Clunky sound

[Luisb]

I’m getting a clunky sound when switching from drive to park, or reverse to park, or drive to reverse. The truck only had 1000 miles when this first started. I brought it in to the dealership and they said the truck was in learning mode and is why it was acting up. That doesn’t sound right to me as the truck makes these noises when changing gear positions, not when in drive modes. Have you all had any issues with clunky sounds after switching the gear selector?
Thanks

 

[ramffml]

My truck does that too. Very light clunk, dealer refuses to investigate. Took mechanic with me and everything, went to a parking lot and did a few "forward reverse" cycles. Go forward, brake, stop completely (but for < 1 second) and switch to reverse, then bit of gas... clunk. Like clockwork. Mechanic said "you're shifting to reverse too fast, wait for 3 or more seconds and try again". So I did that, waited for three seconds, and then there was no clunk.

But, I told the guy it does it when downshifting coming up to a stop light as well, if the light is red, and I roll up to it and turn right, sometimes I don't stop 100% and hit the gas if no traffic is coming, and then again, clunk.

Of course he wrote up his notes only that I was shifting into reverse and hitting the gas too quickly, so now on his official notes it looks like user error and that I'm abusing my truck. I was completely pissed when I saw those notes, dude completely ignored my comments about the stop light or four way stop sign, which, is never user abuse. I should be able to be rolling at any speed and hit the gas without an audible clunk. But now if I have a warranty issue and Ram sees those mechanics notes, guess what, "user abused his truck, we're not going to pay out." And never mind that in my testing, I always stop 100% before switching, and give it a quick wait, I never do rolling gear changes. I shouldn't have to wait 5 seconds though, that's complete BS.

Going to take it back again once I'm certain I can reproduce it 100% without having to shift gears to make the sound appear.

I'm not sure what it is, maybe something in the drive train or maybe even a suspension issue, hitting the gas is when the truck rocks in the the opposite direction of my current gear.

Like you, mine has done that since the first 3 weeks of ownership. There is definitely nothing I could be doing wrong (in terms of abuse) that would make the truck clunk that quickly. Many mechanics these days just plain suck (or there is policy in place preventing them from fixing "minor" issues).

 

[Luisb]

That sucks man. I would make sure to hit that record button on your phone so your words do not get twisted the next time you take it in. I will take my truck in on my next oil change and hopefully get them to look at it. If they say it’s normal, I’m going to have them show me another new truck and have them replicate the noise. If it is normal, then all trucks should make that noise. If they can’t, then I hope that would be enough to convince the mechanic to see my point of view. If they deny me, I will email them just to have the conversation on record should the problem get worse. I’m not a fan of “you have warranty”, so don’t worry about it. The problem with that statement is that although warranty will fix the issue once it gets bad enough, subsequent damages down the drivetrain as result of not fixing the problem may not show up until months later. Then the cycle of getting that fixed through warranty repeats. It’s upsetting. I wish that Dodge dealership would’ve treat you with a bit more respect given that you just forked over $50k, but maybe they just don’t care, or maybe don’t care enough.? Idk....I’ll keep you in the loop if I find something that resolves the issue or get word from the dealership.

 

[RamCares]

I’m getting a clunky sound when switching from drive to park, or reverse to park, or drive to reverse. The truck only had 1000 miles when this first started. I brought it in to the dealership and they said the truck was in learning mode and is why it was acting up. That doesn’t sound right to me as the truck makes these noises when changing gear positions, not when in drive modes. Have you all had any issues with clunky sounds after switching the gear selector?
Thanks

My truck does that too. Very light clunk, dealer refuses to investigate. Took mechanic with me and everything, went to a parking lot and did a few "forward reverse" cycles. Go forward, brake, stop completely (but for < 1 second) and switch to reverse, then bit of gas... clunk. Like clockwork. Mechanic said "you're shifting to reverse too fast, wait for 3 or more seconds and try again". So I did that, waited for three seconds, and then there was no clunk.

But, I told the guy it does it when downshifting coming up to a stop light as well, if the light is red, and I roll up to it and turn right, sometimes I don't stop 100% and hit the gas if no traffic is coming, and then again, clunk.

Of course he wrote up his notes only that I was shifting into reverse and hitting the gas too quickly, so now on his official notes it looks like user error and that I'm abusing my truck. I was completely pissed when I saw those notes, dude completely ignored my comments about the stop light or four way stop sign, which, is never user abuse. I should be able to be rolling at any speed and hit the gas without an audible clunk. But now if I have a warranty issue and Ram sees those mechanics notes, guess what, "user abused his truck, we're not going to pay out." And never mind that in my testing, I always stop 100% before switching, and give it a quick wait, I never do rolling gear changes. I shouldn't have to wait 5 seconds though, that's complete BS.

Going to take it back again once I'm certain I can reproduce it 100% without having to shift gears to make the sound appear.

I'm not sure what it is, maybe something in the drive train or maybe even a suspension issue, hitting the gas is when the truck rocks in the the opposite direction of my current gear.

Like you, mine has done that since the first 3 weeks of ownership. There is definitely nothing I could be doing wrong (in terms of abuse) that would make the truck clunk that quickly. Many mechanics these days just plain suck (or there is policy in place preventing them from fixing "minor" issues).

Hi Luis & ramffml,

I'm very sorry to hear that you both are experiencing this concern with your trucks. Please know that if it would be of interest, we would be more than happy to connect you with a specialist who can provide you with an extra layer of support while addressing this with your dealers. Our team is just a private message away.

Mark
RamCares

 

[KRField]

All I can say is good luck to you guys. Been there dealt with it and not fixed. In my experience no fix until something breaks. Always get “normal operation characteristic of vehicle”.

Build date 5/18 and appeared around 12k clunking in rear when shifting, and accelerating from a coast I 3/4th gear.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RamCares]

All I can say is good luck to you guys. Been there dealt with it and not fixed. In my experience no fix until something breaks. Always get “normal operation characteristic of vehicle”.

Build date 5/18 and appeared around 12k clunking in rear when shifting, and accelerating from a coast I 3/4th gear.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sorry to hear your sentiments here, KRField. If this gets worse and you decide to address it again with your dealer, please be sure to let us know via private message. We are more than happy to support you through that process.

Mark
RamCares

 

[derp]

Mine has this too. First there was a tcm flash that was supposed to help this.

Yesterday the dealership told me they had parts on order for a defective motor mount tsb.

Ill post the fix sheet notes if i get the truck back before it becomes a lemon law case.

 

[JustMe]

I’m getting a clunky sound when switching from drive to park, or reverse to park, or drive to reverse. The truck only had 1000 miles when this first started. I brought it in to the dealership and they said the truck was in learning mode and is why it was acting up. That doesn’t sound right to me as the truck makes these noises when changing gear positions, not when in drive modes. Have you all had any issues with clunky sounds after switching the gear selector?
Thanks

Yup, just like a new born infant . . . always in "learning mode" - give it a few years till at least say "he or she" is in 1st grade . Is yours a "he" or a "she" ? It could make a difference in the Clunkiness time span ! Take it from me, I'm a trained Professional and I always know best .
ps; I'd put a smily face , but it just seems too obvious, so I didn't .

 

[derp]

The newest word in from mine is that while they knew the body mount issue was there, they didnt order parts until yesterday, and didnt get around to STARTING the repair today or tomorrow. It "should" be ready by monday.

The reasoning is that i brought the truck in for so many concurrent issues.

They work the top issue in the list. If it needs parts, they order parts - and stop all work until those parts are in and that issue is fixed. Then they start the next issue, order parts, hold - repeat.

Since the diagnosis of my clunk didnt start until yesterday, it was treated with the priority of having been dropped off for that issue yesterday, not a week prior. Now someone else is ahead of me in queue because their issue has been waiting longer since diagnosis and repair than mine, even though they waited a week to start diagnosis on this issue.

It is put together like this to cause literally the longest out of service interval possible.

 

[ramffml]

Mine has this too. First there was a tcm flash that was supposed to help this.

Yesterday the dealership told me they had parts on order for a defective motor mount tsb.

Ill post the fix sheet notes if i get the truck back before it becomes a lemon law case.

The defective motor mount TSB might be very useful, if you ever find out what the TSB is please definitely post it here!

 

[SynAckuL]

I'll say this - I lemon-lawed my vehicle in Florida for this issue and another. I would not accept a crappy transmission for the life of the vehicle with the only explanation from the dealer being "operating normally". If it bothers you and you're not receiving any help, check the laws in your state or hire a local attorney. There are multiple ways to skin that cat: Lemon Law, the federal Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act, STAR case with FCA, etc. Utilize any/all in order to get the results you deserve in a new vehicle. Some states, like Florida, make the process incredibly easy. I will say that it does required quite a bit of patience on your part, however.

Good luck in whatever avenue you take.

 

[Luisb]

Thanks Syn, what other issues were you facing? Don’t feel pressured to discuss, I’m just curious.

 

[SynAckuL]

Thanks Syn, what other issues were you facing? Don’t feel pressured to discuss, I’m just curious.

My vehicle would not shift into drive from park some of the time. You could turn the knob, it would say Drive, but you would get no forward movement. If you gassed it hard, it would drop into gear and lurch forward.