Consumer Complaint Detail

DODGE / RAM / 1995

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 001078977 Incident Date: Jan, 11 2001
Consumer's City: SHAKOPEE Consumer's State: MN
Vehicle Transmission Type: Manufacturers Name: Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)
Model Name: RAM Model Year: 1995
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system:starter assembly
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 3B7KF23C5SM Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Aug, 23 2001 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Aug, 31 1995
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 0 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I have contacted dodge regarding this failure, are tech or safety bulletins being generated, are others reporting the failure? ram diesel model failure mode allows starter to remain engaged and engine running with vehicle key in the off position. after diagnosing and failure analysis it is apparent that this failure mode is not only common (input from various websites) but also extremely dangerous in my opinion. while the root cause (starter failure) is acceptable and understandable with age of the vehicle, the symptom and effect is not. internal shorting of the starter causes 12vdc feedback through the control circuit and allows the starter to remain engaged and vehicle to remain running wit the key on!. if lucky enough to react to the failure in time prior to components and wiring burning up and melting, you must get under the hood to disconnect "2" batteries, or climb under the vehicle to hit the starter to shut down engine and disengage starter, either again while the vehicle is running with the key off and start engaged in flywheel, if the vehicle were to jump in gear (std transmission) bodily injury would certainly take place. after my first failure the dealer replaced the damaged components at a cost of >$700 but failed to identify the root cause. only after information located in the "turbodiesel website" and repeat failure was i able to identify and correct root cause!*ak