2018 RAM PROMASTER Complaints

During some cases of downhill driving, the Brake system warning light will come on. I believe this issue is tied to a combination of longer and steeper downhill drives when the angle indicated in road side sinage is no less than 6%. Minimal braking ton control the decent is used. Each time this occurs, I take the nearest off ramp to pull over to a stop and turn off the engine. My visual and hand-test of each wheel/tire temperature finds in my opinion, the temps to be quite nominal. On the last trip, a digital laser thermometer also indicated a good balance across the four wheels/tires, with no issues to be concerned with. Under the hood, the Master cylinder, ABS controller, Power Brake unit, brake fluid vessel and brake lines were all cool to the touch. Brake fluid in the vessel is clear and full. Each time the engine is restarted, the warning light is off and the drive can be continued with no further incident unless a similar long and relatively steep downhill is encountered. Time of day and outside temperature seem to not matter. Safety is compromised when I cannot trust that the warning light is, or is not indicating a real problem Reference RAM PROMASTER 3500, VIN [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

I am not contacting NTSA to report a new safety concern but rather reporting that a fix addressing a known safety concern is not working. The concern is associated with a recall notice of 2015-2018 FCA vehicles with 4 cylinder Tigershark engines (a pertinent excerpt of the notice is shown below with emphasis added). The recall is to check for excess oil consumption which could trigger a vehicle stall, a serious safely concern. To address this potential problem the recall notice authorizes a oil consumption inspection which basically involves the inspection of oil level on the vehicle’s dipstick after it is driven for a while to measure if excess oil consumption has occurred. The problem with this inspection is that it requires the vehicle to be returned to the dealership after 1500 to 1700 mile interval. According to FCA, any exceedance of this short mileage window invalidates the inspection. This is a problem for individuals that use their vehicle primarily for long road trips. The conditions of the inspection are not practical. I contacted FCA to authorize the test be completed after 3000 miles (the dealer indicated the test would not be accepted by FCA because the 1700 mile requirement was exceeded). They showed no flexibility on the required test parameter and really couldn’t explain why the narrow window for reinspection was technically sound. They had the audacity to state that if I was to have the inspection repeated, I would have to pay for it. The inspection to detect excessive oil consumption presumably resulted from the manufacturer selling defective engines. A two hundred mile window for the reinspection is so narrow that the recall notice to address a potential safety issue associated with the excess oil consumption should be considered a sham recall notice.

Driving on the expressway and the electrical gages started acting erratic then the motor turned off while driving. When the vehicle turned off we lost all control of the vehicle at 70 MPH. We hit the brakes hard causing traffic issues and stopped in traffic and could not move and had to call a tow truck to move the vehicle. Towed the vehicle to the dealer that said the motor was bad and that FCA would have to replace it. We were told prior to this happening that the van had recalls but ours was fine.

Vehicle Electronic throttle control had a malfunction and system went into limp mode on a highway at highway speeds of 70mph. The engine destroyed itself instead of limping. Lost power and almost got hit by a semi truck and other vehicles when this happened. Ended up getting a used engine due to current remanufacture costs etc. Total cost out of pocket because the dealership lied about my warranty and what was covered and for how long was around $7,000 parts lanor etc. Limp mode is dangerous and the way it happened on a highway could have gotten me or others seriously hurt or killed. Also now there is an electrical error code P0482 which is electronic coller fan issue other rams are having. All vehices in this series that have the recalled fan should be included the 2018 has issues but no recalls but has the same components of other recalls.. doesn't make sense.

The 2018 Ram Promaster 1500 appears to have a manufacture defect with the Engine Coolant Reservoir bottle. Based on my research and due to the lack of national shortage of the OEM coolant reservoir replacement (even after market are out of stock), the reservoir has a soft spot on the tank which allows coolant to leak. The leak appears to be in the same location/spot with my leak in conjunction with others who are experiencing this issue.

Rear emergency brake locked up only on the passenger side, causing the brakes to be ripped off the shoes and destroying the springs and hardware. This also caused the wheel bearing to lock up and it was destroyed as well. I could no longer spin the wheel freely.

When driving down the hill of our neighborhood road, while approaching the stop sign to turn onto the main road, the van stalled. With no advanced notice, the vehicle lost all ability to accelerate, brake and turn. This resulted in the van stopping halfway into the middle of the main road. This is the second time that this issue has occurred. The first time the car was towed to the dealership and they had it for 2 weeks to 'just do an oil change'. Knowing oil is the cause for the unsafe "safety mechanism" to be triggered we added a couple of quarts until the vehicle was able to start and drove it back up the hill to our home.

My Ram Promaster van is NOT covered under the existing cooling fan recall but has the exact same problem! The dealership has seen the vehicle three times while it was under warranty and did not report that the drivers side cooling fan was not working! Now they tell me that the warranty has expired due to time. I took it to an independent shop for repairs. The cooling fans are made by Mahle in Spain. Part number LB498001 manufactured 2/2/2018 10:20 No. 0010481 Part number LB480002 manufactured 6/2/2018 16:48 No. 0010773. The independent shop told me that the fan was drawing too much voltage and melted the resistor. This is the same issue as the recall. How is it that my vehicle is excluded? In my opinion this recall needs to be expanded! https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RCLRPT-19V818-3007.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RCRIT-19V818-5515.pdf https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RCRIT-19V818-4026.pdf

On June 18/19 Off Highway Van installed their 3 inch lift kit on my promaster 3500. Off Highway Van designs, manufactures and installs the lift kit. One July 23 the front right half axle (cv axle) broke or detached from the engine. The vehicle had been driven less than 2000 miles mostly highway with some city driving and 5 miles of gravel dirt road. The break happened when backing up to get back on the paved road after pulling off. Total vehicle miles is just under 18000. Safety was put at risk by the vehicle's drivetrain becoming no longer functional. I was also unable to get towed until about 4 pm the next day due. If the incident had happened while driving on the highway or at any speed it would have caused an accident. The vehicle has not been inspected. I took pictures of the damage and sent them to Off Highway Van for their evaluation. They claim their modifications did not cause the problem. I do not believe them. I think the traction control light might have come one when the cv axle broke. No other indicator was active. The vehicle was towed to my home and is still there untouched.

Cooling fans locked causing smoke from under engine. Artioli Dodge is telling me this is not a warranty or recalled repair