new member sad story........

[CaptCrunch]

Hi everyone....new member here. First of all I love these trucks and have been a Mopar fan since Richard Petty won the Daytona in 64. I have a sad story though with my experience with the 5th gen Rams. Hope I'm in the right forum here. I've lurked here for awhile and joined hoping someone here might know something that would help me or my story might help someone else. So, in 2020 I traded in my 2011 Laramie Hemi black over gold 4x4 1500. This was probably the best vehicle I've ever owned. I ordered and traded it in on a 2020 Longhorn 4x4 Ivory over brown with 22's and heavily optioned. Absolutely beautiful truck. After only 350 miles I had my first major problem a Catalyst failure. Sadly I ended up having a series of issues mostly involving the 12" display but also the transmission exhibited a weird issue where it would lock into first gear while in drive from a stop and not upshift without either shifting into park and back to drive or pushing the gear limit + button. FCA opened a star case on the truck and ended up eventually buying it back after a lemon law case was filed. It spent over 4 months at the dealership. I had no issues with the dealer But FCA handled the whole case very poorly. In the meantime I ordered another Ram. This time a Laramie (only way to get the 8.4 screen with the premium audio) 2022 4x4 offroad Sport with dealer installed cold air induction and really loaded . This truck is absolutely awesome Drives and runs killer.........love everything about it until.........750 miles in..............stuck in first gear!!!!............now I have a star case on this truck and FCA tells me I need to leave it at the dealershiip (who has already admitted with the last truck that they dont know how to fix it) until they can duplicate the problem. In perspective the first truck malfunctioned 3 times in 12,000 miles and spent months at the dealer and now with less than a thousand miles on this one they want me to do the same..........should I order a third???..........any advise??................Bueller ?...................thanks for any help.............I really just want it fixed but not sure how to proceed............

 

[Aseras]

Go to another dealer.

 

[n8zcc]

^^^This^^^
All RAM service departments were not created equally. It took me three attempts before I found a reasonably responsible service department.

 

[mikeru82]

Wow, 0 for 2...that's some bad luck. Sorry to hear about your issues. My family has owned 4 5th gens (2019 Rebel, 2020 Laramie, 2020 Limited, 2021 Limited), and the only issues were with my daughter's 2019 Rebel. She had her UC 8.4 nav system replaced, rear window replaced, and etorque battery replaced. No other issues for her truck since last summer. And her warranty covered everything. The other three 5th gens have been trouble free.

I agree with the others above. Find another dealership with a better service department. It won't guarantee you'll get a trouble free truck, but hopefully they will be better able to fix any issues that may surface.

 

[CaptCrunch]

thanks............my understanding is that after a STAR case is opened the dealer service dept has access to to the engineering arm of the factory and it was the factory that didn't know what to do............I really want this second truck fixed and I still feel these trucks are the best pickups ever made..........I live in a very rural part of the Ozarks on a river so not a lot dealer options. The dealer I bought it from is the biggest Ram dealer in the state.

 

[Aseras]

Star case is like ask a nurse. If they or your tech are too stupid to know what questions to ask or what procedures to follow they will never fix it or repeat the same mistakes. That's why you always try another dealer for things like this. It gives you a chance to have someone else look at it from another perspective. There's a reason lemon law crap has the 3 times in the shop thing. It's easily possible the shops will mess up the same thing. The last fix in lemon law is when they have to send in a rep to examine the car and that is usually when it gets taken seriously and not just get the car out quick as possible.

 

[Scap]

Please don't take this wrong. But the same driver getting two trucks with the same bizarro issue sounds like more than a coincidence.
Is there something you're doing that could be causing this? Are you going offroad and possibly getting something knocked loose?
Are you power washing the engine bay or underside and getting water forced up into a connector meant to stay dry? Are you somehow mashing the minus button and locking it into first gear by holding the bottom of the wheel when you drive?

Its just such a strange symptom that it really seems like it could have an easy answer.

Again, no offense intended, just trying to see if there's something unique to how you're operating the truck.

 

[OldMarine]

the 8 speed ZF transmissions in our trucks are, in my opinion, the best on the market. Butter smooth, and rarely fail. Don't lose faith, whatever the issue is on yours, it's not because these are "bad" transmissions. My buddy just had his 10 speed replaced in his 2019 F-150....google "10 speed ford trans problems" and you will feel a WHOLE lot better having a RAM. Good luck sir. Semper Fi.

 

[n8zcc]

my understanding is that after a STAR case is opened the dealer service dept has access to to the engineering arm of the factory

Well, you would think so but a STAR case is simply a helpline to the mother ship staffed with kids that read from service bay manuals.

Let me tell you a story about a brand new 2015 3500 that had a brake controller that would stop providing proportional braking to a trailer once the vehicle fell below 30 MPH. The result was being pushed into an intersection.
The dealer did not know how to troubleshoot the issue, fair enough, so they opened a STAR case. The STAR people told them to connect a DC blower motor up to the trailer brake output and see if the motor spun, and it did. So they determined there was nothing wrong. Remember, I said the issue occurred when the vehicle fell below 30 MPH which they didn't bother to check simply becue they couldn't.
I ended up documenting the issue along with scope shots of the trailer brake output signal and sent this off to the NTSB. After several months, I was contacted about the issue and told there was a fix. They reflashed my trailer brake controller and the ABS module.

STAR case equates to appeasing the owner only.

 

[CaptCrunch]

I don't believe it's a transmission problem....the transmission shifts great. The whole drivetrain on the truck is super tight and feels great. I think it's a software issue.

 

[rubrduk]

Star case is like ask a nurse. If they or your tech are too stupid to know what questions to ask or what procedures to follow they will never fix it or repeat the same mistakes. That's why you always try another dealer for things like this. It gives you a chance to have someone else look at it from another perspective. There's a reason lemon law crap has the 3 times in the shop thing. It's easily possible the shops will mess up the same thing. The last fix in lemon law is when they have to send in a rep to examine the car and that is usually when it gets taken seriously and not just get the car out quick as possible.

This nails it completely,...I was told a factory engineer/technician would "work on my truck" which later I found that it was a factory technician recommending or approving parts to replace (aka they fired off the parts canon). They just put in a phone call or a trouble ticket, and the resulting answer is only as good as the diagnosis and questions asked.

 

[c3k]

The odds of two trucks to the same owner having a (rare) transmission issue is...astronomically small.

The common factor should be examined. Not saying it's your fault, but what kind of driving do you do with these? Do you put in D, 2 wheel drive, and go highway cruising? If not, what do you do? (<- again, not laying blame, just trying to get a better idea of what's going on).

 

[banditsc]

Your not accidentally hitting the manual shift button on the steering wheel? If you touched that on accident then you could get stuck in 1st. Really low probability that two different trucks you have had have the same issue when nobody else is having that issue.

 

[mikeru82]

Your not accidentally hitting the manual shift button on the steering wheel? If you touched that on accident then you could get stuck in 1st. Really low probability that two different trucks you have had have the same issue when nobody else is having that issue.

The transmission control unit will not allow the transmission to shift in a way which would cause damage to it or the engine. In other words, you can't shift to 1st gear at highway speeds.

 

[jdmartin]

Nothing to offer here. I've had my 2019 for 3+ years and 25k miles and no problems really at all. Drive train is really fantastic on this vehicle. But if I were you I wouldn't be walking under any ladders or adopting any black cats from the shelter...

 

[banditsc]

The transmission control unit will not allow the transmission to shift in a way which would cause damage to it or the engine. In other words, you can't shift to 1st gear at highway speeds.

He said it happens from a stop, not while driving.

 

[mikeru82]

He said it happens from a stop, not while driving.

Sorry, my bad. I misunderstood what was going on with this. You're right, not shifting out of 1st could be caused by the - shift limit button.

 

[rubrduk]

Your not accidentally hitting the manual shift button on the steering wheel? If you touched that on accident then you could get stuck in 1st. Really low probability that two different trucks you have had have the same issue when nobody else is having that issue.

You are not wrong in your troubleshooting,...but I have to play the devil's advocate and ask who are these dealer and manufacture technicians that would let a truck get go all the way through the lemon law buyback process without checking the gear limit selector.

 

[Cbty2050]

This dealer needs to install a flight recorder. It will show them/star/engineering what is going on.

 

[Aseras]

This dealer needs to install a flight recorder. It will show them/star/engineering what is going on.

They don't want to know. Neither Chrysler or the dealership.