2016 RAM BLOWN MOTOR 70,000 MILES ENGINE REPLACEMENT

[TC Diesel]

Jager, Its Fiat VM... Just don't buy that combination in the future. The American Branch of Stellantis formally FCA is NOT supporting VM. I was Hoping Stellantis would cut ties with VM but that has not Happened, hopefully soon it will. GC's are great vehicle's, its the VM power plant that ruin such a great SUV, I have One with the 5.7 ( 2018 Summit) its My best Personal vehicle I have ever Owned, I'm looking to repalce it with The NEW GC L Reserve.

I don't like the way Fiat VM handled the Settlement and certainly not the way the Rotating Mass failures are handle. IMO just Replace the VM 3.0 and sell cut your losses and move on, Stay away from EUR power plants ( over engineered and under developed) . We Are in the process of Replacing My Brother-law WRX OEM power plant for the 2nd time, This Time we are building it ourselves and sailing it away (Buyer beware)

 

[A standup guy]

I know the simple answer is to do an aftermarket tune. The problem is that I am an attorney and read the fine print of all contracts. In the fine print of your purchase agreement which you sign, is a provision which you agreed to that says if you alter the vehicle's emission system, the warranty is "voidable". Voidable means FCA does not need to honor the warranty if you do anything to alter the emission system. This would include adding a tuner to make the truck run different than when it left the factory with the factory installed emission system.

I talked to FCA legal affairs department and they did confirm that it's FCA position that the tuner makes the warranty voidable.

So there's the dilemma, you have a $50,000 truck that you need to tune to make it run correctly, but once you do, you probably voided your warranty. In my case, if the engine failure was crankshaft related and I had tuned the motor, the tuner would not likely have prevented the crankshaft failure, but I can pretty much assure FCA would have not paid for the motor replacement and I would have had to sue them. In my case, I avoided a lot of headaches by not tuning the motor as far as FCA not raising any issues and paying for the motor replacement under the existing warranty. The tradeoff, a truck that runs terrible and is choked up by soot.

Thanks for your input. I'll keep everyone posted. I'm going to file for arbitration and see if I can get FCA to do a buyback. If that doesn't;t resolve the issue, I may have too file a lawsuit. Even with a new motor, I have no faith in the 3.0 eco diesel. My original motor was great for the first 45,000 miles, but then everything went south and it was one issue after another.

I've made this comment before, and would love to know peoples thoughts on it. The GDE tune is easily reversible and will return your truck to factory condition. The dealer will not be able to tell you run a tune thus not voiding a warranty. Sorta sleazy if that's true but then again so are giant corporations right?

 

[Maverickti]

I've posted numerous issue on this forum I have had with my 2016 3.0 Bighorn. I bought the truck brand new and everything was fine for the first 45,000 miles, then everything started to go wrong with it. Melted intakes, EGR's, you name it, it's been in the shop numerous times from 45,000 to the current 70,000 miles.

Last night I was driving and heard a light thumping sound and within about 10 seconds it was much louder and the truck shut down. It struck me that it sounded like a bearing had given out on the crankshaft. It had to be towed to the dealership. I just got off the phone with the dealership, the motor is shot and needs to be replaced, Metal in the oil pan. They'll tell me the official diagnosis in the future. They are going to update me when they can have the new motor and have FCA approve the engine replace tomorrow. Everything should be covered by warranty.

I have a couple questions for anyone that has dealt with the engine replacement:

1. I have had a ton of warranty work done on this truck for emission relates item, if I'm right and the crankshaft spun a bearing, is this related to an emissions related item or is it strictly a mechanicical issue due to a design flaw and not related any any way to the poor emissions design with the truck? I see many of the 3.0 engine replacements are related to crankshaft failure but wonder if this relates to the emissions in any way.

2. Will the replacement motor be a brand new 2021 motor, I believe 5th generation or do they have older factory crate motors that they utilize? I'm assuming it's a new motor and not remanufactured.

3. What type of warranty comes with the new replacement motor? Do I get 100,000 miles on the motor or do they deduct the 70,000 on the truck and only give you a 30,000mile on it? I assume the parts covered on the extended 120,000 warranty are covered on this replacement motor as well.

4. Has anyone that has had a replacement motor attempted to have FCA buy back the truck or try to reach some other type of settlement with them? Has anyone went through the arbitration process? I don't care that they are putting a new motor in this truck, no way can I trust this truck any longer.

Any input from those that have dealt with this issue would be greatly appreciated.

I bought a 2019 3.0 in August 2021. It had 40,500 miles on it. When the truck went through the dealership certified program inspections the engine was determined to have the camshaft bearings fail and ruined the whole motor. They told me I'd have to buy a new motor. I told them how happy I was to have purchased a $12 a month bumper to bumper warranty. I drove out of there with a 40,500 mile truck with 0 miles on the motor. The new motor was built in June of 2021 and had all recalls updated. I was told my warranty expires in December of 2026. No one has contacted me about buy back or any other legal stuff.

 

[cgcnj7]

Great thread, sad news though. This just happened to me today. I posted the video just a few minutes ago.