Display said Shift to Park when Driving???

[Toddj8633]

Thanks for the summary. I read recently that dealers make more money in service than in sales. They seemingly have zero interest in troubleshooting or making it right, they’re just using you to pay the bills.
I want to trade the truck in, but I feel like the new owner is definitely going to get screwed driving down the road and that doesn’t sit well. It’s been at the dealer for a month with still no ETA on a new transmission.
They told me the fix to the code is to replace the valve body, but the techs say that never works and to just be safe and replace the tranny (same price considering Ram is covering 50%). Im considering now replacing the valve body and then trading it in. Just sucks, it’s just about paid off. Never again Ram.

2nd drive with the new tranny and I’m currently sitting in a tow truck. Same issue. On the way to the dealer, I checked behind the rear seat and notice water drips marks on the back wall. I’m going to see if they’ll replace the RF hub. Will update when it’s done.

 

[FastBlackRam]

I have had this same issue VERY INTERMITTENTLY. Always happens within 1 mile of first drive of the day. And when I am turning left at the same stop light near my house. Message comes on, vehicle loses drive train as if in neutral. While still rolling I just shift into neutral and back to drive, message disappears and trans re-engages and I continue on my way. It happens so infrequently that I am living with it. I also intermittently get a surge within 1 mile of home on first drive of the day. This happens when I am almost stopped at the first stop sign or that same stop light. It goes away and doesn't return until the next intermittent time. This is also infrequent. There is so little chance of recreating this for the shop, I won't even bother trying.

 

[Toddj8633]

I have had this same issue VERY INTERMITTENTLY. Always happens within 1 mile of first drive of the day. And when I am turning left at the same stop light near my house. Message comes on, vehicle loses drive train as if in neutral. While still rolling I just shift into neutral and back to drive, message disappears and trans re-engages and I continue on my way. It happens so infrequently that I am living with it. I also intermittently get a surge within 1 mile of home on first drive of the day. This happens when I am almost stopped at the first stop sign or that same stop light. It goes away and doesn't return until the next intermittent time. This is also infrequent. There is so little chance of recreating this for the shop, I won't even bother trying.

My “shift to park” message, and subsequent engine kill, only happens after it had a hard time starting first. It starts exactly like it has very low fuel. Sputters and dies, sometimes just cranks over hard with no light off. Can’t figure out how that relates to a shift to park message later when driving.
It’s been at the dealer 4 times and total of 9 weeks and they can’t figure it out.

 

[RAL]

I have a 2020 5.7 with etorque. This issue happened a couple of times with my truck within a mile of my house after first being started. I noticed it happened when the engine shut off activated (typically warm day so it didn’t need much time to hit the acceptable range for engine idle shut down). I shifted to park because I was at a stop light, then back to drive, and the message went away.

With no driveability issues, my sense is that this was a computer or programming issue. What I did was to turn off the stop/start function until the transmission hit 100 degrees F (as a rough proxy for being at operating temp, albeit low operating temp). My hypothesis is that there is a programming glitch and the computer cannot tell the difference between an auto stop to save fuel and a stall condition when the trans is at a low operating temperature. Voltage fluctuating from shut off may contribute. I would also guess that there is more voltage variation shortly after starting the motor when cold, and historically ZF transmissions have been sensitive to low or fluctuating voltage, and will throw error codes if for example you have a bad battery or alternator.

Since doing this, I have not had this issue reappear. I did have the truck checked when in for service around this time and there were no codes. Hope this helps others.

 

[FastBlackRam]

My “shift to park” message, and subsequent engine kill, only happens after it had a hard time starting first. It starts exactly like it has very low fuel. Sputters and dies, sometimes just cranks over hard with no light off. Can’t figure out how that relates to a shift to park message later when driving.
It’s been at the dealer 4 times and total of 9 weeks and they can’t figure it out.

Your issue is way worse than mine obviously. I have never had that starting issue. Thank my lucky stars. 4 times and 9 weeks at the dealer would not make me very happy. So sorry about that experience.

 

[Toddj8633]

After two or three more weeks at the dealer we've finally found the issues:
1) Transmission was throwing erroneous "shift to park codes", manual stated valve body replacement, but techs recommended a full tranny swap and since Ram agreed to cover half the price of a new transmission ($4200, I paid $2100), I replaced the transmission.
2) 2 days later, shift to park and engine kill again while driving with a very hard time starting. Turned out to be the fuel pump relay. Should be a $10 relay, but Ram decided to integrate the relay into the TIPM (totally integrated power module) so I had to replace the whole part ($600).

Now runs perfectly. My suspicion is that the entire issue was causes only by the fuel relay, but the dealer insists the transmission was also faulty. I was due for a $900 tranny flush anyways, so I basically got a new transmission for $1200 whether I needed it or not. And boy is it smooth.

So after 3 months at the dealership and $2700, I'll write this summary statement for the forum search function; "shift to park error fixed by faulty fuel relay".

ps. Ask your service advisor to initiate a Ram Care ticket to see if they'll help cover the repair. They won't do it unless you ask (you can also ask yourself by calling Ram Care, but better if the dealer does it.)