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2011 Ram Not happy owner

7K views 40 replies 26 participants last post by  Dancianne 
#1 ·
I have owned the truck for 30 days. It has 17,000 miles on it. One week in to ownership the truck clunked and put itself into Reverse as I was moving at 40 mph. Dealership had it ten days and concluded computer failed and it was replaced. Thirteen days later it happens again, The truck clunked and the back up camera came on, park assist display came on at 40mph. Truck leaking transmission fluid and was towed back to dealership. Dangerous situation if a guy is on snow or ice and the computer decides to throw the truck into reverse. I smelt burning wires and burning oil. First Dodge I have ever purchased and I am having serious buyers remorse. Anyone gone through this scenario?
 
#2 ·
The computer threw it into reverse just for the fun of it? Awww man sorry to hear that. Thats crummy. I have not had or heard of that from all the posts I've read on here either.
 
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#3 ·
That would be scary
crazy computer, bad transmission, etc.
i would be concerned about the rear end gearing & the drive shaft U-joints too
 
#5 ·
you might be able to find out who the original owner was & contact them to see if there were any issues with it

then IF the dealership that sold it to you, knew about said issues, you may have options ...
 
#6 · (Edited)
Sounds like a used and abused Ram as I haven't read of this "going into reverse" on its own symptom. Previous owner Must have had problems with it before you bought it? Vehicle history report a must on this one.
 
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#9 ·
Appreciate the response, I have contacted Ram 800 number and logged a complaint against the truck. I saw a history report and purchased it from the dealer that did all the oil changes and service work since new. I will contact previous owner to see if the report has been altered. I tell you what that computer is telling the truck to do things it physically cant do. It is Jacked up!!!! I did think of rear end issues, transfer case problems, the list just keeps growing. Thanks for your concern
 
#28 ·
I can confirm that at least Saabs are possessed. Owned one that did the same, full panic stop from highway speeds, stepped on the gas to go again but went backwards. Happened several times before I got rid of it,...afraid the demon within might try to transfer to me personally.
 
#12 ·
Anytime a vehicle goes into reverse (either driver or otherwise) while cruising in drive, it is forced to shut down. In other words, it WILL NOT go into reverse.

Is that what is happening? You hear a clunk then the truck shuts down? If the truck doesn't shut down, it is not likely going in reverse. Of course, it is your truck and you know it far FAR better than I, but vehicles these days just will not go into reverse when you are going 40 mph down the highway.
 
#13 ·
Although you stated the dealership did oil changes and service work to this used Laramie, I highly doubt that it was a problem free truck. The unfortunate ugliness about used car lots is "Sold As Is". Good luck with your truck as I hope you find a remedy to this road demon.
 
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#14 ·
Your transmission will not go into Reverse all by itself (while driving down the road). You have to physically move the shift lever into the Reverse position in order to engage Reverse; the computer cannot shift it into Reverse by itself.

I suspect that you may have a Trans Range Sensor (TRS) problem, or more likely a wiring problem (in one of the TRS circuits). Did you have a P0706 (Trans Range Sensor Rationality) fault?

Does your truck have a PRND display where all the letters are always visible, but one is highlighted in a different color? For example, in Park the P is green and the others are all white. The N and D also show up in green when they are selected. In Reverse, the R is red (and all the others are white). Here is what I bet happened: If the PCM detects an invalid TRS signal, it sets the P0706 fault, and lights up ALL the PRND positions at once. In older trucks, you would get a "box" around all the positions. But in yours, since it merely changes color to indicate the current gear position, when it highlights "all" of the positions, P, N, and D turn green, while R turns red. So it LOOKS like it is displaying Reverse, when in reality it is highlighting all of the positions.

So I'm guessing you just have a bad wire (or flaky connection) on one of your TRS circuits.
 
#17 ·
Trust me, when you get rid of this lemon, and own a normal, functional, not bipolar Ram, you will love the truck! My first truck was a Ram, and never looked back! My former boss is a ram guy. His nickname in the woods is "Dodgeboy".

He has own'ed dodge since the as early as he can remember. Even used to own old dodge semi trucks he used to haul wood with. Currently has 3 of those trucks in a pit, waiting to be restored.40+ years of logging experience and using only 1 brand of truck to get to the job is insurance enough for me that these trucks are tough like nothing else.

Second thought. I'd imagine the shifting from shifter to transmission is electrical. Could the issue not be that the "solenoid" (for lack of a better term) which reads what position the gear lever is in, is faulty? Perhaps it is malfunctioning on occasion and "reads" the truck has been placed into reverse.

Also is the shifter on the column or on the floor? Happen when you hit a bump?
 
#19 ·
... Second thought. I'd imagine the shifting from shifter to transmission is electrical. Could the issue not be that the "solenoid" (for lack of a better term) which reads what position the gear lever is in, is faulty? Perhaps it is malfunctioning on occasion and "reads" the truck has been placed into reverse.
The 8-speed trans is "all electronic" (there is no physical shift linkage), but the 6-speed still uses a conventional shift cable that moves a lever on the side of the transmission. To get into Reverse, you MUST physically move that shift lever to the Reverse detent. It doesn't matter what you do with the solenoids, you can't get Reverse unless the manual valve (which is physically connected to the shift lever) is in the Reverse detent.

I'm guessing that the issue is with the Trans Range Sensor (TRS), which (as you suggested) is what "reads what position the gear lever is in." If that sensor gives a faulty (invalid) signal, you get the P0706 with "all PRNDL highlighted." I doubt it would actually give a true "Reverse" display, since for that to happen, three out of the five TRS wires would have to switch to the wrong state. I can see one wire going bad, but typically you don't have three of 'em fail simultaneously.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I used to do fish hooks with my daddy's brand new 75 Ford F-150 at 40 mph or higher,truck never once lost any parts,was still running at well over a 100,000 miles with nary a tranny or rear-end being put in the truck.

I used to drop it into reverse at 40,and floor it,the truck would slide to a halt with the back tires smoking then do the fish hook on the pavement as it started backing up.

Fords C-6 and heavy duty 9" were almost indestructable in those trucks though

The old man used to put tires on the truck once a summer in those days,lol:shy:
 
#35 · (Edited)
LOL,my Dad was a very forgiving guy.
I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan.
So the old man had no choice but let me drive,lol.

We were in the city one time,when i was 16 and i picked up a squealing tires ticket in Moms car (68 428 Galaxi,great tire spinning car).
The ticket was issued in another province,so i had to show it to my Dad at the time.
He started to give me hell,but his mother was sitting at the table at the time.
As soon as he started giving me hell,Grandma spoke up and told him to remember his younger days,the old man shut up,and never gave me trouble again for tickets,lol
He was harder on equipment in his younger days then i was:smileup:
Grandma saved my hide alot of wear and tear,lol

I gotta admit that old F-150 was one tough truck,i had it in the air more times then i could count as a kid,plus doing fish hooks with it every week-end:smileup:
The truck made it well past 100,000 miles with only a steady bearing replacement in the driveline,sure miss grease-able u-joints now.
I doubt the u-joints we get now would take the abuse i gave those ones as a kid:smiledown:
 
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