Hello and Welcome to your first warranty repair

[particulatesmatter]

Hello, this is my first diesel, been excited about this truck since it came out and finally the numbers worked out. 2017 Big Horn Crew. 500 miles into its' life, and I am loving it... until... on a cold MN morning and on the way to church we go into limp mode with the unlovable and vague "Service Electronic Throttle Control."

Of course, Holiday weekend and all. I pay a little extra to have it towed to the dealer I bought it from and meet them the next day when service is open. Sales is super surprised, never heard of anything. Service advisor tells a different story with multiple ecodiesels in the shop the previous week for same. Chrysler engineers are on it though, and they are pretty sure we need a front cover and block heater cord (another wonderful surprise I found out the night before). Those were ordered by my dealer and are on backorder- the way I understand it, they will be paying for those. I am VERY thankful for this forum and the members because I've been able to get smart on these issues pretty quick and knew more than the service advisor. Thanks.

So here I am, truck been in the shop more than I've had it since purchase as of tomorrow. And they gave me a chevy cruze to drive in the mean time. I just bought a diesel truck, and here I am in that "thing" in winter and in the country. I probably should be thankful, right? Yet I got a kick out of driving myself to the dealer in my rusty 80s ford bronco that isn't as needy (for now).

Anyhow, I get a call today from the dealer saying they have a Chrysler factory rep there and a bunch of ecodiesels that are all throwing codes in the cold weather. They think it will be a 2-3 week software fix. Only seems to occur under 0 F, periodically under 10F. In the mean time, they want to give me my truck back, along with a code reader, so I can clear the codes when they come up. This sounds insane to me. I just made a major investment and I am going to override codes to keep it out of limp mode? That is the type of thing I do on the bronco, not something as nice as this?!

I feel like I'd rather keep the truck there until the issue is resolved correctly, but I am guessing I am headed into being told they won't let me keep my loaner and that I have nothing to worry about. Am I off my rocker? Suggestions? Call Ram and complain? I'm trying to be reasonable but also am not blind to see this as a nice way they can stop the lemon law clock as well (I sure hope that doesn't even enter into reality). Imagine other cold weather areas are seeing something similar with a certain batch of the 2017s? I'll keep reading to see what others are experiencing. Thanks!

 

[BoostN]

Welcome! It seems the extreme cold is causing a lot of issues. We've had a number of members here with the "Cold weather issue". However, once you're past these bumps you'll probably enjoy the truck and forget all about it. Make the dealer take care of you, and if you feel like they aren't, file a case with FCA and keep it moving. After all, it's a new truck!

Enjoy and stick around, I'd love to know what they're going to do to fix these issues.

 

[Brokedownbutgood]

Unfortunately fca is doing the best they can since the epa (carb more specifically) forced them to “fix” there software. If you are not open to being part of the bata program then getting rid of the truck is your best bet. Personally I would just keep it and clear the codes like they said its just stupid codes due to low egr temps etc.

 

[DavidD]

Northern Ontario Canada here. The cold weather front and block heater does nothing. I filed complaint with FCA and they will not provide loaner vehicle. They tell me to drive it and bring it back to get codes cleared as required. Getting very frustrated, it's a gamble every morning to see if I get the Service ETC message. Nobody even telling me a possible estimate an how long for a fix.