Just got a letter from FCA extending the warranty on my turbo actuator

I got a letter from FCA yesterday that told me they are extending the warranty on my turbo actuator to 15 years or 150,000 miles. It said this applies to certain 2015 RAM 3500 vehicles and their records indicate my vehicle is affected by the warranty extension.

Here is the meat of the letter;


I wasn't aware of an actuator issue, anyone know more about this?

Yes, actuator failures are all too common on the VGT. It's interesting that they singled out 2015, as I have read of failures on many model years. The heat gets to the electronics. Also, the motor in the actuator that positions the collar, and works the exhaust brake could have been more robust. Carbon can bind the shaft up and the motor may not have enough torque to overcome it. The general thought is to use the exhaust brake as much as possible to keep it moving and free. OEM actuators need to be calibrated when installed. City Diesel makes on that uses more robust components throughout, and is self calibrating. I think Motor City Mechanic has a couple videos on actuator replacement.

The ‘16 I had, turbo actuator died at 164000kms. Was told it wasn’t covered under the power train warranty, only the bumper to bumper 60000km warranty. Was a $4000 part through the dealer. Extended warranty covered it, though. If you search turbo actuator failure on some of the bigger diesel forums you can read some nice horror stories!

I heard rumor of this quite a while ago (posted on TDR) but was wondering if it was ever going to happen. From what I heard it only covers certain years which is a crock because these actuators have been failing all over the place and it sure doesn't seem isolated to a couple of year period. My 16 was not on the rumored list but yet it is identical to your 15. And this isn't a "bad batch" kind of thing, it's a poor design.

In fact, there have been so many failures it sparked a aftermarket solution that is produced by City Diesel.


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The actuator is not $4K, but FCA didn't sell it separately, and chose to replace the whole turbo. I don't know if it's still like that. You can get the actuator from Cummins if it's on your dime, or get the City Diesel.

So I have a 2014 just turned 28000 miles got all the codes p003a, 00af, u0101c, p0046. cleared them to no avail studied it online went to city diesel and purchased their actuator. Replacement took about 6 hrs and it works fine now. just wondering is this a recall for all trucks or are they picking and choosing as I would like to get my 920.00 dollars + 135.00 for anti freeze back wont charge for my labor. off the top of my head I can think of 5 others who have had the same problem not to happy with ram at all but the other manufacturers arent any better. anyways if you do the replacement go to motorcity mechanic on you tube and view his video great instuctions made the job super easy

My truck is in the shop for the recall/ warranty right now. There is alot to it. If the actuator goes out usually because of the turbo it starts to take other systems with it. 1st the turbo 2nd the actuator 3rd egr 4th def pump. And then shut down. Drove in to the dealer with 0 on my counter.

trap shooter said:

just wondering is this a recall for all trucks or are they picking and choosing as I would like to get my 920.00 dollars + 135.00 for anti freeze back wont charge for my labor.

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I don't know but it appears to be a very common question. I got the letter out of the blue, I had no idea there were issues until I took a look.

I don't know if this helps but my truck was assembled on April 27, 2015. I don't know when the engine was assembled or the turbo and its actuator.

trap shooter said:

So I have a 2014 just turned 28000 miles got all the codes p003a, 00af, u0101c, p0046. cleared them to no avail studied it online went to city diesel and purchased their actuator. Replacement took about 6 hrs and it works fine now. just wondering is this a recall for all trucks or are they picking and choosing as I would like to get my 920.00 dollars + 135.00 for anti freeze back wont charge for my labor. off the top of my head I can think of 5 others who have had the same problem not to happy with ram at all but the other manufacturers arent any better. anyways if you do the replacement go to motorcity mechanic on you tube and view his video great instuctions made the job super easy

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While this is a pretty wide spread problem, according to the letter they are Only covering 2015 trucks (which makes Zero sense) so I think you are out of luck at the moment.
Hopefully they expand this but the leaked information that I saw about this 6-8 months ago was echoing the same thing that it was very limited in years covered.

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Well I’ve driven it 300 miles so far at 6.29 a gallon to clear my computer for smog in the republic and not a hiccup also the exhaust brake is stronger and seems like it gained a little boost as well all in all very pleased wit the city diesel actuator

trap shooter said:

So I have a 2014 just turned 28000 miles got all the codes p003a, 00af, u0101c, p0046. cleared them to no avail studied it online went to city diesel and purchased their actuator. Replacement took about 6 hrs and it works fine now. just wondering is this a recall for all trucks or are they picking and choosing as I would like to get my 920.00 dollars + 135.00 for anti freeze back wont charge for my labor. off the top of my head I can think of 5 others who have had the same problem not to happy with ram at all but the other manufacturers arent any better. anyways if you do the replacement go to motorcity mechanic on you tube and view his video great instuctions made the job super easy

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My 2014 went 60k before mine went out last spring. I was 700 miles from home with the fifth wheel in tow . Would have liked to have gotten the City Diesel actuator , and replaced myself , but that wasn’t possible . Had a dealership in Flagstaff, Az. replace it . Hoping they will include this warranty thing to the 2014’s , and I could be reimbursed. Not holding my breath .

I just got notice from the dealer they are replacing my turbo and actuator under warranty. I have a 2014 ram 5500. They of course found 6000 dollars of other items. I am not getting anything else except a faulty def injector.

Got one too. 2015 2500.

Carlo

mtnrider said:

I heard rumor of this quite a while ago (posted on TDR) but was wondering if it was ever going to happen. From what I heard it only covers certain years which is a crock because these actuators have been failing all over the place and it sure doesn't seem isolated to a couple of year period. My 16 was not on the rumored list but yet it is identical to your 15. And this isn't a "bad batch" kind of thing, it's a poor design.

In fact, there have been so many failures it sparked a aftermarket solution that is produced by City Diesel.


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I have 2017 with a failing actuator AND I drive a 2015 Kenworth w/ 600 Cummins that had a failed turbo actuator. Seems to be a theme here. I am waiting to see if I get the letter .. hoping.

I have been fighting this turbo actuator issue on my 2017 2500 since I bought it w/ 69k mi. Dealer and Ram Corporate tells me this isn't part of the "powertrain warranty". It was part of the "basic warranty" which ended 3y/36k mi. ?? Ok, but in the letter above (which my best friend also got for his 2015 3500, letter states warranty now goes from 5y/100k mi to 15y/ 150k mi. UHM .. "5y/100k mi"?? Is that possibly for 3500 HO engines or ??
Things I have tried: Turbo cleaner - didn't seem to make much of a difference
: WD40 .. yes, I believe this made an improvement. I just squirt a liberal amount down the pipe.
I also have a feeling this issue could stem from an electrical issue as well as the mechanics of the actual actuator getting stuck. I recently pulled a small-ish trailer from AZ to MT and the actuator was tripping quite often (mostly at the beginning of my day), once it got real warm it would typically stay good the rest of the day .. BUT, once I unhooked the trailer in MT, it hasn't tripped since. It's only been 3 days now, but still. I'm pretty baffled and hoping FCA starts including other years, makes, models. I did talk to FCA corporate regarding this letter and the lady did say they, "this is a brand new recall and the other years haven't been included YET", so I'm hopeful. This is bullsh**t.

I don’t see how FCA could say “it’s not part of the power train warranty” when the turbo and its components are needed to make the truck run!

June 2021 Paid $3,000 to replace actuator on 2015 6.7 125500 mies. in May 2022 got a letter from FCA that said warranty is extended from 5 years 100,000 to 15 years 150,000.
FCA requested original bill and receipt, sent in 5/20/22.
letter said could be 60 days to answer back. fingers crossed
if you are looking for more info 1-866-726-4636 FCA US LLC

MARKS2015RAM said:

June 2021 Paid $3,000 to replace actuator on 2015 6.7 125500 mies. in May 2022 got a letter from FCA that said warranty is extended from 5 years 100,000 to 15 years 150,000.
FCA requested original bill and receipt, sent in 5/20/22.
letter said could be 60 days to answer back. fingers crossed
if you are looking for more info 1-866-726-4636 FCA US LLC

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THCummins said:

I had a turbo actuator go bad and replaced in January 2022. Got this letter in April 2022 and submitted for reimbursement with all the documentation and receipts. I got an email back about a week later asking for the same documentation again and gave me a week to provide it or they would close the case not in my favor. I submitted the same day and am still waiting on an answer. Will update with the outcome.

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Received an email back from FCA stating that I was approved for a total of $1,829.25 refund of the $1,933.93 that I submitted (did not cover coolant or shop supplies but did cover labor). They said I should have the check within 30 days so we will see...

THCummins said:

Received an email back from FCA stating that I was approved for a total of $1,829.25 refund of the $1,933.93 that I submitted (did not cover coolant or shop supplies but did cover labor). They said I should have the check within 30 days so we will see...

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Got the Check!

THCummins, I have been dealing with this issue for months. Just got rejected, but do you have a copy of the letter? and also did you go to a Dodge dealer for the repair? I misplaced my letter and desperately want to know why after everything I showed them, I was still rejected. The last e-mail said because I didn't get it repaired at a Stellantis Dealership. But through the 3 1/2 months of e-mails back n forth not once did they ask that. any help will be much apricated.