2016 Ram 1500 Sport

[NTIman]

I can say with 100% honesty that I've never worked in a shop where it was acceptable to just ship a vehicle since it didn't have codes. There are some techs who do the minimum but most of the ones I've worked with have been competent enough to thoroughly diagnose a problem. We have plenty of resources for these problems.

[Jake]

So I picked the Ram up on Thursday night prior to leaving Saturday morning to Delaware. The dealership tech took it home the night before, they put it back on the lift to check everything before I arrived, woohoo. It all felt great like a proper ZF8 should feel, truly.

I'm on Route 113(?) in DE and some couple in a crossover pulls alongside and motions me to roll my window down. I turn down my Mariah Carey Christmas album and they go "your truck is smoking!" Well, fuck. I had smelled a bit of transmission fluid off and on since picking it up, but figured it was some residual that splashed onto the exhaust and was burning off. I dunno. Anyway, I pull in to a gas station and get out with it running in Park. Dripdripdrip, trans fluid coming from somewhere by the bellhousing and hitting the exhaust.

By happenstance, I was literally one mile away from Millsboro CJDR, so I hopped in and gingerly drove it directly into their service bay. The service advisor was awesome, there was a tech free at that moment so he pulled it onto a lift and looked. There is a "transmission heater" with lines running to it. I guess these trucks have a fluid heater AND cooler for some reason. Anyway, one of the lines has some O-rings on it and the O-ring was either torn or missing or something. They had to order the part, so my new friend Courtney put me in a two-door Wrangler which allowed me to finish the drive (about 20 minutes) to my parents' place.

Millsboro CJDR had it all fixed up by the morning of Christmas Eve and it was, of course, a $0 charge to me. I did follow up with Farrish in Fairfax and they felt horrible (or claimed to) about how it went down. I'm not holding any grudges as these are machines fixed by humans and things don't always go perfectly on the first attempt. I am very surprised that nobody noticed it leaking fluid on that drive home overnight and the morning lift check, though.

Anyway, the truck now has a brand-new, fully-functional, not-leaking transmission and everything else it's surrounded by has 44,500 miles on it. I really do like it and given what I paid, put down, haven't driven miles-wise, have a lot of positive equity in it. I would really like to keep it and drive it through the end of the CPO warranty, which is 100k miles or year 2023. Given the new trans, it doesn't make sense to do anything else until then.

[ScottyB]

ugh, sucks but you're taking a pretty level headed approach to it which is admirable. fixed by people, usually under pressure, and as complex as these things are stuff can happen.

with it all buttoned up you should get a good solid run out of this thing.

[Jake]

ugh, sucks but you're taking a pretty level headed approach to it which is admirable.  fixed by people, usually under pressure, and as complex as these things are stuff can happen.

with it all buttoned up you should get a good solid run out of this thing.

Thanks - getting angry won't get it fixed any faster or better. I only got so bent out of shape with the red Ford because everyone admitted there was a problem, then looked me in the eyes and said "it's normal operation." So long as we're all able to work together, I'm good.

[ViPER1313]

Truck that made a noise but otherwise operated 100% normally and was leased, leaving you with 0 liability if the noise was in fact abnormal = terrible.

Truck that has had several drivability issues and required an entirely new transmission at 44k miles = great.

[Senor_Taylor]

Truck that made a noise but otherwise operated 100% normally and was leased, leaving you with 0 liability if the noise was in fact abnormal = terrible.

Truck that has had several drivability issues and required an entirely new transmission at 44k miles = great.

It's easy to see other people's situations as being in a vaccuum, but you gotta remember there are always other factors.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Jake]

Truck that made a noise but otherwise operated 100% normally and was leased, leaving you with 0 liability if the noise was in fact abnormal = terrible.

Truck that has had several drivability issues and required an entirely new transmission at 44k miles = great.

Yep! Next.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deceus]

Transmissions across the board seem to be a shitshow. Definitely not a thing specific to Dodge lol. I'll take a new transmission at 44k over what I got which was "yeah these things tend to stop working around 100k and we don't fix them. Also it's $12,000+ to get a new one put in"

[Jake]

Also, to close the loop on the F-150 now that I've had my coffee and am (slightly) less full of sass, let's run through the process I endured:

1. I experience concern
2. Ford publishes bulletin, validating concern as a problem and issues a solution
3. Solution applied, does not fix anything
4. I go back to Ford and am told "oh no, that? that's just normal!"

Fuck you, I'm not making payments on a $65k truck to be told the problem you admitted to and can't fix is just normal since the fix doesn't work.

By comparison, with Dodge:

1. I experience concern
2. Dodge validates concern, identifies solution
3. Solution is not correctly implemented on attempt #1
4. Solution is correctly implemented on attempt #2

The customer service aspect has been massively better with this Ram. Yes, even with it dripping transmission fluid and inconveniencing me on a trip. A positive customer experience wins out over being technically correct.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Truck that made a noise but otherwise operated 100% normally and was leased, leaving you with 0 liability if the noise was in fact abnormal = terrible.

Truck that has had several drivability issues and required an entirely new transmission at 44k miles = great.

You forgot 12 year old GM SUV with 100k+ miles required maintenance on power steering system and his dub 20s or 22s on DC roads causing a vibration in the wheel = absolute hatred and personal vendetta against all GM.



Just think, you have irrational hate for HOAs, but you have to deal with your crackhead neighbors.  


Let the man continue.  I have irrational hate for things too.

[Jake]

You forgot 12 year old GM SUV with 100k+ miles required maintenance on power steering system and his dub 20s or 22s on DC roads causing a vibration in the wheel = absolute hatred and personal vendetta against all GM.

I don't know many 100k mile vehicles that require a steering box, tie rods, PS lines, a PS pump, corroded wheel repair, rear HVAC repair, door lock actuator repair, valley pan gasket, oil leak from four separate places, center diff leak, slipping transmission and brake line replacement all in the same calendar year.

FWIW the 20s were a factory wheel and I had brand new tires on them. The vibration was caused 0% by the wheels or tires, moreso from all the other components that were worn out. 

I still understand that old vehicles have shit that wears out, my hatred from GM stems from the belief that they purposely cheap out on safety-related items and give zero fucks about it. That, combined with their overall lacking build quality, is why I don't need to own any more.

[ViPER1313]

I don't know many 100k mile vehicles that require a steering box, tie rods, PS lines, a PS pump, corroded wheel repair, rear HVAC repair, door lock actuator repair, valley pan gasket, oil leak from four separate places, center diff leak, slipping transmission and brake line replacement all in the same calendar year.

BMW - “Hold my beer”

[Senor_Taylor]

I don't know many 100k mile vehicles that require a steering box, tie rods, PS lines, a PS pump, corroded wheel repair, rear HVAC repair, door lock actuator repair, valley pan gasket, oil leak from four separate places, center diff leak, slipping transmission and brake line replacement all in the same calendar year.

BMW - “Hold my beer”

BMWs get a free pass. Putting up with that BS on a boring, plastic fantastic wagon is not worth it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

on a side note... the metric mule, in all her boring outdatedness... in my 100k miles of ownership has only needed tires, rear pads, and 100k mile service.

i have a single axle 3500 diesel with an Aisin as a saved search that sends me updates... but i dunno.

[Jake]

on a side note... the metric mule, in all her boring outdatedness... in my 100k miles of ownership has only needed tires, rear pads, and 100k mile service.

i have a single axle 3500 diesel with an Aisin as a saved search that sends me updates... but i dunno.

That's how my gray 2011 Ford was. It needed a full set of pads and uh, some fluid changes, from 40k to 75k.

I'm getting a Ram 2500 Cummins on Friday for a week and will be towing the racekor with it (down to Kevin's) so happy to share impressions.

[D_Eclipse9916]

on a side note... the metric mule, in all her boring outdatedness... in my 100k miles of ownership has only needed tires, rear pads, and 100k mile service.

i have a single axle 3500 diesel with an Aisin as a saved search that sends me updates... but i dunno.

The key with used cars is to buy the right one.....

You can buy one that won't need anything for 50k miles, or buy one that needs a tremendous amount of deferred maintenance.

A TRD white Tundra with retrofitted Recaro Raptor seats, an aftermarket apple car play head unit in, and real aluminum or carbon fiber accent pieces instead of chincy plastic would be pretty freaking awesome. Oh and $45kish vs $54k to reflect it's true value.

And for the enclosed trailer, just add air bags and a WDH. The motor will be laboring, but for what, 8 times a year?

[Scott]

on a side note... the metric mule, in all her boring outdatedness... in my 100k miles of ownership has only needed tires, rear pads, and 100k mile service.

i have a single axle 3500 diesel with an Aisin as a saved search that sends me updates... but i dunno.

And for the enclosed trailer, just add air bags and a WDH.  The motor will be laboring, but for what, 8 times a year?

^This.  I tow my enclosed with my Tundra and with the WDH (no airbags) it sits level and pulls it just fine.  I did upgrade the brakes, but other than that, it handles it with ease.

Mine is scheduled to get the interior updated (leather seats, carpay stereo and a back up camera) since it's a sub 90k truck and it's been bullet proof.

[Jake]

I got a chime and "Check Fuel Cap" message back in February when I was driving home from my parents' place in Delaware. I think I just didn't clickyclick the cap down enough. Ended up replacing the fuel cap with a new Mopar part (for $17) as the message wouldn't go away. It finally cleared on Sunday. Not sure if I actually needed the new cap or not, but forum sleuthing says the truck requires a certain number of drive cycles to clear the message.

This wouldn't be newsworthy except I've driven the truck maybe 500 miles since February 15th, when the light set, so it's lightly annoying in that case.

I took Joe out to Green Ridge State Park in Maryland on Sunday for some (very light) off-roading. We had a friend of mine in a separate car (social distancing and all) - a Mercedes 300TE 4Matic on snow tires. That thing will go nearly anywhere. Anyway, Ram did fine on highway tires as it was mostly dirt and gravel roads with some light side trail challenges that were more fun than difficult.

There's a Shell gas station in Falls Church that has two DIY car wash bays, so I was able to go over there yesterday and use their pressure washer to get all the mud out from everywhere. Truck is freshly washed and I plan on waxing and cleaning the interior today or tomorrow. Still enjoying it after 7 months and what, 5,000 miles. It's really happy at like, half-throttle from a stoplight clicking off shifts. Taylor and Zach told me it's loud which sounds about right. Fuel economy is not good compared to my Fords but that's not... new news.

[Jake]

Mileage: 47,100

After replacing the fuel cap, I still had a CEL, now for multiple EVAP Leak codes, and the Check Fuel Cap message. Some further research indicated that if a new fuel cap didn't solve the problem, replace the purge valve. It cost $40 for a genuine Mopar valve and new vacuum line.

I got the purge valve installed in the time it took some poor guy to stand in the rain and wait for an Uber outside my apartment. Seriously the easiest repair I’ve done on any vehicle to date. Pop hood, remove air intake tube (two screws), remove engine beauty cover (pull), disconnect two hoses and electrical connector from purge valve, slide valve off of metal stud. The purge valve is the thing here with the red plastic connector going to it.



Closed the hood and took the truck to Farrish Ram for an oil change and complaint of slight rattling under-hood on cold starts. Apparently exhaust manifold bolts snapping is a common Hemi concern and Mopar has extended coverage for the repair so it’s free.

They found four broken bolts/studs on the driver’s side manifold, and replaced all of them on that side alongside a new manifold gasket. Yay.

Got my annual safety inspection done and it looks like all is well otherwise, though I’m about due for new brakes all around. Should have about 48k miles on the original pads/rotors by the time I replace them which is not bad at all. I think my 2011 F-150 did about similar mileage before needing new stuff.

[Tyler.M]

Do you think your dealership experience is related at all to FCA being constantly at the bottom end of reliability ratings? Would you keep the truck after your warranty period ends?