Truck spazs out while driving, key fob not recognized

[TCP]

I have an interesting problem that I haven't heard before or could find in a search:

2019 5th gen Lonestar 4x4

Driving on highway, all kinds of error messages pop up, power stearing goes out, windshield wipers start going.

Some errors include:
- Traction control
- Parking Brake
- Airbags
- TPMS sensors not working

When I parked the truck, turned the engine off, opened the driver door, locked the door, closed the door, it honked and unlocked like I left the keyfob in. I did not. I locked the truck and closed the door and it didn't do that again. When I came back, the truck did not respond to the fob. Opening the truck with the key from the fob caused the alarm to go off. I could not silence the alarm with the fob. I could not start the vehicle with the push button or remote start on the fob. The fob lock, unlock, and siren did not work. I replaced the batteries in the fob, still doesn't work (red light appears on fob when I press the buttons).

Trying to start the truck by pressing the start button on the dash with the fob did not work.

I am going to tow the truck home and try the second fob. At this time it seems like the fob has unlinked from the truck.

Thoughts?

Edit: sitting in the driver seat, I closed the door let a vehicle by, and the truck beeped its horn and unlocked the doors. I tried starting the truck with no luck.

 

[vincentw56]

I have an interesting problem that I haven't heard before or could find in a search:

2019 5th gen Lonestar 4x4

Driving on highway, all kinds of error messages pop up, power stearing goes out, windshield wipers start going.

Some errors include:
- Traction control
- Parking Brake
- Airbags
- TPMS sensors not working

When I parked the truck, turned the engine off, opened the driver door, locked the door, closed the door, it honked and unlocked like I left the keyfob in. I did not. I locked the truck and closed the door and it didn't do that again. When I came back, the truck did not respond to the fob. Opening the truck with the key from the fob caused the alarm to go off. I could not silence the alarm with the fob. I could not start the vehicle with the push button or remote start on the fob. The fob lock, unlock, and siren did not work. I replaced the batteries in the fob, still doesn't work (red light appears on fob when I press the buttons).

Trying to start the truck by pressing the start button on the dash with the fob did not work.

I am going to tow the truck home and try the second fob. At this time it seems like the fob has unlinked from the truck.

Thoughts?

Probably rear window leak and bad RF hub now.

 

[TCP]

Probably rear window leak and bad RF hub now.

It does seem like something electrical, I will ask the dealsership to take a look at that, thank you. I believe that is a TSB or recall? I will do some research when I get home. Hopefully that is something Ram will cover...

 

[grimreefer]

A bad main battery can cause all kinds of mayhem.

 

[TCP]

A bad main battery can cause all kinds of mayhem.

It's a new battery from AutoZone 3 months ago, but it could be defective. I will see about testing it.

My only other vehicle is a motorcycle though (so I can't just disconnect it and take it to AutoZone. I'm holding out to get a Ramcharger). Maybe I'll try jumping it tomorrow.

Good idea, thank you.

I did get the second fob and used it to press the Start Button. When I did, the red light lit up on the fob, but nothing happened.

When I locked the truck and walked away the truck again beeped/honked three times and unlocked. I locked it again and walked away and it stayed locked that time.

 

[vinnieloo]

I second the rear window leak into the RF hub. Mine leaked and caused weird FOB error messages. Sealed it up and put a towel along the back. Only temporary and getting window replaced. Mine did not meet the TSB.

 

[kapinallinen2]

I third on the hub.

 

[TCP]

@RamCares , my truck is at 154,000 miles. If this issue is caused by what the TSB covers, will Ram do a goodwill warranty repair for the crack and RF hub for a 5th gen early adopter (bought in 2018)? The TSB extends the warranty to 8 years or 150,000 miles. Most of that is highway miles because I live in Houston, TX.

Thank you,
Thomas

P.S.: I'm looking forward to the Ramcharger!

 

[TCP]

Most of that is highway miles because I live in Houston, TX.

...where we've had a lot of heavy rain recently...

 

[TCP]

I had just bought a cake at a grocery store for a party that I was headed to last night. I held the cake in my lap as I rode passenger in the tow truck back home instead of going to the party. I ended up giving the cake to my neighbors as it was too much for me to eat, and I couldn't take it to work today riding on my motorcycle (only other vehicle until maybe I get the Ramcharger - sad that it was delayed, but hopefully more time to iron out any issues like leaky windows... ).

Picture of my non-starting truck being loaded onto a flatbed truck:

 

[RamCares]

@RamCares , my truck is at 154,000 miles. If this issue is caused by what the TSB covers, will Ram do a goodwill warranty repair for the crack and RF hub for a 5th gen early adopter (bought in 2018)? The TSB extends the warranty to 8 years or 150,000 miles. Most of that is highway miles because I live in Houston, TX.

Thank you,
Thomas

P.S.: I'm looking forward to the Ramcharger!

Hi @TCP

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Please private message us with details of your concerns and question, so we can take a further look into this for you.

Gia
Ram Cares

 

[TCP]

Dealerships are going to dealership.

I told them about the TSB and RF Hub possibility when I gave them my truck on Monday. They came back today with the attached pictures showing water marks from a leak from the glass, and said "Radio frequency hub has corrosion in the connector receptacles, as indicated by the greenish hues on the connector prongs in the photo. The corrosion is a result of water dripping down the bottom of the rear glass as shown in the next photo. The associated connectors that feed into the radio frequency hub also have corrosion and need to be replaced as well."

Their recommendations are:
- replace radio frequency hub $630.44
- replace body harness $4,752.58

I imagine the RF Hub is probably fried and needs to be replaced (and leak fixed), but I'm not so sure about the body harness.... I've cleaned many electrical contacts that had corrosion and they've worked just fine. I'd rather not spend $5k and have them rip out all of the interior body panels and potentially cause a different issue if some wire accidentally gets sliced.

About two months ago, the backup lines on the backup camera disappeared. No static lines, no dynamic lines, nothing in the settings to turn the lines off completely. I wonder if this might also be related to the RF hub or some other corrosion issue.

---

Once in a blue moon, I also get the “Shift to Park” message, where the transmission seems to go to nuetral as I'm driving, and I have to shift to P before shifting back to D. When it does happen, it happens in one particular spot where the conditions are almost always the same: engine was off for 8 hours, started engine 2 minutes ago, coasting in a turn, then accelerating in the same turn. The solution for most people seems to be cleaning the Throttle Body and possibly resetting the PCM to factory. I will ask them how much they want to charge for that.

 

[TCP]

Here's a video of it spazing out a few months ago, it was a one-off before the TSB warranty expired, but RAM won't honor it. After the past two weeks of trying to reach out to them, they finally called me back and said they will not honor the warranty or give me a goodwill. "@RamCares" might be an oxymoron, like "Microsoft Works".

Tomorrow I will go to the dealership and ask them to show me the issue since the pictures they sent were potato quality, then pull out a can of electric cleaner and a brush.

Maybe Toyota will make a truck with an electric drivetrain and gas generator (a la Ramcharger)?

 

[TCP]

In the video, it looks like none of the truck's safety systems were working. I was on the highway when this happened. Thankfully no one hit me, nor did I have to apply any defensive driving that required traction control or ABS.

If RAM programmers have the hazard lights flash instead of the windshield wipers activating, that would probably be more helpful next time (or at least both since I suppose it could be raining when something like this happens again for other people.

I'm off to report this safety issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Hopefully there will be a recall in which RAM will have to pay me back then (and protect their other customers' safety)

 

[TCP]

Everyone that this happens to should use https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem

I will also make a report about the Shift to Park issue that happens when you press the accelerator pedal. That is also a safety issue if you're trying to get out of the way from another vehicle hitting you.

 

[TCP]

These are the safety-related messages that my truck displayed:

Service Airbag System
Service Electric Stability Control
Service Trailer Brake System
Service Park Brake
Service Antilock Brake System
Service Power Steering

I can confirm that power steering did not work, which leads me to believe the other systems listed did not work either.

I could not turn on the hazard lights or use the turn indicator lights.

 

[TCP]

In case anyone is curious. I stopped by the dealership today to look the issue in-person, then when I got home, I wrote this email to the NHTSA:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reference to the report made over the phone yesterday (17 July 2025), Office of Defects Investigation Number _____.

This follow-up includes two (2) or more items which I forgot to include in the verbal report yesterday, clarification, and new evidence obtained today (18 July 2025).

Approximately three (3) months ago, the 2019 RAM 1500, VIN: _____, experienced a safety incident while driving at 65 miles per hour on cruise control. I recorded two (2) minutes of video of the safety incident:
(YouTube link)

During the above safety incident, I observed the following safety systems malfunctioning:
- Airbag System
- Electric Stability Control
- Trailer Brake System
- Park Brake
- Antilock Brake System
- Power Steering

During the safety incident, I confirmed the following safety and equipment deficiencies:
- hazard lights were not operational
- turn signal indicator lights were not operational
- power steering was not operational
- speedometer was not operational
- engine RPM gauge was not operational
- engine coolant temperature gauge was not operational
- engine oil temperature gauge was not operational
- fuel gauge was not operational
- the transmission did not shift normally

Additionally:
- cruise control automatically disengaged when the safety incident started
- the distracting windshield wipers could not be disengaged

The message on the vehicle's display instructed me (the driver) to continue a desired location, so I drove home per its instructions with non-operational safety equipment, where I then turned off the engine. The following day, the truck operated normally.

Almost three (3) weeks ago on 28 June 2025, the vehicle experienced another safety incident with the same effects while driving on a busy highway. After turning off the engine, the vehicle would not respond to the remote key fob. Placing the remote key fob against the Start Button and pressing the Start Button did nothing. The truck was towed to a dealership, where the dealership removed the rear seats and fabric liner and discovered evidence of a water leak and corrosion on the electrical pins of the non-functional radio frequency hub module (RFHM), hereby known as "RF Hub".

I have reported the findings to RAM/Mopar (the vehicle manufacturer) and asked the dealership to advocate to the manufacturer on my behalf. The manufacturer finally responded to me yesterday (17 July 2025), and they declined to fix the manufacturing safety defect.

Today (18 July 2025), I inspected the vehicle at the dealership where I found:
- a crack in the top of the rear window frame
- evidence of water flow from the crack down to where the RF Hub is located
- evidence of water flow on the RF Hub mounts
- discoloration on the electrical pins of the RF Hub
- discoloration due to material fatigue in another spot on the window frame
(I was trained in materials science prior to being a licensed civilian engineering officer on U.S Navy ships.)

The dealership reported that the RF Hub was "fried" (non-operational) and needed to be replaced. I have authorized replacement of the RF Hub and will get the leak fixed.

Fourteen (14) pictures of the evidence will be attached to a second email. The water flow is evidenced by the remaining lines in the dust.

The crack was not evident when I installed the rear "dash" camera with double-sided tape (visible in the picture evidence), 6-7 months ago (late January 2025).

---

There is at least one (1) Technical Service Bulletin for the crack at the top of the rear window:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10194060-9999.pdf

There was also a Warranty Bulletin which I never received:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10244427-9999.pdf

I purchased the vehicle with 100 miles on the odometer in late December 2018, and have driven the vehicle for approximately 154,000 miles in those 78 months. I average approximately 1,975 miles per month. Three (3) months ago when the first safety incident occurred, the mileage would have been approximately 148,000. The warranty extension given by the Warranty Bulletin that I was not aware of, expired later at 150,000 miles.

The Warranty Bulletin and corresponding warranty extension are not adequate to protect people from the manufacturing safety defect, and I request that a Safety Recall be issued to protect drivers, vehicle occupants, people in other vehicles, and pedestrians, like me.

During my research of this safety incident, I have found in Internet forums, many other reported instances like mine.

---

As for the other safety issue reported where the truck will shift into neutral when the accelerator pedal is pressed; I have authorized the dealership to physically clean and inspect the throttle body, fuel injectors, and re-flash/re-program the powertrain control module (PCM) to factory settings.

During my research of this safety issue, I have found in Internet forums, many other reported instances like mine, and cleaning or replacing the throttle body appears to at least temporarily fix the safety issue for most vehicles, but not all vehicles.

---

My vehicle and I, are available at your request.

Sincerely,
(name)
(address)
(phone)
(email)

 

[TCP]

If anyone else experiences this, please see this thread:
I encourage people to make safety reports with the NHTSA

 

[John Kloehr]

... After the past two weeks of trying to reach out to them, they finally called me back and said they will not honor the warranty or give me a goodwill. "@RamCares" might be an oxymoron, like "Microsoft Works".

Never have heard of a single member of any forum finding a benefit to contacting RamCares (or DodgeCares). It must be a horribly frustrating job at corporate to constantly reach out to members or respond to requests and not being able to ever accomplish a damn thing for a customer.

Of course, I would still love to hear they did help someone here. One would think there would be at least one person somewhere.

 

[TCP]

Never have heard of a single member of any forum finding a benefit to contacting RamCares

I don't know if they helped, because I contacted Mopar on my own a year or so ago, when the bearings in the eTorque and belt tensioners were defective, and they got them replaced under goodwill.

I have later confirmed from Mopar, that they only do one (1) goodwill repair per vehicle, so make it count.

(I also learned that the dealership quoted Mopar $300 for the belt tensioner replacement, whereas the same dealership quoted me $600.)