Engine dies on new truck at 6k miles

[Nightcheese]

Bought a brand new 2022 Ram 1500 in March. 4 months later, at 6k miles, truck leaves me stranded in the middle of the road on the way home from work. Let it be known that I had just done the first maintenance at the dealership the week prior since my first three oil changes were free with the new purchase.

After 2 weeks of waiting for a diagnosis, the dealer says I need a new engine block. I just picked up the truck today. Attached is a photo of the end result of 30 days in the shop. What are the chances for such engine failure. I was expecting it to be a simple electrical issue. Unlucky I guess.

 

[23RAM]

What are the chances for such engine failure.

Hopefully very, very, low. I'm coming up on 6k myself.

Seriously, that's very odd from what I've read.
But why did you need 4 oil changes over 6k?

 

[c3k]

I wonder what happened??? The obvious assumption is something oil related...and therefore the change at the dealership.

Did you check your dipstick after they did the change?

 

[HemiDude]

Bought a brand new 2022 Ram 1500 in March. 4 months later, at 6k miles, truck leaves me stranded in the middle of the road on the way home from work. Let it be known that I had just done the first maintenance at the dealership the week prior since my first three oil changes were free with the new purchase.

After 2 weeks of waiting for a diagnosis, the dealer says I need a new engine block. I just picked up the truck today. Attached is a photo of the end result of 30 days in the shop. What are the chances for such engine failure. I was expecting it to be a simple electrical issue. Unlucky I guess.

I like how they threw parts at it first, then discovered it needed an engine

 

[TheWaterman83]

I like how they threw parts at it first, then discovered it needed an engine

I was trying to figure that out as well. For example:

"Tested starter, starter failed, replaced starter."

Then

"Found that engine seized."

Well there's your problem.

For them to find piston material in the intake manifold that's a mega failure.

 

[GerryS]

The last line in the work order says they adjusted the transmission fluid to the proper level. Sounds funny to me.

 

[TheWaterman83]

The last line in the work order says they adjusted the transmission fluid to the proper level. Sounds funny to me.

They have to pull the trans off the motor to replace the block. With that I imagine there's disconnecting of oil lines and they probably just drain the transmission to be safe. Seems weird but makes sense when you think about it.

What makes me wonder is all the parts they threw at it first. Battery, starter, etc.

 

[GerryS]

Yeah, but I guess you wouldn’t think the engine was seized at first, so it makes sense that they would check the battery and starter first.
Finding piston material in the intake?
There must have been some major carnage there!

 

[Nightcheese]

Hopefully very, very, low. I'm coming up on 6k myself.

Seriously, that's very odd from what I've read.
But why did you need 4 oil changes over 6k?

Let me clarify: I didn’t have 4 oil changes done at the time, just the one single service that was performed one week prior to breaking down. I was just mentioning that my first 3 oil changes for the car will be done at no charge. Now, I have 2 left to go.

 

[Nightcheese]

Yeah, but I guess you wouldn’t think the engine was seized at first, so it makes sense that they would check the battery and starter first.
Finding piston material in the intake?
There must have been some major carnage there!

Correct, first impression is that the issue had to be stemming from ECM or some type of electrical issue. Starter was fried due to multiple attempts to restart the car after being stranded. Dealer called it consequential damage. I was in the middle of a very busy road frantically trying to start up the car. Often, you’d hear a click sound when trying to fire up the engine leading many to believe it was battery issue at first.

As for the actual mechanical failure, I know failure happens so this was just unlucky for me. This truck is the first vehicle among many to actually fail like this so it is what it is.

 

[23RAM]

Let me clarify: I didn’t have 4 oil changes done at the time, just the one single service that was performed one week prior to breaking down. I was just mentioning that my first 3 oil changes for the car will be done at no charge. Now, I have 2 left to go.

Ok thanks for clarifying...I manged to negotiate several oil changes with my purchase too. I've only done one at 1k to clean out any gunk.
Did they offer any reason for the catastrophic failure? Like a broken rod or something?

 

[6of36]

The last line in the work order says they adjusted the transmission fluid to the proper level. Sounds funny to me.

When pulling the engine, it may have leaked trans fluid.

 

[6of36]

Correct, first impression is that the issue had to be stemming from ECM or some type of electrical issue. Starter was fried due to multiple attempts to restart the car after being stranded. Dealer called it consequential damage. I was in the middle of a very busy road frantically trying to start up the car. Often, you’d hear a click sound when trying to fire up the engine leading many to believe it was battery issue at first.

As for the actual mechanical failure, I know failure happens so this was just unlucky for me. This truck is the first vehicle among many to actually fail like this so it is what it is.

I agree, it was just unlucky. Whether people like it or not, when you build a million engines, there will be failures. Hopefully the rest of it's life, the truck will be trouble free.

 

[theblet]

Did you ever get low oil pressure? Wondering if someone installed a bad oil filter.

 

[DeanM2]

A catastrophic failure at 6K miles is unheard of. Sounds like a complete lack of lubrication. My "guess" and its only a guess, is that when you took it to the dealer for the oil change, they drained the oil and forgot to add new oil.

 

[6of36]

A catastrophic failure at 6K miles is unheard of. Sounds like a complete lack of lubrication. My "guess" and its only a guess, is that when you took it to the dealer for the oil change, they drained the oil and forgot to add new oil.

It wouldn't last the week he drove after the service, with no oil. Things do break. A lifter may have exploded. Without the engine being torn down, they don't know what happened.