Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS | |||||
| 08-004 | 06/30/2008 | 10025346 | 2003-2008 (dr) ram truck 1500-steering shudder during parking lot or low vehicle speed maneuvers. *pe | 07/30/2008 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 02/25/2013 | 49500 | ||
| Vehicle stalls when slowing down for a stop sign, traffic or red light or when turning. | |||
| 12/01/2011 | 95000 | 1 | |
| 2004 dodge ram 1500 5.7l hemi will stop running while driving. the engine completely shuts off while the vehicle is driving and the steering locks up. i have had several close calls and am currently seeking help in this matter. this is an extremely dangerous problem. i've taken it to three mechanics who have replaced all the oxygen sensors, the mass air flow sensor, throttle body, egr valve, air intake filter and the crank shaft sensor. there seems to be no end to this and everyone is just shooting in the dark. the dealerships do not get a code when they hook up to the vehicle. i am in fear of my safety. i have found several other people on the internet with the same problem. *tr | |||
| 12/01/2011 | 95000 | ||
| 2004 dodge ram 1500 5.7l hemi will stop running while driving. the engine completely shuts off while the vehicle is driving and the steering locks up. i have had several close calls and am currently seeking help in this matter. this is an extremely dangerous problem. i've taken it to three mechanics who have replaced all the oxygen sensors, the mass air flow sensor, throttle body, egr valve, air intake filter and the crank shaft sensor. there seems to be no end to this and everyone is just shooting in the dark. the dealerships do not get a code when they hook up to the vehicle. i am in fear of my safety. i have found several other people on the internet with the same problem. | |||
| 10/18/2012 | 42656 | ||
| Began to slow down for a traffic light and my truck stalled while moving almost causing me to rear end the person ahead of me since i lost all control of my brakes and power steering. from what i'm reading this had happened to many people with the same year, make and model vehicle without any type of recall and its too dangerous of a situation. | |||
| 02/29/2012 | 99000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated that the steering wheel seized without warning while making a turn. the failure was experienced several times. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 99,000. sm. | |||
| 02/29/2012 | 99000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated while turning the steering locked, without warning. the failure was experienced several times. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 99,000. li | |||
| 10/08/2010 | 32000 | ||
| Steering rack leaks severly | |||
| 01/03/2011 | 38000 | ||
| 2004 dodge ram 1500 - power steering hoses, clamps and piping: i noticed the power steering pump was making a loud noise and when i checked the fluid level, the pump was dry. further investigation reveled a large puddle of power steering fluid on my garage floor. fortunatly iwasn't driving the truck when this happened. the leak came from the area where the high and low pressure lines connect to the steering rack. inquires on the web led me to this site, and proved that this is definitly not an isolated incident. the loss of power steering on a vehicle this size, especially if towing a large load, could be, and probably would be very dangerous. dodge should take into account all of the incidents pertaining to this, and issue a recall for the repair before someone is not able to write a complaint like this.. | |||
| 09/12/2010 | 100000 | ||
| 2004 dodge ram 1500 slt hemi rack blowing seals this is going to kill someone 3 in 15000 miles i hope my wife is not driving with my son it is impossible to steer when this happens............ this problem is well know why is it not fixed its also very expensive | |||
| 03/07/2010 | 66000 | 1 | |
| The power steering in my 2004 dodge ram 1500 locked up while switching lanes cause my vehicle to cross the road strike a electric pole then coming to a rest. the right side lower arm ball joint was found in the roadway. *tr | |||
| 01/06/2010 | 163496 | 1 | |
| I bought a 2004 dodge 1500 a month ago. the truck has been good till yesterday when i was going to pickup my son when the power steering was not working. took it into dealership $1400 for new rack and pinion. if i am still lucky it will not be a pump as well. truck had 162460km when i bought it and has 163496km now. the thought of a clear safety on the truck and just over 1000km put on it and the rack and pinion needing to be replaced is not looking good for the dealership. just wanted to let people know that this issue continues. *tr | |||
| 02/02/2007 | 20001 | 1 | |
| Engine stalling by 2004 dodge ram 1500-5.7l v8 engine. this has been a recurring issue and directly led to an accident causing over $10,000 in damage and near fatal injuries. further, this vehicle (and others i have become aware of) have been serviced at the dealership on time/schedule but this issue has never been addressed nor have they been recalled or repaired despite numerous complaints. fortunately the repairs were covered by insurance but the vehicle still has the same problem for which neither the local dealer nor chrysler-dodge et, al. has addressed this issue (although reading the files it is clear they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and man hours to refute/dismiss this matter. *tr | |||
| 04/20/2009 | 50000 | 1 | |
| Braking on the highway led to engine stall and full loss of power to vehicle. vehicle stalled in left lane and nearly caused a crash. also, rack and pinion steering began to fail at 50,000 miles. replaced at 54,000. *tr | |||
| 04/13/2004 | 18000 | 1 | |
| Excessive play at steering wheel make it difficult to keep vehicle under control shame on dodge beautiful truck but impossible to keep control at high speed wandering all over the place i was told by dealer my tires where worn at that's why it was loose $1,200 dollars later for a new set of 20' inches tires still have the same problem truck now has 50k and problem start when it was 18,000 miles i hope dodge it will do something about it. *tr | |||
| 04/13/2009 | 1 | ||
| Excessive play on steering wheel i have a 2004 stl dodge ram 1500 5.7 hemi engine on it since i bough this truck i noticed some play on steering wheel which getting worst as you driving making almost at some point loosing control is not responsive when steering the vehicle. i have a truck check up but can't find a problem truck has only 36,000 miles this is a safety issued i hope dodge can do something about it. *tr | |||
| 03/15/2009 | 48500 | 1 | |
| Serious shake in steering and ability to control steering. *tr | |||
| 11/13/2008 | 41000 | 1 | |
| Today 11/13/08 my husband was driving his 2004 dodge ram 1500 quad cab, purchased new. while driving, the steering completely gave out almost causing a very serious accident. it took all his strength to get the steering to turn enough to avoid crashing. upon taking it to a dealer he was told the manifold shield was rusted and fell into the linkage. although this is being repaired under warranty by the dealer i am not ready to leave it at that, i expect some kind of explanation from dodge why something this dramatic would happen to a very high end vehicle only 4 years old. the thought of what may have occurred because of this neglect on dodges part is unthinkable. i expect this incident to be fully examined and will also be contacting dodge regarding this unacceptable fault in their vehicle. no warranty can cover damaged lives and possible death that is failure almost caused. i am now and in the future very entrusting of dodge products and can only hope that my reporting this may help avoid injury to another dodge owner. *tr | |||
| 11/27/2007 | 25500 | 6 | |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. while driving 15 mph, the vehicle would stall when turning or while stopped. the power steering would fail and no warning lights were present. the failure only occurred in cold weather. the dealer inspected the vehicle and found no failures. the purchase date was unknown. the current mileage was 26,250 and failure mileage was approximately 25,500. | |||
| 01/01/2005 | 1 | 08/09/2004 | |
| My 2004 dodge ram 1500 srt-10 (1/2 ton p/u w viper engine & 22 inch wheels) is subject to very serious over-steering.*ak tku | |||
| 06/01/2004 | 700 | 2 | 04/23/2004 |
| 2004 dodge 1500 ram quad cab truck purchased the truck has a vibration during speeds 60-70 mph - team dodge stone mountain, where we purchased, has tried to service twice before and now the service manager, tom hudson, and the chrysler factory representative say this truck cannot be repaired. we have requested a buy back since dodge did not offer a temp vehicle while this was trying to be repaired or not even now as they have had this vehicle since 7-1. we have purchased another vehicle, different make and model, and are now out a great deal of money. this was done because they said they would purchase this automobile back. here we sit 7-13 and nothing has been accomplished. nhtsa needs to know this problem because dodge is not saying what the problem is just that it is unrepairable. we are concerned that if this problem continues whithout notification to other dodge truck owners, there may be an accident. there may be a situation where this vibration causes the driver uncontrolable steering. please advise someone. *la consumer seeking full repurchase funds for the vehicle. *la | |||
| STEERING - COLUMN | |||
| 12/31/2004 | 5 | 05/25/2004 | |
| The steering wheel locked up 5 times in 15,000 miles. the steering was repaired and it happened three more times since the repair. speed has no impact on the steering locking up. it generally happened when the car was warming up just from being started. *jb | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS | |||
| 02/15/2008 | 25000 | 1 | 05/21/2004 |
| On 02/15/08 i discovered a puddle of fluid underneath my truck. upon investigation i found that the leak was coming from the power steering rack, where the return line enters it. the rubber return hose is attached to the stud with a hose clamp allied at the factory. however the clamp is so loose that the hose can be turned by hand. this loose clamp allowed fluid to escape. i installed a new house clamp and then had to add almost 1/2 quart of fluid to the power steering reservoir. after searching the internet i found a dodge ram forum and found 3 pages of posts about this exact topic. apparently this is a very frequent happening, which leads to the total draining of the power steering fluid. in turn the power steering pump often fails. in addition the lack of fluid and steering assistance cause the steering rack to completely fail!! any loss of power steering in a 5,800 pound truck is completely unsafe and must be dealt with by dodge, who designed this system poorly. *tr | |||
| 02/10/2007 | 29780 | 2 | 10/20/2006 |
| I noticed a power steering fluid leak and brought my pickup in to dealer for evaluation. notified me that my power steering hoses were shot. 29,780 miles on vehicle and not covered under warranty since the hoses had a repair clamp installed from prior failure. 2 months later was driving on interstate when my pickup suddenly lost power steering capabilities. i was able to pull vehicle over without incident and returned to dealership the same day and they informed me that rack/pinion was shot. not under warranty due to 1 month past 3year warranty period. 30,200miles on vehicle. shop foreman advised me behind closed doors that this is a continuous problem with northern area ram 1500's and they alone had serviced over 200 similar type 1500 ram vehicles with the same power steering problems i also had just in the past 2-3 months! the foreman also informed me there is a 5-7 day backorder on rack and pinions because they are in high demand due to this dodge engineering problem. he gave me a number to dodge to complain, i called with the reply from dodge as i'm sorry but due to your warranty being past by 1 mo. we will be unable to goodwill assist you with your problem. i'm not bitter but feel this needs to be looked into due to obvious safety issues. thank you. *tr | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - POWER STEERING FLUID | |||
| 11/27/2007 | 40000 | 30 | 12/02/2006 |
| I have a 2004 dodge ram 1500 5.7 liter with 48k miles that has had numerous problems (e.g. erg valve replaced, power steering reservoir (currently being replaced), and engine stalling at an idle, while turning, while backing up, or coasting. the stalling occurs out of the blue as if someone flipped a switch causing the engine to die. the electrical stays on, just the engine dies. most of the time it starts right back up but sometimes it takes awhile. the stalling has happened numerous times and is very unpredictable. the stalling began about three - four months ago. i currently have it in for repairs at lee's summit dodge, lee's summit missouri. *tr | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - PUMP | |||
| 08/18/2006 | 79000 | 5 | 07/28/2004 |
| Steering-at approximately 70,000 miles, the power steering fluid began to require attention. at present, i have to add fluid every 3-4 weeks. my son has a pick-up, same year, same model and has the same problem. yesterday, in a parking lot, another motorist informed me that, he too, had the same problem, only worse. he pointed to a puddle on the ground-steering fluid. *jb | |||
| 07/07/2005 | 10000 | 3 | 11/18/2004 |
| I was driving down interstate 65 in mobile, al doing a speed of around 65 mph. suddenly and without warning, my steering wheel locked-up and i was not able to turn the steering wheel left or right. thankfully, there were not many cars on the highway and i was able to coast across 3 lanes of the highway, finally stopping in a ditch on an off ramp. the problem that occurred was the power steering pump popped off, wrapped around my serpentine belt, and cracked my head gasket. they replaced all parts that were damaged. one month later, the windshield wiper modulator malfunctioned during a rain storm and i had no wind shield wipers. *nm | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 02/07/2007 | 43673 | 2 | 06/15/2004 |
| Engine died twice in 2 1/2 years total loss of steering a 240 lbs man can not turn the wheel after engine dies brakes work fine just no steering. *jb | |||
| 05/24/2005 | 2900 | 1 | 06/15/2003 |
| Dt: the consumer's 16 year old son was driving the 2004 dodge ram pickup on 5-24-05, and the driver pulled out into traffic to make a left turn. when the steering was turned it kept on going around and around both ways. the steering wheel was connected to nothing at that point. driver waited till traffic cleared, and driver had to push the vehicle out of the road and wait for the police to come and call a tow truck. the vehicle is now being towed back to the dealership. the owner has been in contact with chrysler, and they would look at the vehicle. chrysler is looking at the vehicle to see if they can fix it.*ak | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||
| 09/05/2011 | 261862 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. while driving 55 mph there was a noise coming from underneath the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test stated the adjustment bolt for the tie rod clamp was missing. the dealer does not have the replacement parts#j0180077 in stock. the manufacturer was notified and referred her to two other dealers but the part was discontinued. the failure mileage was 261,862. | |||
| 02/24/2006 | 26680 | 4 | 12/31/2003 |
| This started out with a tire almost being flat. pumped up the tire at home and took vehicle to a tire shop to be repaired. when the shop took the tire off the truck, they told me the tire is no good, it is leaking through the sidewall. they put my spare on and i went to the goodyear dealer in my town. the goodyear dealer looked at the leak through the sidewall and removed the tire from the rim. there was 2 , 2 inch cuts on the inside of the tire sidewall (1 at the leak) of this tire that he could not explain. he told me a new tire was $180.00 and i asked him to contact goodyear corporate because there is hardly any wear/miles on these tires. he contacted goodyear and 3 days later they said they would replace the tire for $94.00. this tire had 4/32 worn off from it!!! while waiting for goodyear corporate to reply to the local goodyear dealer i took the truck to my local dodge dealer to have them raise the truck on the hoist to check the rest of the tires for a slight bulge on the inner sidewall because of fear of these tires blowing out the sidewall at highway speeds and causing a fatality! they did not see any but before i left they told me to schedule an appointment to get both outer tie rod ends and the left (driver) side lower ball joint replaced! this vehicle was purchased new on 12-31-2003, has 26,600 miles on it and has always been serviced at this dealer.parts and labor were covered by warranty but what is going to fail next? | |||
| 06/14/2004 | 5226 | 4 | 12/21/2003 |
| Driving northbound on the 101 freeway in the far right lane changed to the center lane on dry asphalt pass a slower moving car and heard a loud noise. face impacted the steering wheel .don,t recall anymore than that do have an accident report. think the right rear axle broke or something in the right front suspension. tie rod or ball joint the inside of the right front wheel is estroyed and was off. the truck complete with large bracket broken tie rod and ball joints and rotor . outside of wheel is not damaged. right rear wheel has the brake drum/disc and part of the broken off axle still bolted to it.. allpar has a report on dodge ram axles braking 2002 and up.states a new design is in place for 2006. is aware of this problem..*ak truck hit a concrete wall and skidded to a stop in the third lane of traffic on fire under the front end a following wittness stated sparks were flying through the air.. they also put out the fire. major front end damage and no air bags deployed. dodge denied any responcibillity a claim was filed have the letters and email. the dealers added further injury by charging as much as possible and high interest for a new magnum sxt.made it impossible to buy the rt model.. i do have the two wheels in question at the shop i work at tri city tansmission service. and photos of the aftermath.. at the body shop.they couln't believe i walked away. thankyou for your time sincerely michael a young | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION | |||
| 03/01/2008 | 57580 | 1 | 08/20/2004 |
| Immediate loss of power steering fluid from steering rack, resulting in loss of power steering. this is apparently a common occurrence for late model dodge trucks when they reach approximately 50,000 miles. the steering rack cannot be repaired, only replaced. *tr | |||
| 03/06/2008 | 59633 | 1 | 04/20/2006 |
| 1.) loss of power steering fluid 2.) failure of rack and pinion seal, loss of steering, very dangerous situation 3.) replacement of rack and pinion steering, new part from dealer was only one available, cost exceeding $800. *tr | |||
| 02/10/2007 | 29780 | 2 | 10/20/2006 |
| I noticed a power steering fluid leak and brought my pickup in to dealer for evaluation. notified me that my power steering hoses were shot. 29,780 miles on vehicle and not covered under warranty since the hoses had a repair clamp installed from prior failure. 2 months later was driving on interstate when my pickup suddenly lost power steering capabilities. i was able to pull vehicle over without incident and returned to dealership the same day and they informed me that rack/pinion was shot. not under warranty due to 1 month past 3year warranty period. 30,200miles on vehicle. shop foreman advised me behind closed doors that this is a continuous problem with northern area ram 1500's and they alone had serviced over 200 similar type 1500 ram vehicles with the same power steering problems i also had just in the past 2-3 months! the foreman also informed me there is a 5-7 day backorder on rack and pinions because they are in high demand due to this dodge engineering problem. he gave me a number to dodge to complain, i called with the reply from dodge as i'm sorry but due to your warranty being past by 1 mo. we will be unable to goodwill assist you with your problem. i'm not bitter but feel this needs to be looked into due to obvious safety issues. thank you. *tr | |||
| 02/16/2007 | 33850 | 1 | 12/18/2003 |
| Rack and pinion failed after 33000 miles and two months past warranty. took to the dealer and was told the rack and pinion was on national back order but they had one left. national back order? sounds like this is a problem. *jb | |||
| 02/06/2007 | 40600 | 1 | 01/25/2005 |
| 40,600 miles and i have a rack and pinion fluid leak. i had heard that there was a recall on this and have not been able to locate it on line. i have not taken it to the dealer yet and will do it next week. *nm | |||
| 12/19/2006 | 62000 | 1 | 03/20/2004 |
| 2004 dodge ram 1500, 62,000 miles, leaking fluid. took in for service and found it to be the rack and pinion seals had failed and could not be replaced. the entire unit had to be replaced. *nm | |||
| 03/01/2005 | 10000 | 1 | 07/20/2004 |
| At approximately 10,000 miles our 2004 dodge ram 1500 began pulling hard to the right. at highway speeds, the vehicle will cross 4 lanes of traffic within seconds if the driver is not pulling to the left in order to compensate for the right pull. we have had the vehicle aligned several times by different dealerships as well as at alignment shops, and the issue persists. daimler chrysler claimed the issue was tire related, and we had the tire dealer move tires around repeatedly trying to make the problem go away. we have also replaced tires with no change in the pull. recently, we noticed the pull is far worse when the vehicle has a full tank of gas, which leads me to suspect weight or weight distribution is a factor. we had steering rack and differential failure at approximately 25,000 miles. both were replaced and the problem continues to exist. also, alignment numbers go from within specification to wildly out of specification each time the truck is placed on a rack. this vehicle control issue is 100% repeatable. *jb | |||
| 02/04/2006 | 57779 | 1 | 04/30/2004 |
| Rack and pinion steering. *jb | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION - RACK | |||
| 01/30/2008 | 59300 | 2 | 06/30/2006 |
| The power steering on my truck has gone out twice in the last week. the dealer replaced the p.s. hoses with newly designed (crimped end in place of hose clamps) ones. this worked fine for a couple of days. as i left work on the 30th, the front seal on the rack blew, and i almost hit other parked cars do to a lack of steering. it has been very cold here for the past few days, don't know what affect this could have on it. the dealer will fix to the tune of $600.00 plus. the dealer told me that this was the second truck this week with this same problem to come into their service dept. *tr | |||
| 01/30/2008 | 44001 | 1 | |
| I own a 2004 dodge ram 1500 quad cab truck 45,000 miles, today the power steering rack blew the seals out while my wife was driving home from work while turning corner she almost crashed into a building due to not being able to turn it. *tr | |||
| 01/04/2007 | 89675 | 1 | 05/04/2005 |
| The events leading up to the failure are unclear at this time because one day i drove the truck and it was fine. it sat for two days and when i drove it to work it wouldn't steer. at first i thought it was the power steering pump but upon inspection that wasn't it. it was however low on fluid a bit but not enough to cause it to be steering the way it was. as i put fluid it i watched it go right through to the bottom of the truck. further inspection revealed that the steering rack was leaking past a seal and the entire rack had to be replaced. now this is a 2004 dodge ram 1500 4x4 and should not be having this problem. we don't go off roading with it or anything else that would cause this and for a three year old truck this shouldn't be happening. *jb | |||
| STEERING - WHEEL AND HANDLE BAR | |||
| 09/05/2011 | 261862 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. while driving 55 mph there was a noise coming from underneath the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test stated the adjustment bolt for the tie rod clamp was missing. the dealer does not have the replacement parts#j0180077 in stock. the manufacturer was notified and referred her to two other dealers but the part was discontinued. the failure mileage was 261,862. rvk | |||
| 09/05/2011 | 261862 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 1500. while driving 55 mph there was a noise coming from underneath the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who ran a diagnostic test and notice there was an adjustment bolt that goes on the clamp for the rod was missing. the parts#j0180077. the contact stated the dealer does not have this part in stock. the manufacturer was notified who referred her to two other dealers but this part was discontinued. the failure mileage was 261,862. mw | |||