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.
The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized, and the vehicle was difficult to steer. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle was driven to the destination. The following day when the vehicle was started, the power steering failure reoccurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.
Driving fine with no problems then all of a sudden a bell starts chiming about 6 to 8 times then the steering light comes on and the ABS light comes on in the dash and starts blinking, then I lost power to the steering wheel, was very hard to steer. I pulled to the side of the road and turned the engine off and waited a few minutes to crank it, every thing went normal and I drove home, but before I got home it did it again but this time it went haywire and the wipers came on and the dash lite up like a Christmas tree. I finally made it home and parked it. I sent off the TIPM unit to get repaired, fixed but steering is still not wanting to work, will call my mechanic to put it in the shop. I have a truck that I have spent a lot of money fixing one thing after another, have already replaced the motor in 2020. It seems like this truck is a lemon. Thank you01
Electronic power steering rack and pinion stopped working while driving. Error message on dash. No power assist, difficult to impossible to steer vehicle.
The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the message "Service Power Steering" was displayed, and the steering wheel had become extremely difficult to turn in either direction. The vehicle was towed to the local service center who diagnosed that the steering circuit was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 110,000.
Power steering suddenly stoped while driving and began flashing service power steering, avoided an accident. Failed EPS module. No repair units are available anywhere and can't be driven.
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
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I was driving on [XXX] back to Willcox Arizona and my steering locked up. I was able to drive it to the nearest exit but had really hard steering. Went back for my truck brought it home in my trailer and had a mechanic look at it and advised it was my rack and pinon. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was driving down a highway and without warning, my power steering went out. This was then followed by a message saying "service power steering"(after it went out). Thankfully I was able to keep the vehicle in my lane of travel, but if I had been rounding a corner, I believe I would have crashed with potential life changing consequences. The safety of myself was put at risk for the sudden loss of power steering. I contacted a dealer and they immediately quoted me a several thousand dollar repair. I feel this is not fare and understand that the NHTSA opened an investigation into the issue for older RAMS last summer. Please help me with this issue and getting it covered without paying out of pockets expenses
Pulling out of my driveway the power steering failed which cause lost of control of my truck. I nearly avoided an oncoming car. The power steering no longer works and now my truck is no longer safe to drive.
In May/June 2023 my Ram lost power steering while exiting the freeway. It startled me as I was merging into traffic. I pulled over to a parking lot and turned the vehicle off. Restarted the truck and the power steering was back. Drive the truck a few days with no problem but then it happened again. I contacted Ram Customer Service because I found an article online about bad EPS modules, they were very unhelpful. Pretty much saying I was on my own. I brought the truck in, drove to dealership with intermittent loss of power steering. Diagnostic found electronic power steering module failure and replaced steering gear assembly. $3300 later which i feel was way too much. Also as a side note, before taking the truck in, I purchased a bottle of power steering fluid to try, after looking in my manual. Nowhere in my manual does it say that this vehicle has an electric power steering module. Shows a pic of the reservoir of where the fluid would normally go.
parked vehicle for one hour went to drive vehicle I moved vehicle about 2 foot and then power steering just went out. checked fuses and connections and the power steering went back to working but dont know how long it would work. we live in a mountainous area and this could be very dangerous. NO EXPLANATION OF WHY.
I was driving on the toll road during afternoon rush hour. Suddenly the -??Service Power Steering-?? message came up on the dash. It was the first time that message came up, no prior symptoms. The steering wheel locked, thankfully I was able to exit the tollway without any accidents. Taking it to an independent mechanic. Fear it-??s the rack and pinion. 2013 Ram 1500, 5.7, approx 185k miles
Electrical power steering failed. I reported this last year to this agency, but somehow it is not available. Cranked up vehicle and the power steering failed on and off. At times it would clear out until the light stayed on and the power steering stopped working.
Steering failed intermittently while driving before going out completely while driving. When it went out it was almost impossible to steer. The truck is presently undrivable because of the steering and it is very dangerous because of the failure while driving.
About 9 month ago parked the truck then the next morning pulled out of my driveway and power steering went out completely. Truck had under 100k mile on it" Dealer kept saying part was on backorder for months and now they say the part has been discontinued" Even aftermarket remanufactured units are no longer being made available due to the high failure rate from speaking to 3 suppliers. Given the high failure rate, a used electronic steering rack and pinion would be a ticking time bomb and was not suggested. I doubt you'll do anything about (lobbyists), but I'd at least make you aware.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Milltown, NJ, USA