PatinAZ
Senior Member
Hey all, new member here. Just wanted to pop in and give an intro. I’ve been lurking on this board for a while and can relate to a lot of the topics here, so I decided to join.
I currently have a ’16 2500 6.4 Power Wagon which I purchased new one year ago. It was a dream truck of mine for a while. We have one for a work truck (5.7) and always loved it. This is my third Ram truck, the prior two were 2nd gen 1500 4x4s. I’ve had other trucks prior to this PW, but I have always loved Rams.
I have had the truck for one year and 22000 miles now and I’ll share my experiences with it, good and not so good. I didn’t get the Laramie edition, but the step below. It has most everything I like- 8.4, remote start, clearance lights, colored grill insert, etc. The first thing a friend and I did was discard the graphics along the side. Just not my thing.
It is my daily driver and I’ve towed my 19’ toyhauler (~6k lbs) twice to the northern parts of Arizona (8,000 ft) for hunting trips. Although I see single digit MPGs on the display towing, I’m able to pass other rigs on climbs turning 5k RPMs in 2nd gear. It’s no diesel but it does just fine for me. Once camp is set up, the truck doubles as a hunting rig and crawls effortlessly around the jeep trails. I love it!
Some of the issues I’ve encountered-
The truck came with lifetime service from the dealer (oil/filter, rotation) and was told by the dealer that I should follow the computer oil life monitor, no need for a 500 or 1000 mile oil change. Ok, I was fine with that. So, after an initial break-in and around 3000 miles, I towed my toyhauler to a local spot not far from home for the first time with it. After returning from the camping trip and parking the truck for a day or so, I started it up and got the loud clanking noise some have reported with the 6.4. It sounded like the rod knock/drive train/lifters were dry. The sound disappeared in about 10-12 seconds. I began to research and found others with this same problem. The vids I found on Youtube were exactly like how mine sounded. It did this only once after pulling the toyhauler that weekend, so I chalked it up to a fluke of the engine being pushed for the first time. What do I know? Well, after a few more thousand miles, the sound returned and I could replicate it every time I started the truck at night when it was cold. I work nights, so one of my commutes is in the middle of the night. Most times, it wouldn’t do it on a cold start during the day when it was warmer. It was so predictable at night, I had multiple videos of it on my phone to show dealer. I took it in for its first service around 7k miles as indicated on the oil life monitor. I had mentioned the noise, but didn’t show the vids as the truck wasn’t doing it regularly anymore and I kinda shrugged it off. After the first service with new oil/filter, the truck hasn’t made the noise since and I’m coming up on its third service. Of the people I’ve read about this happening, some got replacement engines and they seemed like they were all really low mileage, and were original factory oil (?) when the noise occurred.
I have also experienced the fan clutch issue on this truck, not disengaging and sounding like a freight train going down the road. It first happened at beginning of last summer after I washed the truck, including engine compartment. I called the dealer and got a pretty typical “its getting summer now, it will do that” response over the phone. I said “no, it’s not normal. I’ve towed a trailer up grades and it never sounded like this”. I made an appointment to have it looked at after having researched and found this issue was not uncommon. A few days before the appointment, the fan clutch disengaged and ran normal. Well, two weeks ago it happened again. The fan clutch engaged and never disengaged. I brought it to dealer and they said “yep, that’s not normal. Parts are on order and we’ll get you fixed right up”. This was right around 21000 miles. I take it in this Friday for the warranty repair.
The only other little quirk I have noticed is my driver side window seems to lose the auto-up feature a few times a month. It’s a simple fix by holding the window button up for a few seconds after the window is all the way up. Then it’s good.
Overall, I love this truck and wouldn’t change it for anything currently out there. If I were to tow around my toyhauler more than a few times a year (I work a ton), like every weekend, I might have considered the 2500 with 6.7. But this truck suits me just fine and I love jumping into it every day.
Sorry for the long initial post. Will continue lurking now.
I currently have a ’16 2500 6.4 Power Wagon which I purchased new one year ago. It was a dream truck of mine for a while. We have one for a work truck (5.7) and always loved it. This is my third Ram truck, the prior two were 2nd gen 1500 4x4s. I’ve had other trucks prior to this PW, but I have always loved Rams.
I have had the truck for one year and 22000 miles now and I’ll share my experiences with it, good and not so good. I didn’t get the Laramie edition, but the step below. It has most everything I like- 8.4, remote start, clearance lights, colored grill insert, etc. The first thing a friend and I did was discard the graphics along the side. Just not my thing.
It is my daily driver and I’ve towed my 19’ toyhauler (~6k lbs) twice to the northern parts of Arizona (8,000 ft) for hunting trips. Although I see single digit MPGs on the display towing, I’m able to pass other rigs on climbs turning 5k RPMs in 2nd gear. It’s no diesel but it does just fine for me. Once camp is set up, the truck doubles as a hunting rig and crawls effortlessly around the jeep trails. I love it!
Some of the issues I’ve encountered-
The truck came with lifetime service from the dealer (oil/filter, rotation) and was told by the dealer that I should follow the computer oil life monitor, no need for a 500 or 1000 mile oil change. Ok, I was fine with that. So, after an initial break-in and around 3000 miles, I towed my toyhauler to a local spot not far from home for the first time with it. After returning from the camping trip and parking the truck for a day or so, I started it up and got the loud clanking noise some have reported with the 6.4. It sounded like the rod knock/drive train/lifters were dry. The sound disappeared in about 10-12 seconds. I began to research and found others with this same problem. The vids I found on Youtube were exactly like how mine sounded. It did this only once after pulling the toyhauler that weekend, so I chalked it up to a fluke of the engine being pushed for the first time. What do I know? Well, after a few more thousand miles, the sound returned and I could replicate it every time I started the truck at night when it was cold. I work nights, so one of my commutes is in the middle of the night. Most times, it wouldn’t do it on a cold start during the day when it was warmer. It was so predictable at night, I had multiple videos of it on my phone to show dealer. I took it in for its first service around 7k miles as indicated on the oil life monitor. I had mentioned the noise, but didn’t show the vids as the truck wasn’t doing it regularly anymore and I kinda shrugged it off. After the first service with new oil/filter, the truck hasn’t made the noise since and I’m coming up on its third service. Of the people I’ve read about this happening, some got replacement engines and they seemed like they were all really low mileage, and were original factory oil (?) when the noise occurred.
I have also experienced the fan clutch issue on this truck, not disengaging and sounding like a freight train going down the road. It first happened at beginning of last summer after I washed the truck, including engine compartment. I called the dealer and got a pretty typical “its getting summer now, it will do that” response over the phone. I said “no, it’s not normal. I’ve towed a trailer up grades and it never sounded like this”. I made an appointment to have it looked at after having researched and found this issue was not uncommon. A few days before the appointment, the fan clutch disengaged and ran normal. Well, two weeks ago it happened again. The fan clutch engaged and never disengaged. I brought it to dealer and they said “yep, that’s not normal. Parts are on order and we’ll get you fixed right up”. This was right around 21000 miles. I take it in this Friday for the warranty repair.
The only other little quirk I have noticed is my driver side window seems to lose the auto-up feature a few times a month. It’s a simple fix by holding the window button up for a few seconds after the window is all the way up. Then it’s good.
Overall, I love this truck and wouldn’t change it for anything currently out there. If I were to tow around my toyhauler more than a few times a year (I work a ton), like every weekend, I might have considered the 2500 with 6.7. But this truck suits me just fine and I love jumping into it every day.
Sorry for the long initial post. Will continue lurking now.