Active air dam problems, check engine light anybody?

[Tombato]

My niece backed into my truck last year end of November. she just tapped it denting the chrome bumper slightly pushing the license plate bracket back and cracked two of the little plastic bezels. when the weather started to get warm in the early spring I began to get a check engine light. It would come on for a day or two and then shut off and be off for a week or so maybe longer and then come back on. after about a month, month and a half I realized something might be going on so when I brought it in for my next oil change at the dealership. at this point I had about 34-35,000 mi on it. The light was still on and I asked them to check it and they said it was from the air dam and that they couldn't do anything warranty wise because of the damage on the bumper and they would have to get that fixed first to see if that was really the problem. I had looked under there and there was never anything structurally damaged It was just cosmetic stuff on the bumper but they said it was still affecting it. I called ******** and left figuring I would bring it back to the dealership I actually bought it from which is a different dealership but with appointments work and stuff I couldn't get back there as soon as I would have liked needless to say I brought it in yesterday with an appointment and they said the same thing only they wouldn't warranty it because It was over 36,000 mi. actually at 43,000. I questioned how such minimal damage could affect the performance of the air dam and the gentleman said " I've been doing this a long time and I've seen all kinds of things affect those sorts of things on the front end" yeah right! 2019 was the first year..BS! The pictures are of the damage that would cost $1,000 to fix which I was going to do I was just waiting till the end of the I never would have figured it would have affected something else. Has anybody else had a problem with their active air dam sending off check engine messages AND does anybody else think this is ********? thanks for any of your feedback and for taking the time to read. View attachment 67513 View attachment 67514

 

[mikeru82]

There's no way for us to say if that damage would cause the air dam to throw a code from looking at your pictures. I would say it's possible that the bumper and supporting structure was pushed back just enough to affect the operation of the air dam. But it's easy enough to check if the active air dam is causing the code. Just unplug it, clear the code, and drive it for a few days and see if the code comes back. Unplugging it won't throw a code. I completely removed my active air dam a few months ago and have seen no codes for it.

 

[Tombato]

There's no way for us to say if that damage would cause the air dam to throw a code from looking at your pictures. I would say it's possible that the bumper and supporting structure was pushed back just enough to affect the operation of the air dam. But it's easy enough to check if the active air dam is causing the code. Just unplug it, clear the code, and drive it for a few days and see if the code comes back. Unplugging it won't throw a code. I completely removed my active air dam a few months ago and have seen no codes for it.

I didn't start getting the codes till a few months after the damage happened and even then it was intermittent at first and then just stayed on so to me it seems like it was failing on its own. not to mention the fact that there was no structural damage at all underneath and it's far enough away from the dam. I have a pretty decent code reader but that code didn't show up on it. how do you erase the code. why did you take yours off?

 

[mikeru82]

There are lots of inexpensive OBD2 readers on the market which you plug into the OBD2 port and use a smart phone to talk to it. One of the better ones is alphaOBD. Here's a link...

AlfaOBD

I removed my front air dam and the active air dams on both our Ram 1500's because I didn't like how they looked, and to gain a little more front bumper ground clearance. I checked the fuel economy before and after and didn't see any real difference so they're not going back on. There is a thread around here somewhere where that's discussed. Here's a pic of our Laramie with them removed...

 

[INVISBLE]

If the movement of the active air dam is impeded due to some tweak in its mounting points, it might have taken a bit before it finally stopped working. The power signal being sent to it might cause a short in effect if its stuck somewhere between down and up which could throw a code. Just unplug it and see what you get.

 

[Tombato]

thanks guys, have a great holiday we!!

 

[Nachotaco]

Did you ever figure out of to get rid of the light? I'm getting a check engine light for the active air dam missing. I had to remove it to mount my plow. The dealer said the only way to have the light go away is reinstall the active air dam, but I can't because it won't fit over the plow mount frame.

 

[mikeru82]

Did you ever figure out of to get rid of the light? I'm getting a check engine light for the active air dam missing. I had to remove it to mount my plow. The dealer said the only way to have the light go away is reinstall the active air dam, but I can't because it won't fit over the plow mount frame.

I'm wondering if they changed something for '22 models. What is the code you're seeing? I've removed the AAD on three different trucks and no codes have ever shown up (2020 Laramie, 2020 Limited, 2021 Limited). The most recent was removed last summer.

 

[Nachotaco]

I'm wondering if they changed something for '22 models. What is the code you're seeing? I've removed the AAD on three different trucks and no codes have ever shown up (2020 Laramie, 2020 Limited, 2021 Limited). The most recent was removed last summer.

I'm not sure, I'll have to ask the dealer when I pick it up.

 

[CDP110]

I have to replace my active air dam cause I hit a construction cone on highway that must of fell off of a lane closure truck and broke where it bolts to frame. Do you know if I have to get new one programmed or do I just plug it in and it calibrates itself to work at 35 mph

 

[ekaz]

There are stored codes when you unplug the AAD but no check engine light. I removed mine a few weeks ago on my '22 and no lights. You just need to replace it, no reprogramming needed

 

[alsrepair9]

My 2020 Ram 1500 Big Horn with 5.7 I hit a coyote at 5000 miles and ripped it out the back I went and picked it up taped up the wires because it ripped the plug off to and now at 75000 miles 2 and a half years latter it's setting a code for the active air dam so I ordered the parts to fix it new pigtail and active air dam put on tonight wired up cleared code and with in 20ft it came back anyone have any luck disabling this so it won't show a CEL.

 

[howster]

There's no way for us to say if that damage would cause the air dam to throw a code from looking at your pictures. I would say it's possible that the bumper and supporting structure was pushed back just enough to affect the operation of the air dam. But it's easy enough to check if the active air dam is causing the code. Just unplug it, clear the code, and drive it for a few days and see if the code comes back. Unplugging it won't throw a code. I completely removed my active air dam a few months ago and have seen no codes for it.

Unplugging the air dam deactivates the rear camera and other advanced functionality for me in my 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie . I get the U11E9 code so hoping replugging in the air dam after clearing the code does the trick. Will find out during the week I guess if engine light comes on. Only replaced the AGS last year for same code and it's back again.

 

[howster]

There are lots of inexpensive OBD2 readers on the market which you plug into the OBD2 port and use a smart phone to talk to it. One of the better ones is alphaOBD. Here's a link...

AlfaOBD

I removed my front air dam and the active air dams on both our Ram 1500's because I didn't like how they looked, and to gain a little more front bumper ground clearance. I checked the fuel economy before and after and didn't see any real difference so they're not going back on. There is a thread around here somewhere where that's discussed. Here's a pic of our Laramie with them removed...

View attachment 67547

 

[howster]

There are lots of inexpensive OBD2 readers on the market which you plug into the OBD2 port and use a smart phone to talk to it. One of the better ones is alphaOBD. Here's a link...

AlfaOBD

I removed my front air dam and the active air dams on both our Ram 1500's because I didn't like how they looked, and to gain a little more front bumper ground clearance. I checked the fuel economy before and after and didn't see any real difference so they're not going back on. There is a thread around here somewhere where that's discussed. Here's a pic of our Laramie with them removed...

View attachment 67547

Did you not lose rear camera functionality? I did.