I had an unpleasant greeting this morning. I started my 2020 Ram Ecodiesel which then immediately presented me with a laundry list of warning messages culminating with inoperative power steering. Steering the truck is beastly unless it is moving. The check engine light is now lit along with a power steering light. Other warning messages cycle through the information panel on the dash including collision warning lights, 4th drive warnings, traction control lights, etc. The engine otherwise is running nicely. We had a serious thunderstorm the night before and the truck is parked outside. I’m not sure whether this is a factor or just a coincidence. Before this happened, the truck was running flawlessly. I’m not sure what to do next. I have an ECM reader which I will use to pull all of the multiple codes to look up. I couldn’t do it yesterday because the test unit required charging and I was just too pissed. In the last 10K miles I have replaced the Tone ring, had the HPFP recall done, had the newly replaced HPFP grenade while driving and had the ENTIRE fuel system replaced, and now this. The good news is that all these repairs were covered under the recall or my extended warranty. The bad news is that this warranty expired on 7/23. If I had any hair, I would pull it out. So when this happened all I could say was “REALLY!?” I have 140K miles on the truck and I have actually really enjoyed the way it drives and tows. Up to now that is.
My present plan is to pull the codes, research them and then probably erase them all to see if that might remedy the issues. There are just too many apparently unrelated codes for this to be as simple as a steering pump or rack failure is it? My working theory presently is that either the truck was hit by lightning (no obvious signs of a strike are present) or that rain water has infiltrated into some of the electronic bits. Has anyone else seen this type of electrical failure? Any suggestions or insights would be gratefully accepted!
My present plan is to pull the codes, research them and then probably erase them all to see if that might remedy the issues. There are just too many apparently unrelated codes for this to be as simple as a steering pump or rack failure is it? My working theory presently is that either the truck was hit by lightning (no obvious signs of a strike are present) or that rain water has infiltrated into some of the electronic bits. Has anyone else seen this type of electrical failure? Any suggestions or insights would be gratefully accepted!