Bulletins


BulletinBulletin dateReplacement BulletinItem no.SummaryAdded
POWER TRAIN
210120507/23/200510016026New 42rle variable line pressure transmission (vlp). *tt08/18/2005
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM)
D4601/01/200510012244The powertrain control module (pcm) was inadvertently programmed with incorrect software. this can cause the on board diagnostic (obd) fuel system monitor to malfunction. emissions recall d46. *tt02/23/2005
1800604A04/06/20041800604B10005981Generic powertrain control module (pcm) procedure. *tt *mj this bulletin supersedes bulletin 18-006-04a dated 04/06/2004. *tt04/05/2004

Investigations


NHTSA IDManufacturerDate openDate closeSubjectRecall campaign
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
EA04025CHRYSLER GROUP LLC08/26/200412/22/2005FALSE PARK05V462000
 The subject vehicles are heavy duty pickup trucks with diesel engines and automatic transmissions commonly used for commercial and work purposes.a column mounted shift lever is used for gear selection and an electronic prndl on the instrument panel provides gear position information to the driver.the subject vehicles are also equipped with a brake-transmission shift interlock that prevents the shift lever from being moved from the park position (when the engine is on) unless the brake pedal is depressed and an ignition-shift interlock that prevents key removal unless the transmission is in the park position.complainants generally report that the vehicle was being operated in a forward gear and brought to a stop through brake application on alevel surface, at which time the operator moved the shift lever to engage the park position.the operator then opened the driver side door and, without verifying park engagement (e.g., prndl gear indication), securing the park brake, or turning the engine off, exited the vehicle.initially, no vehicle movement was apparent, however, a short time later, typically reported as 10 to 30 seconds, the vehicle moved rearward under engine power.the incident often ended in a vehicle crash, and sometimes involved serious injury.two fatalities are alleged.odi
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM)
PE05027CHRYSLER GROUP LLC05/16/200511/03/2005ENGINE STALL
 On may 16, 2005,odi opened preliminary evaluation pe05-027 to investigate complaints of engine stalling in model year 2004-05 dodge durango suvs and ram 1500 series pickups equipped with the 5.7l v8 engine.information provided by daimlerchrysler during pe05-027 indicated that a large percentage of the complaints are related to an idle undershoot condition that may cause the engine to stall during turning maneuvers.in february 2005, daimlerchrysler revised the powertrain control module software in production vehicles and issued a technical service bulletin (tsb 18-013-05) releasing the new software as a service remedy for the idle undershoot condition.the bulletin was superceded by tsb 18-013-05a in april 2005.daimlerchrysler believes that the failure rate for stalling while driving due to the idle undershoot condition is low and that the bulletin has adequately addressed the problem. since pe05-027 was opened, odi has continued to receive complaints from owners of the subject vehicles who allege experiencing engine stall incidents under all types of driving conditions.in some instances the stalling has continued after the vehicle received the service bulletin repairs.this investigation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea05-018) to further assess the scope, frequency, and safety consequences of the alleged defect in dodge durango and ram 1500/2500/3500 series pickup trucks.
EA05018CHRYSLER GROUP LLC11/02/200508/29/2007ENGINE STALL
 Analysis of the complaint, field report and warranty data shows that the majority of stalling incidents in the subject vehicles appear to be related to the engine calibration concerns that daimlerchrysler addressed with service bulletins releasing revised pcm software.analysis of the complaints and odi's survey of owners of vehicles that received engine management software updates under tsb #18-013-05 show that these stalling incidents have the following characteristics: - they occur at low speeds, often during parking lot ordriveway maneuvers; - they occur during decelerations, such as braking for a stop sign or traffic signal; and - the operator is almost always able to immediately restart the vehicle.when compared with other safety defect investigations and recalls of conditions that result in stalling during low-speed deceleration with immediate engine restart possible, the failure rate in the subject vehicles is low.analyses of complaint and warranty data also show a declining trend.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.see document file for additional information regarding this resume.
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
EA04025CHRYSLER GROUP LLC08/26/200412/22/2005FALSE PARK05V462000
 The subject vehicles are heavy duty pickup trucks with diesel engines and automatic transmissions commonly used for commercial and work purposes.a column mounted shift lever is used for gear selection and an electronic prndl on the instrument panel provides gear position information to the driver.the subject vehicles are also equipped with a brake-transmission shift interlock that prevents the shift lever from being moved from the park position (when the engine is on) unless the brake pedal is depressed and an ignition-shift interlock that prevents key removal unless the transmission is in the park position.complainants generally report that the vehicle was being operated in a forward gear and brought to a stop through brake application on alevel surface, at which time the operator moved the shift lever to engage the park position.the operator then opened the driver side door and, without verifying park engagement (e.g., prndl gear indication), securing the park brake, or turning the engine off, exited the vehicle.initially, no vehicle movement was apparent, however, a short time later, typically reported as 10 to 30 seconds, the vehicle moved rearward under engine power.the incident often ended in a vehicle crash, and sometimes involved serious injury.two fatalities are alleged.odi
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT
EA04025CHRYSLER GROUP LLC08/26/200412/22/2005FALSE PARK05V462000
 The subject vehicles are heavy duty pickup trucks with diesel engines and automatic transmissions commonly used for commercial and work purposes.a column mounted shift lever is used for gear selection and an electronic prndl on the instrument panel provides gear position information to the driver.the subject vehicles are also equipped with a brake-transmission shift interlock that prevents the shift lever from being moved from the park position (when the engine is on) unless the brake pedal is depressed and an ignition-shift interlock that prevents key removal unless the transmission is in the park position.complainants generally report that the vehicle was being operated in a forward gear and brought to a stop through brake application on alevel surface, at which time the operator moved the shift lever to engage the park position.the operator then opened the driver side door and, without verifying park engagement (e.g., prndl gear indication), securing the park brake, or turning the engine off, exited the vehicle.initially, no vehicle movement was apparent, however, a short time later, typically reported as 10 to 30 seconds, the vehicle moved rearward under engine power.the incident often ended in a vehicle crash, and sometimes involved serious injury.two fatalities are alleged.odi

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
06/08/20061100009/03/2004
 Dt*: the contact stated the recall #05v462000; power train; automatic transmission was performed on the vehicle. the recall stated that the remedy was supposed to be audible and visual. the recall work performed on the vehicle is barely visual and not audible. the dealership informed the contact that the audible portion of the recall was not part of the kit for this vehicle. the vehicle's parking brake as well as the emergency brake has to be engaged before the reverse indicator on the shift lever will blink. updated 6-23-2006 - *nm
05/01/200613500108/01/2005
 Dt*: the contact stated the remedy for recall # 05v462000; power train: automatic transmission does not allow the driver to open the door in order to see around the fifth wheel while backing up. when the door is open while backing up, the horn sounded and the headlights flashed. the contact is aware that the side mirror and window can enable the driver to see around the fifth wheel, but feels the driver should have the option of being able to open the door if needed without the horn sounding and the headlights flashing.
07/01/200512000301/15/2005
 Dt*: the contact stated while at a stop light the vehicle came out of gear. it was taken to the dealership however, they where unable to duplicate the problem. the vehicle was driven for a short amount of time before the problem occurred a second time. the vehicle was parked with a trailer behind it; the vehicle came out of gear once again and hit the trailer causing damage. the vehicle was then taken to the dealership where the rooster tail in the transmission was replaced. the vehicle was driven once again for a short amount of time before the problem happened. the vehicle was taken back a third time and the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem. the contact received a recall letter concerning the power train automatic transmission. the nhtsa campaign id # 05v462000. the manufacturer has been alerted.
11/12/200514250112/01/2004
 My 2005 dodge ram hd diesel w/auto trans. come out of park with my 2 year old son inside. he is not tall enough to reach the brake, however he was able to pull it out of park into r and the truck rolled off the hill into the wood and crashed into several saplings. my son was not severely injured, he struck his right cheek, chest and abdomen somewhere in the vehicle during the crash. the vehicle now will come out of park without touching the brake at all. the vehicle was not running at the time of the incident and had been parked for approximately. 10 min. *nm
08/31/20051200308/12/2005
 2005 dodge ram 3500 with cummins turbo diesel. this particular model has a tow-haul mode that will not lock the transmission out of overdrive. if you are descending a hill and you so much as touch the accelerator then the truck automatically shifts into overdrive and sends you speeding down the hill. the tow-haul mode also downshifts the transmission into second gear at 50+ mph and that can also spell disaster while descending a hill on a cold day. my fist experience with this was earlier in the week while traveling to tennessee. we had to tow our 8000 lb race trailer over mt. eagle and encountered both situations while descending the hill. this is an extremely dangerous problem that needs to be addressed immediately. the 2004 model and the new 2006 models both have an overdrive lockout to keep this from happening and i'm not sure why it was neglected on the 2005 models. *jb
08/28/20051500108/17/2005
 Dodge represents the 3500 ram i purchased to be a heavy duty tow vehicle capable of safely towing nearly 16000 lbs. upon my purchase i quickly discovered that they have removed the basic overdrive lock out feature found on most if not all vehicles in this class of automobile. the computer program and transmission controls will command this vehicle into overdrive regardless of terrain or load being towed or carried at the time. bottom line if you touch the gas while going down a grade pulling a 16000 lb trailer you will find yourself in overdrive lacking any way to bring the vehicle under control other than the brakes. plenty of complaints are available to be see at www.dieseltruckresource.com this forum has several postings concerning 2005 tow haul mode. the discussions can be found in the 3rd generation drivetrain discussion board. *nm
06/20/2005228001212/30/2004
 Dt when putting the vehicle into park it will jump into reverse. on one occasion the vehicle rolled away, and over top on the consumer, across a street, and hit a parked vehicle. consumer had cuts and bruises on his knees from avoiding the rolling vehicle. on other occasions, could not get the key out of the ignition when it shifted into park. did this intermittently. this has happened a dozen times. this happened around january 15, 2005. had not contacted the dealer. an engineering firm was sending someone to look at vehicle. *ak
01/05/20051000100012/30/2004
 Dt: dodge ram with cummins diesel engine . the consumer was unable to decelerate when letting off of the throttle. had one minor fender bender, and a near miss as a result of feeling as though the motor was still pulling. no repairs, but has been to dealer twice. contacted chrysler, who stated this was programmed into the computer to do this due to the automatic transmission which magnified the problem. had no plans to change this design. currently this is still a problem. *ak *jb
03/10/20054729403/06/2005
 2005, dodge ram 1500 4x4 quad cab 5.7l, 3.92 gears intermittently stalled. i previously owned an almost identical 2003. it had a 4.7l / 3.55 gears. so far the truck stalled twice while idling in front of the mailbox. once while idling waiting on line to pick my child up from school. once while idling waiting for money at an atm machine. *ak
12/13/20041
 Vehicle popped out of the drive gear into reverse on its own, causing it to run into a library. dealer was contacted by consumer but could not explain the occurrence.*ak vehicle is a dodge ram 2500 quad cab 4x4 (not on products list). *dsy
01/01/20055000112/30/2004
 The gear popped from park to reverse on its own. manufacturer will be contacted by consumer.*ak *nm see also 10111594. *dsy
01/17/20055000110/30/2004
 2005 dodge ram 3500 cummins deisel with automatic transmission transmission failed at only five thousand miles. dealer replaced front pump, complete overhaul of trans., replaced torque converter twice, and replaced valve body before success after eleven days in shop. service dept. advised they don't know what caused trans. failure. *ak
12/27/20041
 Gear popped from park to reverse on its own, causing the vehicle to hit a parked car in the rear. took vehicle to dealer for check up 3 times, but the cause was undetermined.*ak