that we build. As part of our commitment, we are also targeting existing vehicles on the road today and contacting our customers to provide these quality improvements, at no charge, that help to improve your ownership satisfaction.

I could re-write this and take exception and dispute every line, every promise and every priority they claim. It is what it is and they screwed me and my family. That speaks volumes.

Complain to the NHTSA with #10041625. They've heard it before and forced the recall but for some reason my VIN# from the same recall year didn't get so lucky. I'm sure there are thousands more out there in my same predicament. They deserve to be included and for no cost.

Bought truck new in fall of 2010 after about a year HVAC temp controller started acting up. The AC would not work and only hot air would come out of vents regardless of where temp was set. I was told there was a recall on the Temp control module and that should fix the issue. It did for a tad over a year then started the same issue again. This time I paid $400 to have it fixed as they had to change a few other parts that were messed up with the HVAC (blend door motors) and that might fix my problem, well it did for 2 months.

It has been in the shop with Dodge for 3 weeks now and they can't figure what is causing the problem. I have a claim with Chrysler and they have no idea what is wrong with it either and have failed to call me back the last 3 times I have called my claim rep. As of right now my dash and half the HVAC unit under hood is out, all wiring has been inspected, and no problems found with any of it. My bill is at 1400 bucks right now and I still have no AC and only HOT air coming from the vents.