Another engine blow up at 52k, any advice?

[Ramman18]

Still don't have a truck ... Last I talked to the joke of a "case manager" she couldn't tell me where an Engine was, how long it would take to get here etc. She said she would call the following week. She did not, and that would have been last week. I need to call someone tomorrow. I requested a supervisor call me. Never heard a peep.

RAM sucks. They have lost my loyalty for literally ever.

I am in the exact same scenario my truck was approved to be fixed on 04/14/23 full motor turbo crank case rear main seal etc… they told me I have to pay $2k I’m fine with that and was done arguing so I agreed. As of today they have no eta and my situation with Stalantis has been the same. My truck has been down and towed to the local dealership 3 hrs from my house because I was traveling since 03/11/23 no rental or loaner given the day they approved the repairs my Stalantis claim rep said they will approve $40 a day and I can submit for reimbursement when my truck is all done. Not a single rental vehicle in my area costs $40 a day and explained that to them and they said that’s all they can do. I spoke with them yesterday and begged for an ETA so I can buy another truck or rent something because I own a business and have a camper and a boat and can’t do anything with them at the moment and don’t want to buy another truck if mine is going to be fixed in like 30 days but she couldn’t give me anything so I asked if I buy a truck will you still give me $40 a day until mine is fixed and that would offset some costs and she said no it’s for rentals only and I said they still need approval for a rental and I had to submit for my money back so I’m taking a chance you won’t pay anything at all so if I’m gonna put money out I might as well own something for $1200 rental fee a month possibly reimbursed by them or $2000 out of pocket costs for a truck rental monthly if its 6 months that’s a possibility of $12k out from me and $7200 possibly reimbursed by them so what do I do? I believe I’m gonna buy a used truck and deal with it.

 

[autoX]

As said before I went used motor and EGR/DPF/SCR delete. Coupled with my LiON battery I figure I have +200lbs avail on payload! Going to tow a 6000lb 28foot Airstream, dual axle 700lb TW with it. The deleted motor has my guess 5% (maybe 10%) more power, so should be good for towing. I towed that trailer with my Range Rover - 7700 /770 lb rating it was fine. No WD hitch too.

 

[Spiderman112358]

So I'm a single mom driving my two kids on a spring break vacation in my 2018 EcoDiesel with only 48-49k when we left. Drove from Montana down to Monterey CA, up to San Fran, then up to wine country.

On way home I start hearing what I thought was a Jake break but going up hill so that didn't make sense. In the 2-3 seconds it took to register what was going on I lowered my window and radio and realized it was me making the noise. I started to pull over when the engine light/low pressure oil came on. Got merged over in traffic, thankfully was able to get on the shoulder of an on ramp so mostly out of fast traffic.

Jumped out and checked oil, it was way over full (odd for a recently running vehicle right) and I noticed there was some oil around the plastic near the dipstick. I sat in the truck a bit and then checked oil again and under truck is a a crap ton of oil draining out onto the ground. (No idea why I checked oil, honestly, it's probably the only maintenance thing I know to do with an engine)

So, luckily it has 5 months of power train warranty left. Road side assistance towed me. Got the babies to a hotel as this was Sunday. Road side assistance said they don't cover a rental vehicle except under certain conditions...

So Monday comes, I'm 10 hours from home, I'm missing work, I'm stuck in the only hotel within walking distance of the dealership, 175/night, no pool, nothing for kids to do. Blessed to have a restaurant for evening meals next to hotel but otherwise it's a half hour walk or more to a gas station. No grocery shopping etc.

Dealership says they can't look at my truck let alone work on it until the following Monday, but they can trade it in. (Haha no)

I call customer care again. They know who what vehicle I have and ask if that's what it's about, yadda yadda. They transfer me and that gal wants my vin. Don't have it. Asks for my phone number but for some reason that doesn't find me either. So she says to call back when i have the vin. Truck is a 15 min walk in freezing temperatures with a 7 and 9 year old kid. No. Not doing it. So I reason that they knew when I called, there had to be another way. She says no. I ask for a supervisor she HUNG UP on me.

So I call back about to lose my sh$# and this one is helpful. He says he's authorized to cover a 3 day rental at 40/day. An economy car right now is 60/day. And there is an additional charge for a one way rental that would all be out of my pocket.

So my dad agrees to drive down and get me and the truck. Taking it to a local dealership rather than making a 20 hour trip twice but he couldn't leave until Tuesday and so we ended up with three nights in a hotel, lots in extra fuel, etc...

Do you all have any experience in what I can get them to cover? This was a pretty miserable experience and there is nothing except a design flaw that should cause a modern engine to blow at 52k. I don't tow with it, I drive it. That's it. I'm a rather salter human. As soon as this thing is repaired I'm trading it in which cause additional problems because I was planning to buy a camper this year, not a new truck I mean what a wreck to our little life all because I had faith in a brand.

I’ve said this before. Diesel engines are not for local city driving. If you have any diesel vehicles as a daily driver, GET RID OF IT! Unless you like being stranded and having your wallet emptied.

 

[autoX]

Agreed - short trip duty = high on particulates, low on exhaust temps and regen opportunity. Results in high DPF% and probably excess soot/EGR as well. Exactly what happened when we used it this way, resulting in engine fail at just 30K miles.

But all that deleted it's a different beast - runs like a gasoline engine. Confirmed by our shop when I asked the question.