I have a 2018 RAM 3.6l v6. Just finished sitting through Hurricane Ida and found my truck was "shuddering" when I cranked it afterward to move from open field to driveway. Thought it was bad gas because all was fine the day before the hurricane. My son was teasing me about the gas then looked under the hood of truck, looked at me and said it was not the gas. He found a rat or squirrel had eaten the wiring under the hood to cylinders 1 and 5, as well as the felt on the battery.
I have an extended warranty on the truck and thought the regular (truck not quite 3 years old yet) or extended warranty would cover the damage. Could not get Mopar to answer phones. Dealership was out of service because no power from August 29 (after Ida) until Wednesday Sept 1, 2021. However, dealership website allowed me to send message online so I wrote about my problem on August 30 through their website and asked to be contacted when the dealership opened. Never received a reply. So I waited until Friday Sept 3 to call - only because I know about hurricane aftermath and wanted to be respectful. I called to explain the problem and tell them I needed to have truck towed to them because afraid to drive it in that condition. They replied yes but it would be a couple of weeks before they could see about my truck. I then asked to speak to warranty staff person. Left a voicemail. Waited 3 hours, no return call. This is in addition to no response to online message sent August 30. (By the way, I never received a call from the lady I left voicemail with at dealership - had my phone with me until 7 p.m. when they close for the day this past Friday, nor yesterday, Saturday, when dealership was open.)
Before I went to dealership, and did not hear from dealership, called my insurance agent. That's when I learned about soy-based wiring. I had no idea. Insurance agent said to ask dealership to give me a statement that a rodent had chewed the plant/soy-based wiring so insurance would pay for damages. When I got the truck towed to the dealership, they adamantly DENIED that the wiring was plant-based. After politely asking several times for a quick diagnosis for a statement, they finally went to garage to ask a mechanic to look at the truck. He verified a rodent chewed the wiring. Told me wiring is not plant/soy-based (I asked). Then we went inside so the mechanic would write the statement but would not add wiring is plant/soy-based. Told me that my truck warranty would not cover the damages and it may be two weeks or more before they can start repairs. Mechanic went back to garage and they left my truck running roughly without cylinders 1 and 5 working with the hood up. I wanted to turn off the truck but the person who handles incoming problems told me I had to leave the truck running for almost 30 minutes. I reminded her several times (like every 5 minutes) I didn't think the engine should be running and why won't she park the truck. (wanted to add she is not a mechanic and could be damaging my engine). She kept saying someone will move it in a minute. I stayed with my truck until she ended up moving my truck to park in "waiting" lot after telling me that was not her job. Why would she/they do that?
I sent the document statement dealership gave me to insurance agent right away but it was almost 5 pm by that time on a Friday late afternoon and it's Labor Day weekend. I won't know until Tuesday if insurance agency will accept the quick diagnosis statement. Thank you for letting me rant but my biggest beef is - why is the Dodge RAM dealership denying that their wiring insulation is plant-soy based? Flat out denied to my face when I showed them articles about the wiring makeup on my phone. My other son works for a national commercial AC system company and he says they use soy-based wiring that has to be replaced all the time because rodents chew up the wires. He says it gives off a vanilla smell that rodents love. Has anyone else had this type problem with a dealership? Seriously thinking of doing business with a different dealership - both sons' advice.
