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[renewal101]

Andy'n'Linda, 2015 RAM, Ecodiesel, quad cab, 6'4" bed, 13,000 miles and failed oil cooler, replaced all parts that contact coolant including engine, after only 248 miles after repair.......oil in coolant again and low engine oil levels. Going to the dealer again tomorrow. Very interested in what Chrysler is doing about this problem? I can't find anything from Chrysler as to a fix.

 

[Mharrison]

FCA has not issued a "fix" for it yet. I am actually very surprised they are not on there second or even third part number oil cooler by now. But there are some aftermarket companies working on an oil cooler to take care of the issue.

 

[renewal101]

FCA has not issued a "fix" for it yet. I am actually very surprised they are not on there second or even third part number oil cooler by now. But there are some aftermarket companies working on an oil cooler to take care of the issue.

thanks for the response. I hope I can keep up with the developments in this situation. We absolutely love our truck but with this oil cooler problem reoccurring, we are feeling we really need to protect ourselves and use the lemon law if possible. FCA just isn't being transparent and fore-coming in keeping us advised. The dealer had our truck for 41 days on the first repair.

 

[Mharrison]

I know of two people here local that are in the process of buy backs right now

 

[BoostN]

Well, if you've just had the engine replaced.. and it sounds like you might need to get it replaced (yet again). I would probably get the talks going of FCA buying the truck back. That is some tough luck for sure!

 

[renewal101]

We had our ecodiesel hauled to the dealer yesterday (Monday). Spent most of the day there. As they checked out the truck, we actually looked at the 2016 2500 RAM with Cummins diesel. This is a much proven power train and with our experience with the ecodiesel, we thought we might want to trade. We expected it to be nosier and hard ride, but it was more noticeable that we even expected. The ecodiesel has spoiled us. And then they presented the $ numbers to us. They wanted us to take $30,000 trade-in on our $47,000 ecodiesel that we have had for less than a year and pay them $49,000 plus for the 2500 that didn't have near the luxury options on it. Bottom line, it would have cost us $20,000 plus tax to trade. The 2500 was a great truck ......but we don't need a 2500 and we use our 1500 ecodiesel as a family vehicle so the soft and quiet ride along with the luxury options serve us well. We considered trade only because of anxiety over the reliability of the ecodiesel and mostly related to the oil cooler issue. Did I mention.....we really love our ecodiesel.

I called the Chrysler Customer Service line related to lemon law and got a very courteous lady who listened to our issues. I wanted to ask why we would have to pay a $20,000 penalty, when we are only trading because of a reliability issue.......could Chrysler do anything to compensate us for the situation. She felt is was worthy of consideration and said the case would be escalated up to a group who works these situations out. They will be calling me in 2 to 3 business days.

Later in the afternoon.....the service adviser informs us that they are fairly confident that the oil in my coolant system and the reserve bottle is residual from the previous oil cooler failure. They are not 100% sure because they can't explain why the engine oil level is was so low. Possibly the new engine breaking in the rings? They flushed the coolant system and cleaned the reserve bottle, added engine oil to exactly the "full" mark and asked us to drive it for a few days. They are ordering a new reserve bottle and will flush again when we come back. The Service Manager spoke to us and he tells us that Chrysler is 100% confident that the oil cooler problems originated with the hybrid OAT coolant that was used originally in the ecodiesel. That coolant attached the solder and metals in the oil cooler. They have switched now to the basic OAT coolant that does not attach the metals. I don't quite understand when this switch occurred. Our ecodiesel had a Jan'15 build date and the failures were occurring all through 2014 models and into 2015 models. Are there a lot of ecodiesels out the that have the old hybrid OAT coolant and have pending failures facing them? Can't get an answer to that? I would wonder why Chrysler isn't recalling all those vehicles in for a flush and new coolant?

Truck ran perfectly on trip home (40 Miles) and this morning I checked the oil level and it's exactly on the "full" mark. The coolant reserve bottle looks terrible with oil, but that "could" still be more residual. Time will tell and the jury is still out I guess. The main challenge for us is to regain confidence that the truck will not fail us in our travels. We spend 7 months out of each year on the road in our RV towing the ecodiesel behind us. Most of it many miles from homebase and our dealer. Then my beautiful wife who is a over zealous Mom and Grandma uses the ecodiesel for 80 mile cross desert trips to visit kids and grandkids. Many times she is on the road before daylight and after sunset. I have to be able to count on this ecodiesel for her safety. If our oil cooler issue is truly resolved.....we will gladly stay with the ecodiesel.

Sharing this only with hopes it might help others .......

 

[Stan Laurel]

So, a week later now, any further developments?

 

[renewal101]

Update....Since the above post, we made a 2nd trip to the dealer and they flushed the system again and put on a new coolant recovery bottle. We had been checking the bottle daily and also the engine oil level. The bottle had become a real mess, but the engine oil held perfectly at the "full" mark. The service department flushed the coolant system again and put on a new coolant recovery bottle. It looked good when we left the dealer. Since that visit, we check the coolant and engine oil daily. After several days, the bottle now has a half inch of oil scrum floating on the coolant and the engine oil has dropped to half way through the "full" range on the dip stick. The service department feels this oil usage could be the new engine breaking in the rings and is still confident the oil cooler is holding. They will flush and replace the bottle again after we drive 500 miles.

I had a call from the 2nd level of Chrysler Customer Service. They told me that their job was to work with dealer service and us to insure we are happy with the repair. They also made it clear that they do not get involved with any compensation or truck replacement or buy back. That would be yet another escalation if it was necessary. I asked again for a formal declaration from Chrysler on what the reason for the oil cooler failure.....coolant eating solder or just a defective oil cooler? She again said that she had no access to this information and didn't know who would have it. She asked if the dealer service mechanic couldn't give me that info. The only information from the dealer is from the service manager who has twice said it's the original coolant attacking the solder. She will stay in touch with me and dealer service as they flush the system.

We are starting to feel that the repair corrected the problem and that the truck is fixed. It may take several flushes and new bottles to clear up the residual. I still wish I knew what the official Chrysler determination is as to why the oil cooler failure. We still check the cooler and engine oil before any trips and the truck is running perfectly. Our confidence is still a little shaken but getting better. We need a couple more flushes, new bottles, engine oil level holding and miles on the truck. Got our fingers crossed. We really like this truck and don't want to get into a buy back or lemon law process. The dealer service has been excellent and that has helped tremendously.

 

[Stan Laurel]

Cautiously optimistic. Here's hoping the worst of your troubles are over and you can soon begin some worry-free motoring!

 

[John]

We had our ecodiesel hauled to the dealer yesterday (Monday). Spent most of the day there. As they checked out the truck, we actually looked at the 2016 2500 RAM with Cummins diesel. This is a much proven power train and with our experience with the ecodiesel, we thought we might want to trade. We expected it to be nosier and hard ride, but it was more noticeable that we even expected. The ecodiesel has spoiled us. And then they presented the $ numbers to us. They wanted us to take $30,000 trade-in on our $47,000 ecodiesel that we have had for less than a year and pay them $49,000 plus for the 2500 that didn't have near the luxury options on it. Bottom line, it would have cost us $20,000 plus tax to trade. The 2500 was a great truck ......but we don't need a 2500 and we use our 1500 ecodiesel as a family vehicle so the soft and quiet ride along with the luxury options serve us well. We considered trade only because of anxiety over the reliability of the ecodiesel and mostly related to the oil cooler issue. Did I mention.....we really love our ecodiesel.

I called the Chrysler Customer Service line related to lemon law and got a very courteous lady who listened to our issues. I wanted to ask why we would have to pay a $20,000 penalty, when we are only trading because of a reliability issue.......could Chrysler do anything to compensate us for the situation. She felt is was worthy of consideration and said the case would be escalated up to a group who works these situations out. They will be calling me in 2 to 3 business days.

Later in the afternoon.....the service adviser informs us that they are fairly confident that the oil in my coolant system and the reserve bottle is residual from the previous oil cooler failure. They are not 100% sure because they can't explain why the engine oil level is was so low. Possibly the new engine breaking in the rings? They flushed the coolant system and cleaned the reserve bottle, added engine oil to exactly the "full" mark and asked us to drive it for a few days. They are ordering a new reserve bottle and will flush again when we come back. The Service Manager spoke to us and he tells us that Chrysler is 100% confident that the oil cooler problems originated with the hybrid OAT coolant that was used originally in the ecodiesel. That coolant attached the solder and metals in the oil cooler. They have switched now to the basic OAT coolant that does not attach the metals. I don't quite understand when this switch occurred. Our ecodiesel had a Jan'15 build date and the failures were occurring all through 2014 models and into 2015 models. Are there a lot of ecodiesels out the that have the old hybrid OAT coolant and have pending failures facing them? Can't get an answer to that? I would wonder why Chrysler isn't recalling all those vehicles in for a flush and new coolant?

Truck ran perfectly on trip home (40 Miles) and this morning I checked the oil level and it's exactly on the "full" mark. The coolant reserve bottle looks terrible with oil, but that "could" still be more residual. Time will tell and the jury is still out I guess. The main challenge for us is to regain confidence that the truck will not fail us in our travels. We spend 7 months out of each year on the road in our RV towing the ecodiesel behind us. Most of it many miles from homebase and our dealer. Then my beautiful wife who is a over zealous Mom and Grandma uses the ecodiesel for 80 mile cross desert trips to visit kids and grandkids. Many times she is on the road before daylight and after sunset. I have to be able to count on this ecodiesel for her safety. If our oil cooler issue is truly resolved.....we will gladly stay with the ecodiesel.

Sharing this only with hopes it might help others .......

FCA didn't use HOAT in the ecodiesel. Is the dealer clueless or what?

 

[renewal101]

FCA didn't use HOAT in the ecodiesel. Is the dealer clueless or what?

Hello John. Very interesting to read your comment. How confident are you in your source for this info? When I google "HOAT and OAT", I can find information that indicates that both "can" be aggressive towards solder and metals. It is very difficult to weight the alternatives for us when we don't know (100% for sure) what the failure actually is. When I study the threads on the forums, I see three possibilities.
1. The coolant is attaching solder and metals of the system where a cross flow occurs and engine oil is pumped into the coolant system.
2. The oil cooler is just inherently a poor structural design and won't hold up under operating conditions. This is the failure that results from engine oil being pumped into the coolant system because of a cross flow (rupture) in the oil cooler not related to attacks to the cooler or metals.
3. The oil cooler is not adequate capacity to keep the engine oil below it's critical breakdown temperatures. I see post that imply that the ED trucks that have lots of towing time or towing weights that are near the towing limits of the truck fail more often than others.

In my talks with Chrysler Customer Service, I can't not get this question answered. Their comment is always that they don't have access to this information and don't know who would have that info. There does not appear to be any Service Bulletins or printed information. I don't know where the Service Manager got his information on the coolant being the problem. I see post that indicate that there are two companies in development of an oil cooler to replace the stock cooler and some forum members who are indicating they will buy this immediately when it hits the market. Wonder if that would void the warranty?

When we buy a diesel, we are expecting a reliable engine life above 200,000 miles. Right now, I would absolutely not want to own this truck without factory drive train warranty. The repair cost for mine with only 13,301 miles was well above $20,000. We sure need Chrysler to step up and let us know what the root cause of this failure is!

With today's technology, why can't they have engine oil temperature and oil level readouts with buzzers and lights flashing. By the time "low oil pressure" is observed.....most likely the engine is already damaged especially at freeway speeds or towing. Again.....we love this truck, but we do need to be confident on the reliability.

 

[John]

I'm going by the owners manual for 2014, 2015, and 2016 model years and they all indicate OAT coolant. I haven't a clue why they fail. I do know mixing different types of coolants can cause corrosion within the coaling system. I agree about not wanting to own this truck beyond the warranty. Today's diesels with all the EPA compliant junk do not last like the diesels of old. I hope your truck is all good now.