Back in Service - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited March 2015 in Ram
imageBack in Service - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Our 2014 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel is back in service after an extended stay at our local dealership to investigate why it abruptly stalled.

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  • yellowbalyellowbal Member Posts: 234
    Fair enough response from Dodge. Thanks for the detailed entry.
  • jasond52jasond52 Member Posts: 37
    Quoting myself from a 2/28 post: "No ignition system, but the fuel delivery system is much more complicated. Modern ignition systems don't fail, but get some dirt, water or air in a diesels fuel system and you have a major pain to deal with."

    Yep.
  • 300zx_lover300zx_lover Member Posts: 7
    Good, detailed post. I'm glad that Fiat Chrysler Dodge Ram Trucks is going to get back to you once the parts are analyzed.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    I know you were TOLD that you would get feedback on the engineering analysis, but I'm not holding my breath. Too many possible legal and proprietary information issues, IMHO.
  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    Wow, I mean Wow. The Ram Engineering Team? Long list of parts all covered by Warranty? Two possibilities. Either this vehicle has enough uniqueness to where they are legitimately are interested, so they can fix the issue going forward OR its because of the exposure of your website. I'm betting on the latter. I seriously doubt the Engineering Team has time to address issues from the nearly 450,000 Dodge Rams sold just in 2014.
  • zimtheinvaderzimtheinvader Member Posts: 580
    "Waiting for the parts to arrive from their various warehouses took most of the time"

    It is the craziest thing, there are companies now that will transport shipments overnight!

    I appreciate all the attention the repair got and may you told them you weren't in a hurry but overnighting parts isn't new.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    The more items that got removed and then replaced at the dealership...especially ones that are not normally removed - ever - during the life of the vehicle...the more trouble later. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen things done at a dealership service department with not enough time taken, not enough care taken, or both...I could retire.
  • reminderreminder Member Posts: 383
    Let's not forget that the primary reason for pursuing quick answers is to lessen the likelihood that customers die from such a failure. A lesson GM & Toyota have learned.
  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    fordson1 said:

    The more items that got removed and then replaced at the dealership...especially ones that are not normally removed - ever - during the life of the vehicle...the more trouble later. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen things done at a dealership service department with not enough time taken, not enough care taken, or both...I could retire.

    Excellent point. I bet this vehicle will wind up being a lemon down the road.
  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147
    edited March 2015
    I respectfully disagree with the statement that this is not a journalist-specific response; I simply don't believe that this level of care would have gone into a private owner's vehicle.

    As time goes by maybe I'll be shown wrong regarding the care they show for their everyday (non-journalist) customers, but MY OPINION is that Chrysler has a long, long climb ahead of them out of a deep, deep pit in regards to engineering, quality, and customer service - and this may be evidence of them starting that, or (as I do believe) it's simply them providing damage control on a very public occurrence.
  • banhughbanhugh Member Posts: 315
    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2015
    banhugh said:

    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!


    I guess BMW didn't get the memo about the multiple cylinder misfires in the fleet 328i xDrive Gran Touring.
  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147
    banhugh said:

    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!

    I think this is exactly right.
  • misterfusionmisterfusion Member Posts: 471
    edited March 2015
    Well, the dealer replicated the long crank and saw the trouble codes as soon as Dan brought it to them. So they could not pull the "unable to replicate" routine.

    Whether or not it was the red carpet treatment for a journalist, the painstaking dissection of the fuel system is a good thing: Either it will uncover a systemic fault that can be addressed on vehicles that are driven by average Joes -- or, it was a one-off problem with this truck, in which case the average Joes should not have to worry about it.

    I wanted to add that I think the dealer has a LOT to do with how this all went down. I am familiar with two CDJR dealers. Simply put, one would have gone to these lengths for me, and the other would not. (Personal experience in both cases.)
  • tatermctatumstatermctatums Member Posts: 107
    edited March 2015
    Holy hell, that parts list screams shotgun tactic (we don't know what is wrong but we are going to keep replacing things until it works correctly). Oh and if anyone is curious, total list price on just the PARTS on the repair order is $11,868.70 (does not include tax or labor). Granted Chrysler paid for all of it, but still, that's not cheap.
  • banhughbanhugh Member Posts: 315
    stever said:

    banhugh said:

    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!


    I guess BMW didn't get the memo about the multiple cylinder misfires in the fleet 328i xDrive Gran Touring.
    That's because Dan Edmunds from Edmunds.com didn't tweet anything about the BMW?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2015
    Could be - he wasn't behind the wheel for the multiple misfires adventure and not everyone tweets like Dan does. BMW probably saw this one today:


  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    So you still don't think that there is a shortage of qualified technicians? Do you still think the machines tell the techs what to do? With all of the talent around here what would have made for a good report would have been for a couple of them get together and fix this themselves, and then "IF" they succeeded we would compare how much time they invested to what the few remaining qualified techs would actually get paid to do the job. The forums are full of the results from what the dealers and manufacturers have been doing to the trade for the last twenty to thirty years. The worst part is how they get to sit back and watch the blame be directed at everywhere, except for where it really belongs. This is only going to get worse until the real source of the issue is brought front and center and dealt with. Even then it will still get worse for a while because all of the trends have to be reversed and above all that means have the kind of pay, benefits and working conditions that would be attractive to a large percentage of the readers here and then it will be another fifteen to twenty years as they learn the skills to be the techs that you need.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2015
    Sounds like the real tech was a regional rep - employed by the manufacturer. And it sounds like even then about all they did was swap a bunch of parts out, and sent the lot to Detroit for "analysis". Hey, that didn't work - let's throw some more parts at it.

    One of these years the manufacturers will figure out that these systems need to be plug and play. The consumer downtime will be minimized and the "bad" parts will be sent to a regional center for evaluation and repair. Right now half the time you have to remove a fender liner just to replace the battery.

    After all, dropping the cradle on some cars to ease a timing chain replacement isn't a big deal and is one of the easiest parts of the job. So have the local "lube techs" drop the cradle and just poke a new loaner engine in and be on your way until the factory techs 500 miles away refurb the original one. It'll be a lot easier with EVs.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    stever said:

    Sounds like the real tech was a regional rep - employed by the manufacturer. And it sounds like even then about all they did was swap a bunch of parts out, and sent the lot to Detroit for "analysis". Hey, that didn't work - let's throw some more parts at it.

    One of these years the manufacturers will figure out that these systems need to be plug and play. The consumer downtime will be minimized and the "bad" parts will be sent to a regional center for evaluation and repair. Right now half the time you have to remove a fender liner just to replace the battery.

    After all, dropping the cradle on some cars to ease a timing chain replacement isn't a big deal and is one of the easiest parts of the job. So have the local "lube techs" drop the cradle and just poke a new loaner engine in and be on your way until the factory techs 500 miles away refurb the original one. It'll be a lot easier with EVs.

    "It sounds like" isn't what it is. "It's cheaper to buy back a few cars once in a while than it is to have a fully trained and capable technician workforce". That's a quote. Let's see if we have any sleuths here who can find out who said it.

    "One of these years" well in the meantime that helps make sure that writers have things to write about too. Now who's turn in the barrel is it today?

    "So have the local "lube techs" Oh, so your kids are going to tech school. Great, cause nobody else wants their kids to become techs.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "My kid is an engineer at the regional GM vehicle resource facility" has a nice ring to it though. :)
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    edited March 2015
    So maybe we are talking about his/her? kids.....
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    tatermctatums said:

    Holy hell, that parts list screams shotgun tactic (we don't know what is wrong but we are going to keep replacing things until it works correctly). Oh and if anyone is curious, total list price on just the PARTS on the repair order is $11,868.70 (does not include tax or labor). Granted Chrysler paid for all of it, but still, that's not cheap.

    Have to agree...the idea that you are going to remove all these parts from the install in which something is failing, put them on a test bench and the failure, which may be just one item and may be a relationship between items (which you have now destroyed) doesn't always work out. You are basically changing a million variables at once.

    This is parts replacement, not diagnostics.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    A qualified tech would get paid .3hrs to diagnose a failure just like this one under warranty. The labor times that they would get paid under warranty to do the repair are unachievable by more than 95% of the population even if they had more than ten years experience doing the work. The most avid DIY'ers would do well to complete the repair in triple the time that a tech will be paid to do it. Do this for a few decades and one should really wonder why there are any techs at all. IMO real car people wouldn't want to see this happening, and once they did would start doing something about it. Some writers should investigate this at the ground level, not from the perspective that one would get handed to them like you see put together by the for profit trade schools.

    "This is parts replacement, not diagnostics."

    The techs don't get paid for diagnostics. What's worse is they can make more money flushing brake fluid, cooling systems, transmissions, and doing fuel injection services then they can fixing trucks like this RAM. That's not going to change until the consumers make the dealers change this. Continue to fail to do that and you can expect even more threads like this one and http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/15080/chevrolet/malibu/2011-malibu-engine-power-reduced#latest
    and
    http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/13798/chevrolet/equinox/2011-chevy-equinox-problems#latest
    and........
  • stuntman_mikestuntman_mike Member Posts: 57
    banhugh said:

    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!

    You conveniently ignored the hard starting and Check Engine light / Trouble Codes that were still present once the truck got to the dealership. But go ahead and keep hating, hater.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    His views represent about 30% of the consumers that repair techs have to try and serve on a regular basis and they have a significant impact on any new talent that would come into the trade. Its tough enough to make it as a technician with all of the politics in the workplace, and how demanding the job is both physically and mentally. Then we have to deal with that kind of pressure too. I have seen a lot of people who had real potential to be great technicians leave the trade because of how they were treated by the customers as well as the management in the shops.
  • rmhpmirmhpmi Member Posts: 37
    fordson1 said:

    The more items that got removed and then replaced at the dealership...especially ones that are not normally removed - ever - during the life of the vehicle...the more trouble later. .

    An excellent point. If this were My vehicle, I would already be figuring out how to get away from it, certainly before the warranty expired. I hear the comments about this being some sort of anomaly unique to this single vehicle. The vehicle is now LESS than it was from the factory and I doubt it will ever be reliable long-term.

    Edmunds, do us a favor and run a 100,000 mile LONG term test on this specific RAM.
  • nospark15nospark15 Member Posts: 2
    This is a wide spread problem. Ram like many other manufactures are using the Bosch cp4 series HPFP. This pump, when it fails (which is common) sends metal throughout the fuel system. This is why they replace everything in it. All you need to do is Google Bosch cp4 problems and you will come up with day's and day's of reading. Lots of victims to the cp4 pumps, some lucky to have their warranty cover the repairs, some not so lucky and have to pay in excess of $11k to get their new vehicles fixed. BUT, just because its fixed now doesn't mean the HPFP is going to be ok. Tic tic tic boom, pump fails and sends metal through the fuel system once again.

    BOSCH... FIX YOUR JUNK!

    Also I have to laugh... Fiat/Ram is well aware of this problem, I guess they didn't want to comment on it.
  • rwatsonrwatson Member Posts: 144
    stuntman_mike said:

    banhugh said:

    If it was a regular person with the same problem the response would be: Dealer cannot replicate the issue... And you have your truck back, untouched by the end of the day!

    You conveniently ignored the hard starting and Check Engine light / Trouble Codes that were still present once the truck got to the dealership. But go ahead and keep hating, hater.
    Some folks have had plenty of experiences like this and seen the game played many times. I'm on my 6th AC compressor on a 9 year-old car and have heard nothing but "we've never heard of this before" each time it failed, with a couple times of "Could not duplicate" as well.

    As far as "Keep Hating, Hater," please grow up and leave the fan club.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    edited March 2015
    Six AC compressors in a nine year old car? Sounds like someone is simply slamming an AC compressor instead of fixing the root issue. Describe the failure, is the compressor starving for lubrication? Has anyone ever put AC stop leak into the system? How much oil is in the system? Too much is as bad as not enough. Have any other components been replaced such as the receiver drier or accumulator? What about the condenser? Has anyone tested it for restriction?

    Seeing multiple compressor failures isn't unheard of. It happens a lot when price dictates that someone only does part of the job instead of servicing the system correctly when a compressor fails.
  • ekacboonekacboon Member Posts: 1
    edited March 2015
    If you did not get preferred treatment then explain to me,
    Why my 2014 Ram Laramie Limited $58,000 ECO-DIESEL
    Has been at the dealership with a blown turbo from 1-15-2015
    And is still apart and not fixed?
    as of 3-06-2015 with parts still on back-order?

    Now Waiting for a replacement truck that can take 30 more days to complete...
    and you got yours done in 12?
    Captain Obvious visited your repair shop for saving face...
  • affaldaffald Member Posts: 1
    Would someone who had an interest in ford or chevy be able to slip a little something into the fuel tank? This is one high profile Ram, think about it.
  • dman2112dman2112 Member Posts: 3
    I agree with posts here. They got preferential treatment. Mine dies with 2700 miles on the odo. Took them three days to tow it to the dealership. The tow company scratched the drivers door, and its on its second day of head scratching. I vote that they take this long term road test to the end and show the truth
  • dman2112dman2112 Member Posts: 3
    OK. So I officially beat Dan Edmunds record on his RAM. My Ecodiesel is now at the dealership on day 13. They spent 3 days going back and forth with detroit and now they want to replace the turbo. I cant wait till they replace it and its still broken. That will make it 3 times and easily 20 days in the shop for the same problem...qualifying me for NJ lemon law.
  • jeepkillerjeepkiller Member Posts: 2
    Most of would take that issue into the dealer, and get the standard "all Dodge Ram 3.0 diesels do that" and get minimal attention. I cant believe that 99.999% of a regular buyer would get their vehicle checked so well for that issue.
    I'm still waiting to see more info about people finding metal particles in their PCV recirculation system as posted on youtube.
    Common sense tells you that sutff cant be good going back into an intercooler or turbocharger.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    jeepkiller said:

    .
    I'm still waiting to see more info about people finding metal particles in their PCV recirculation system as posted on youtube.
    .

    Got a link?

  • errbinerrbin Member Posts: 2
    I just picked up \a new EcoDiesel on 4/13 with 139 miles on it. At mile 351 I had a shudder and loss of power and the service electronic throttle message came on with the check engine light. The truck went into limp mode. Since it was Saturday afternoon the dealer asked that I bring it in Monday morning. I tried to start it a few more times to see if the code would clear and then the truck stalled (still in park) and a "low oil pressure" warning came up, even though the oil level is fine. Now it is stuck in my garage and will have to be towed.

    I have not added any fuel, DEF, etc. I have not towed or been rough on the truck. It has been less than a week.

    I am so disappointed as I am buying this truck to last me and my family the next 10 years+, but now I worry that something is seriously wrong with the design or my specific truck (e.g. bad wire harness).

    After reading this review and several other owner stories I am afraid that they (FCA) still doesn't know what is going on with this issue, which means it will likely re-occur.

    Edmunds - I'd love to see a more updated report on the issue from FCA since they are doing "analysis" on your parts. Thanks.
  • errbinerrbin Member Posts: 2
    I got my truck back. Apparently they said that a hose clamp between the intercooler and the turbo was loose enough that the pressure pushed it off over time. This lead to a Mass Airflow Sensor error which put the car into limp mode. Since the turbo was not working properly, the engine stalled and set the low oil pressure warning.

    The dealer also updated the TCM and PCM software which is a bit surprising since the truck was built only 2 months ago (Feb 15).

    The diesel mechanic at the dealership said that he has seen a wide range of problems on these trucks. Everyone they sell comes back in for one problem or another he said. I hope they have figured things out with the latest software updates.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,840
    Is 1+1 always 2? Or said another way some of that adds up and some of it needs a little more detail. If the hose slipped from the intercooler and created a leak that is something that has been seen on a number of different vehicles. Basically the turbo spools up and with little to no restriction on the intake side eventually the airflow through the MAF sensor gets high enough that the PCM interprets it as either simply implausible, or else possibly capable of causing mechanical damage so the PCM shuts the engine down. That part of the report makes sense, but the oil pressure warning doesn't hold up as being related. There is a gap in the information there that really needs some more detail added to it.

    As far as the software updates go, they tend to come out pretty frequently anymore, and in many cases (Chrysler in particular) if you up date the PCM, there is almost always a companion TCM revision that goes with it. The thing about software updates is there are lots of things that are addressed with software updates and it could be as benign as something related to scan tool communications and bi-directional controls for enhanced diagnostics and have nothing to do with the original vehicle controls. Sometimes the updates are released and there is no information at all for the technicians that describes what is being addressed with the update.
  • kylekaikylekai Member Posts: 1
    I had the exact same thing happen to me, except it was with my 2011 Silverado HD diesel truck. Initially the "replace fuel filter" light would come on. Replaced the filter, but the light came back on. The "check engine" light only came on once. The worst part was I was 1,500 miles from home, on a camping trip, ruining our vacation by having several dealers try and figure out what was wrong (none did).

    When I returned home to San Diego, the local Chevy dealer told me the issue: metal fragments in the fuel line, which caused low fuel pressure, hence the "replace fuel filter" warning. Dealer replaced the entire fuel system. It took about 10 days, but was all under warranty. I also was told this is a rare occurrence (lucky me). I have a feeling this can happen on any diesel that uses the same fuel line components, which Chevy and RAM seem to do. Hopefully the cause has been fixed because I plan to purchase an Ecodiesel soon.
  • greenbunchgreenbunch Member Posts: 1
    Sure wish I saw this before I bought my RAM Ecodiesel. Mine has spent 39 consecutive days at the dealer before its 1st anniversary and its going back for more work next week. Electrical meltdown, everything from AC to the wiper motor, cruise control. What a nightmare and now I'm about to hit 36000 miles. After that no help from FCA. Buyer beware.
  • lenny413lenny413 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel that has stalled THREE times now! Once while driving 75 mph on the Kansas Turnpike (with my wife and toddler in the vehicle), once while driving 65 mph through Oklahoma City (my wife driving with my toddler in the back), and once while pulling away from a rural intersection stop sign (with my wife and toddler in the vehicle). The only common parameter I could see is that we were at approximately 1/4 tank of fuel each time. Its at the dealer ( 2nd dealer) for the third time as I write this (for over three weeks now), and they still can't find anything wrong. I don't want to put my wife/toddler back in this vehicle if I get it back with no fix in site. (Not to mention the shift lever recall.)
  • bryan_sbryan_s Member Posts: 1
    My EcoDiesel is doing the same as you describe. Same codes and the dealer is saying that it is the fuel pump. Did they come back and say it was a manufacturer defect?
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