e-Torque Battery Pack replacement

[PowerJrod]

Bought my 2021 Limited 1500 Hemi etorque Sunday. It was towed in Tuesday afternoon with 110 miles. Not a good start and my first RAM. Fortunately it's at a good dealer; we've bought 2 Jeep products from them before and had good experience. Late today the diagnosis was a bad 48V hybrid battery. Unfortunately they are now having to try to figure out how to get a replacement, but it sounds like it won't be easy. Definitely some pretty bad stories on this thread. They have 30 days or my state says they have to buy it back or replace it.

110 miles isn't bad considering the first hybrid vehicles wouldn't make it 10 miles before having a problem lol

 

[GBFNelson]

Update: I got my truck back just over 2 weeks after it was towed in. It drove great until today, when the battery indicator light and auto start/stop failure lights came on. I drove it back to the dealership, and on the way I got 2 red messages that the blind spot system was temporarily unavailable. I think there are more fundamental issues with the vehicle. I've owned it 23 days and it has now been in the shop 16 of them. I won't get a diagnosis at least until tomorrow. Looking like Chrysler may have to buy this one back from me.

 

[securityguy]

Update: I got my truck back just over 2 weeks after it was towed in. It drove great until today, when the battery indicator light and auto start/stop failure lights came on. I drove it back to the dealership, and on the way I got 2 red messages that the blind spot system was temporarily unavailable. I think there are more fundamental issues with the vehicle. I've owned it 23 days and it has now been in the shop 16 of them. I won't get a diagnosis at least until tomorrow. Looking like Chrysler may have to buy this one back from me.

No matter what brand vehicle...MB...Ferrari...BMW...FORD...GM...RAM...there will be lemons out there. Sorry to hear you're having these issues and keep us posted as things progress.

 

[NorthStar]

Update: I got my truck back just over 2 weeks after it was towed in. It drove great until today, when the battery indicator light and auto start/stop failure lights came on. I drove it back to the dealership, and on the way I got 2 red messages that the blind spot system was temporarily unavailable. I think there are more fundamental issues with the vehicle. I've owned it 23 days and it has now been in the shop 16 of them. I won't get a diagnosis at least until tomorrow. Looking like Chrysler may have to buy this one back from me.

No matter what brand vehicle...MB...Ferrari...BMW...FORD...GM...RAM...there will be lemons out there. Sorry to hear you're having these issues and keep us posted as things progress.

Agree 100% with Securityguy.

I had a buddy with his first new Ram - a 2018 Longhorn...beautiful truck but was in the shop for two of the three months he owned it. Seems there was an issue with the wiring and would constantly give warning messages in the instrument cluster for every imaginable issue…he used to joke it was like watching roulette on the cluster to see what would come up next but would operate fine. He was very patient and polite with our local dealer, and gave them every opportunity fix it which in turn the provided him with a Ram loaner until it was fixed. At the three month mark, he went in and explained his discontent with the vehicle and that it was a lemon (as defined in the law). The GM asked him if he would pick another truck on the lot and he would make it right. He found a similar Longhorn and they made the exchange, paid off his old loan, got him a better interest rate on his new loan and all was good. To this day there hasn't been a issue with the new Longhorn and you couldn't buy it from him for a million bucks. Hang in there as they make a great product and will ensure you are happy - the lemon law appears to be on your side. Or, they get it fixed and you may never have an issue again.

 

[20laramieetorque]

Agree 100% with Securityguy.

I had a buddy with his first new Ram - a 2018 Longhorn...beautiful truck but was in the shop for two of the three months he owned it. Seems there was an issue with the wiring and would constantly give warning messages in the instrument cluster for every imaginable issue…he used to joke it was like watching roulette on the cluster to see what would come up next. but would operate fine. He was very patient and polite with our local dealer, and gave them every opportunity fix it which in turn the provided him with a Ram loaner until it was fixed. At the three month mark, he went in and explained his discontent with the vehicle and that it was a lemon (as defined in the law). The GM asked him if he would pick another truck on the lot and he would make it right. He found a similar Longhorn and they made the exchange, paid off his old loan, got him a better interest rate on his new loan and all was good. To this day there hasn't been a issue with the new Longhorn and you couldn't but it from him for a million bucks. Hang in there as they make a great product and will ensure you are happy - the lemon law appears to be on your side. Or, they get it fixed and you may never have an issue again.

Going through lemon now with mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GBFNelson]

Agree 100% with Securityguy.

I had a buddy with his first new Ram - a 2018 Longhorn...beautiful truck but was in the shop for two of the three months he owned it. Seems there was an issue with the wiring and would constantly give warning messages in the instrument cluster for every imaginable issue…he used to joke it was like watching roulette on the cluster to see what would come up next. but would operate fine. He was very patient and polite with our local dealer, and gave them every opportunity fix it which in turn the provided him with a Ram loaner until it was fixed. At the three month mark, he went in and explained his discontent with the vehicle and that it was a lemon (as defined in the law). The GM asked him if he would pick another truck on the lot and he would make it right. He found a similar Longhorn and they made the exchange, paid off his old loan, got him a better interest rate on his new loan and all was good. To this day there hasn't been a issue with the new Longhorn and you couldn't but it from him for a million bucks. Hang in there as they make a great product and will ensure you are happy - the lemon law appears to be on your side. Or, they get it fixed and you may never have an issue again.

Thanks for the response. I agree with the comment on lemons in many brands. I've owned a lot of vehicles, so this may be my turn in the barrel so to speak. I loved the truck the few days it worked fine and really don't think there's anything comparable. Don't want to go back to a Ford or GM and don't want a Tundra.

 

[forloop]

Just curious if anyone has figured out what is wrong with the battery pack. Is it dead cells or some internal electronics? So far Mine has been fine “knock on wood”.

 

[GBFNelson]

Just curious if anyone has figured out what is wrong with the battery pack. Is it dead cells or some internal electronics? So far Mine has been fine “knock on wood”.

I now question whether anything was wrong with my first battery. The dealer diagnosed the first issue as a 'bad battery' and replaced it, but I have the same problem again and can't believe my luck is so bad I would get two bad ones in a row.

 

[forloop]

I now question whether anything was wrong with my first battery. The dealer diagnosed the first issue as a 'bad battery' and replaced it, but I have the same problem again and can't believe my luck is so bad I would get two bad ones in a row.

I would have to agree. Battery tech is pretty solid. It would make more sense that there are issues with the charging electronic, given they were first year in 2019.

 

[Funky2me2]

MJB, BIG fan boy here. I’ve been the owner of a RAM vehicle for, uhh, 6 weeks now. That should elevate me to top tier fan status, right? In my storied car ownership past Ive had 2 GMS’s, 1 Chevy and 3 Ford pickups. I won’t try to remember the cars but they were fairly evely split between Ford and GM, maybe 60% Ford, 35% GM and 5% Toy. Conspicuously missing is Dodge/Chrysler...
So this “many problems” 5th Gen RAM beats anything Ive owned in fit, finish quality of workmanship and comfort. But wait, the non-etorque hemi, (must be a recent development, right?) is sure to fail me. No wait, surely the unproven ZF 8 spd will blow up.
Yeah, tell that to my Ford brethren who since the 2000’s have endured one engineered nightmare engine after another, and thats not even talking about their diesels... Now theres some quality for ya’, the 6.0, and the 6.4 were 2 of the worst diesels ever designed.
But thats ok, I traded off an ecoboost that never lived up to its inflated mileage claims for this old tech, and am quite ok with it.

Yeah, I had a F150 blew OEM plugs at 30,000 miles, 4 years, was told plugs not covered by Fords extended warranty.. After I fixed it and then sold it Ford finally realized all those OEM plugs were either wrong type or Heads were to cheap to hold plugs. So I traded it in on a 2016 Nissan Titan XD with the Cummins Diesel, Had so many issues by 23000 miles after 4 years had to get rid of the repeated headache and now bought a RAM yesterday and was sitting down reading reviews a little to late .... now looking for a good Warranty to cover my mistake of buying this 2021 etorque that I thought I would never do...

 

[NorthStar]

Yeah, I had a F150 blew OEM plugs at 30,000 miles, 4 years, was told plugs not covered by Fords extended warranty.. After I fixed it and then sold it Ford finally realized all those OEM plugs were either wrong type or Heads were to cheap to hold plugs. So I traded it in on a 2016 Nissan Titan XD with the Cummins Diesel, Had so many issues by 23000 miles after 4 years had to get rid of the repeated headache and now bought a RAM yesterday and was sitting down reading reviews a little to late .... now looking for a good Warranty to cover my mistake of buying this 2021 etorque that I thought I would never do...

Mistake? Is it giving you problems? The majority of us haven’t had any issues with the eTorque system.

 

[securityguy]

Yeah, I had a F150 blew OEM plugs at 30,000 miles, 4 years, was told plugs not covered by Fords extended warranty.. After I fixed it and then sold it Ford finally realized all those OEM plugs were either wrong type or Heads were to cheap to hold plugs. So I traded it in on a 2016 Nissan Titan XD with the Cummins Diesel, Had so many issues by 23000 miles after 4 years had to get rid of the repeated headache and now bought a RAM yesterday and was sitting down reading reviews a little to late .... now looking for a good Warranty to cover my mistake of buying this 2021 etorque that I thought I would never do...

I think you are overreacting a bit...OK...A LOT! Forums will always have people with problems posting problems more than you may have folks posting how much they love their truck. On my second RAM and had no issues with either. Loving my 2021 and would buy another and recommend to friends and family. Be very cautious about what you read. EVERY vehicle made will have issues or lemons. Enjoy your truck and don't get caught up in all the crap you read on forums. If you read all of the forums for GM, FORD, RAM, NISSAN, etc...you would never buy any of them If you think a warranty will give you added peace of mind, and plan to keep it more than 3/36, then buy the warranty and call it a day.

ENJOY YOUR TRUCK and don't let other peoples experiences taint what is a great product!!!

 

[Willwork4truck]

Yeah, I had a F150 blew OEM plugs at 30,000 miles, 4 years, was told plugs not covered by Fords extended warranty.. After I fixed it and then sold it Ford finally realized all those OEM plugs were either wrong type or Heads were to cheap to hold plugs. So I traded it in on a 2016 Nissan Titan XD with the Cummins Diesel, Had so many issues by 23000 miles after 4 years had to get rid of the repeated headache and now bought a RAM yesterday and was sitting down reading reviews a little to late .... now looking for a good Warranty to cover my mistake of buying this 2021 etorque that I thought I would never do...

What was wrong about the Titan? Hope it wasn’t the Cummins. If I had to own a diesel it would be Cummins.
I’m not on the fence anymore about the extended warranty (don’t want one) and the ET should be covered for quite a while anyway, at least from reading this forum.

 

[Genxeration]

Yeah, I had a F150 blew OEM plugs at 30,000 miles, 4 years, was told plugs not covered by Fords extended warranty.. After I fixed it and then sold it Ford finally realized all those OEM plugs were either wrong type or Heads were to cheap to hold plugs. So I traded it in on a 2016 Nissan Titan XD with the Cummins Diesel, Had so many issues by 23000 miles after 4 years had to get rid of the repeated headache and now bought a RAM yesterday and was sitting down reading reviews a little to late .... now looking for a good Warranty to cover my mistake of buying this 2021 etorque that I thought I would never do...

I had a 2014 Nissan Titan that had alignment issues and kept destroying my tires, so I traded in in on a 2016 Chevy Silverado High Country. Within the first year the transmission went out under 3K miles. I traded it on a 2017 Titan that was plagued with software issues and shifted terribly. I traded the Titan in on a 2019 Ram 1500 5.7 ET and had very few problems. I just sold it and ordered a new 2021 Ram 1500. So, I guess I've had fewer problems from the Ram than my last three trucks (excluding my 2003 Tundra that I still drive without any issues ever). These new vehicles are loaded with technology and complexity. It's unfortunate, but they all have their issues.

 

[Drewster]

What was wrong about the Titan? Hope it wasn’t the Cummins. If I had to own a diesel it would be Cummins.
I’m not on the fence anymore about the extended warranty (don’t want one) and the ET should be covered for quite a while anyway, at least from reading this forum.

The Cummins straight 6 in the 2500 is the B Series that's been around since 1984 and powers everything from trucks to school busses.

The ISV Cummins was made from the ground up for the Nissan Titan.. and then discontinued as an option after just a few years.

You definitely can't treat all Cummins engines the same just because of the brand..

 

[SpeedyV]

Mistake? Is it giving you problems? The majority of us haven’t had any issues with the eTorque system.

And by majority, you mean like 99.99% of members here (some margin of error for the 1-5 members that might have reported issues out of 50,000+ members).

 

[NorthStar]

And by majority, you mean like 99.99% of members here (some margin of error for the 1-5 members that might have reported issues out of 50,000+ members).

Have only heard of a few issues with the system...which apparently FCA leads sales in the industry. That bodes well for our Rams.

“According to the automotive industry data collector, it reported that FCA accounted for 105,676 vehicles with the eTorque 48-volt mild-hybrid powertrain technology, placing FCA well ahead of its nearest competitor which only accounted for 33,116 units. That over three times as many mild-hybrids in the market place in 2019.”

FCA Leads Mild-Hybrid Sales With eTorque Offerings:

As the automotive industry continues to push towards electric powertrains, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has shown that it will also continue to expand its mild-hybrid options. With options like the eTorque system options behind select Jeep® and Ram vehicles, the sales of those units have...

moparinsiders.com

 

[IvoryHemi]

That would help explain why it was so hard for me to find one without eTorque

 

[Funky4me2]

I had mine done about 2 months into ownership. It died at the dealer while it was in for some fit/finish repairs. The truck was at the dealer for 5 weeks most of which related to the battery issue. It took a while for FCA geniuses to diagnose the problem then figure out what to do. I was told there was a bad batch of battery packs that were prematurely dying. The battery pack also took a week or so to come in. It's not a big deal to replace. I had a loaner so it wasn't that bad. My truck also spent 6 weeks in the shop recently for some additional fit/finish and service issues. Uconnect problems were the bulk of that stay. Again, I had a brand new loaner so it wasn't that big of a deal. All in all, my truck has spent just shy of 3 out of the 7 months I've owned it in the shop. Fortunately, my dealer is great and always does right by me with loaners...

I just replaced a problem ridden 2016 Nissan with this truck,,, sounds so much like a bad move I made... more I read the more buyers remorse I get.. the one guy in the dealership I disliked most was the Finance Manager... I should have walked out.. I had the cash to pay it off but was offered a Special Rebate Deal I fell for. I asked for copies of all the documents and he said no I can not have them.... I only had truck a few days. I may go back in and talk to the store owner.. I was considering a F150 but supply has been low..

 

[securityguy]

I just replaced a problem ridden 2016 Nissan with this truck,,, sounds so much like a bad move I made... more I read the more buyers remorse I get.. the one guy in the dealership I disliked most was the Finance Manager... I should have walked out.. I had the cash to pay it off but was offered a Special Rebate Deal I fell for. I asked for copies of all the documents and he said no I can not have them.... I only had truck a few days. I may go back in and talk to the store owner.. I was considering a F150 but supply has been low..

What's wrong with your new RAM?