2016 Laramie Total Electrical Failure – Except Radio Panel (no sound)

[jbaflyer]

I bought a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie, crew cab, fully loaded, with 19k miles from a Dodge Dealer, with full inspection and manufacture warranty. This is my second 2500, last one was 2009 purchased from the same dealer and serviced with the same dealer, small town, excellent service, never any issues on previous truck because of poor service, lack of knowledge.

I have had two incidents of total electrical failure while driving, once in a drive-thru and once in a parking lot at 5 mph. The car suddenly dies, instrument panel completely black, and the radio panel remains on without sound. If I put the car in park and try to turn the engine over, nothing happens. If I remove the key and turn the key again nothing happens. If I continue you try the truck lights up and starts.

I have talked to the dealer, replaced both keys, hoping it was the FOB, after the first failure, then it happened again so key is ruled out. The failures occurred in 74° weather in local city driving. Engine was warm at the time of failure but not hot, etc. Truck has shown no signs of interesting behavior except one thing.

When connecting Bluetooth, it connects automatically as it should. However the sound does not come on, unless I hit the radio selection first, then I go back to Bluetooth. I figure this is a flaw in the Dodge to Galaxy 8 software, but would not keep an instrument panel going completely black and the car dying. Also having rented many cars, there is always quirks in Bluetooth to manufacture connections so it does not seem to be connected to the issue, at least in my mind.

No error codes on the truck. Also no mods of any kind to the truck or speed chip. I also did not hit the key with my knee. Key is a tight fit in the receiver.

I did post on the NHTSA in the hopes of someone else with the same issue would reach out, and now am posting here. I am curious if anyone else has had the same issue.

What concerns me is the complete death of everything while driving, because last thing I want is this happening on a dark foggy night at 65 mph.

Any insights or recommendations would be appreciated. I can only think maybe some “master” electrical connection plug is shorting out, but cannot know where to begin.

Here is a downloadable .mp4 of the actual issue. File size is 53mb I was doing it quick as I was blocking traffic in the parking lot.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4lj54potrgyqys8/truckdead.mp4?dl=0

Thanks for any comments.

 

[barr0208]

my guess that was traded in because of the problem. I would probably tell them to take it back if you can. electrical gremlins can be awfully hard to trace.

 

[csuder99]

As already said, intermittent electrical gremlins are hard to chase down. I have some experience with systems containing dozens of interconnected CPUs similar to a modern car, and the dealership does not have the knowledge or the tools to really trace this down. They can change parts and may get lucky, or possibly get a data logger from RAM and hook it into the vehicle.

Some thoughts:
It's not a total electrical failure, the radio screen is still on. Also if it happens again check if the interior lights still come on and the door locks work. Basically check things that work without the key in the ignition.

It would be also interesting to check if the touch screen on the radio still works, specifically truck related settings if applicable.

In 2015 there was an issue with that specific radio where it was bluetooth hackable. That should not apply to a 2016 truck, but to eliminate any weird interaction between the radio and your phone delete the pairing for a while.

Wild guess from looking at the video is that the communication between the dash panel and the rest of the vehicle fails. That could be an issue with the communication bus (unreliable connection, some node on the network causing interruption) or the dash itself has a hardware problem. Actually thinking of it it might also be the receiver for the key transponder that could cause this.

 

[Flip-er]

have to follow this one
sounds interesting

 

[mowin]

Is there a aftemarket remote start on it? My 17 had some interesting issues with a aftermarket remote.

 

[Grandpa Rick]

This situation reminds me of a problem that I had with 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. The vehicle would just shut down for no apparent reason, ie; no power steering, no power brakes etc. Turned out to be a faulty ignition switch which became a full recall by Chrysler. New switch installed was much firmer to turn with the key but it remedied the problem. Just my thoughts.

 

[blackhawk45]

I was having a problem with my 2016 Jeep that would kick the cruise control off and all of the idiot lights would come on periodically. Dealer couldn't find anything. I also have a ham radio and once when it happened it rebooted. I tracked it back to a loose battery connection. The vehicles are very voltage sensitive so I would check the batteries and connectors.

 

[RamCares]

I bought a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie, crew cab, fully loaded, with 19k miles from a Dodge Dealer, with full inspection and manufacture warranty. This is my second 2500, last one was 2009 purchased from the same dealer and serviced with the same dealer, small town, excellent service, never any issues on previous truck because of poor service, lack of knowledge.

I have had two incidents of total electrical failure while driving, once in a drive-thru and once in a parking lot at 5 mph. The car suddenly dies, instrument panel completely black, and the radio panel remains on without sound. If I put the car in park and try to turn the engine over, nothing happens. If I remove the key and turn the key again nothing happens. If I continue you try the truck lights up and starts.

I have talked to the dealer, replaced both keys, hoping it was the FOB, after the first failure, then it happened again so key is ruled out. The failures occurred in 74° weather in local city driving. Engine was warm at the time of failure but not hot, etc. Truck has shown no signs of interesting behavior except one thing.

When connecting Bluetooth, it connects automatically as it should. However the sound does not come on, unless I hit the radio selection first, then I go back to Bluetooth. I figure this is a flaw in the Dodge to Galaxy 8 software, but would not keep an instrument panel going completely black and the car dying. Also having rented many cars, there is always quirks in Bluetooth to manufacture connections so it does not seem to be connected to the issue, at least in my mind.

No error codes on the truck. Also no mods of any kind to the truck or speed chip. I also did not hit the key with my knee. Key is a tight fit in the receiver.

I did post on the NHTSA in the hopes of someone else with the same issue would reach out, and now am posting here. I am curious if anyone else has had the same issue.

What concerns me is the complete death of everything while driving, because last thing I want is this happening on a dark foggy night at 65 mph.

Any insights or recommendations would be appreciated. I can only think maybe some “master” electrical connection plug is shorting out, but cannot know where to begin.

Here is a downloadable .mp4 of the actual issue. File size is 53mb I was doing it quick as I was blocking traffic in the parking lot.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4lj54potrgyqys8/truckdead.mp4?dl=0

Thanks for any comments.

Hi jbaflyer,

Sorry to hear about this! Can you PM our page with your VIN? I'd like to look into this further for you.

Andrea
Ram Social Care Specialist