First Issue with my 2019 RAM 1500 - RF Hub Died!

[Packerbkd]

Went to get in my truck the other night and nothing seemed to work. Fobs would not open the doors and it seemed dead. I used my manual key to open the doors and the alarm went off. Lights were on the dash and the start button showed "Off" lighted. The Radio screen also showed some life. I popped the hood and tried charging the battery (nope). I called roadside assistance and they tried to jump start it - nothing worked. Called the dealership and they said to have it towed in. Well, that turned out to be very hard. The truck locked all four tires - they would not roll. Pulling the orange cord under the dash did not release the wheels as the dealer said it would. So, they came and eventually dragged the truck onto a flatbed aided by snow.

When they dropped it at the dealer. they had to disconnect the driveshaft and tow it into their shop. They said that they removed the backseats and installed a new RF Hub. They also reprogrammed both Fobs. The truck seems good as new. I was very happy with the dealer (Bryden's in Beloit Wi.) in that they had the truck repaired in less than 24 hours. They even came to and picked me up so I could drive my truck home. It was definitely an ordeal but happy to have my truck alive again!

 

[Farmer Fran]

Good to hear! Sometimes finding a good dealer is extremely difficult! My FCA and GM Dealer are good - luckily

 

[Pudge]

Ok, please excuse my ignorance. What is an RF Hub that it should lock you system down so tight as it did?

 

[chrisbh17]

Ok, please excuse my ignorance. What is an RF Hub that it should lock you system down so tight as it did?

One of its jobs is to handle all of the keyfob/ignition related security. Without it, the truck wont start because the default is "no start" if it cant see a valid key/keyfob. There are other purposes for it, but thats the one that causes a no-start condition if it goes bad.

 

[Packerbkd]

Ok, please excuse my ignorance. What is an RF Hub that it should lock you system down so tight as it did?

The RF Hub, as the dealer explained, allows your Fobs to communicate to the truck. If it breaks, it turns on the vehicle theft system and won't let anything work. I didn't know it locked up the truck so tight either. It turned on the electric parking break itself. I never turn it on as I park on an even pad. It dying really did a number on it but if you think about it from a security aspect, it did what it was supposed to!

 

[Pudge]

Thanks for the explanation guys. Helpful!

 

[Kipslonk]

Looking forward to the first time I'm stranded. Is there a way to start the truck with the physical key? Or just get into the cab?

 

[chrisbh17]

Looking forward to the first time I'm stranded. Is there a way to start the truck with the physical key? Or just get into the cab?

If a fob battery dies supposedly you can push the start button with the end of the fob and it will start. I'm not sure if or how the helps if the rf hub is dead.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Musky Mike]

This is crazy, what if you're 75 miles from no where out in the woods. All 4 wheels locked!!! I'm sorry, but this is a poor design for a "4X4" with an "off road package" made to go "off road".

 

[chrisbh17]

I dont think Ive ever read of someone on here with that issue so it doesnt seem very common.

Its all about security now, so its bound to happen....even off-roading. They have the trucks locked down to the hilts, presumably for FCA to CYA if someone steals one.

I have a 4th gen, so I wasnt quite sure why the whole truck couldnt roll but OP mentioned the electronic parking brake. Im surprised there is no way to release it, although that might be a security thing too.....if there is no valid key, lock the parking brake so it cant easily be towed away.

 

[VStan]

I think it would be prudent to have a redundant backup Hub that would take over, send a message to replace the primary and give you 90 days to do it and keep reminding you weekly until you do. I plan on being out West this Spring and off road quite a bit. Hmmm I wonder what a satellite phone costs.

 

[chrisbh17]

I think it would be prudent to have a redundant backup Hub that would take over, send a message to replace the primary and give you 90 days to do it and keep reminding you weekly until you do. I plan on being out West this Spring and off road quite a bit. Hmmm I wonder what a satellite phone costs.

The keyfobs IDs/codes are "baked" into the RF hub that they pair with. Once that happens, they cant be used in any other RF hub, unless the keyfobs themselves are manually cleared (which I believe very few people are authorized to do, so its expensive). Cant just swap over to a new hub without clearing and/or replacing the keyfobs too. Then they need to be re-programmed to the replacement rf hub.

Luckily for OP it seems to be under warranty because this is something I could see a dealer charging an arm and a leg for.

 

[VStan]

The keyfobs IDs/codes are "baked" into the RF hub that they pair with. Once that happens, they cant be used in any other RF hub, unless the keyfobs themselves are manually cleared (which I believe very few people are authorized to do, so its expensive). Cant just swap over to a new hub without clearing and/or replacing the keyfobs too. Then they need to be re-programmed to the replacement rf hub.

Luckily for OP it seems to be under warranty because this is something I could see a dealer charging an arm and a leg for.

You're of course right if it's designed to work like that. I worked in mainframe tech for 44 years. The IBM z13 could be configured with 141 CPU's of which 15 or so were spares. The processor processed 1.6 billion instructions a second and if they encountered one of hundreds of different possible faults they could pass off the in-and-ready data and instruction set in about 200 nanoseconds, because they were designed to work that way (the spare becomes an exact clone and keeps right on processing, it then sends a message to the system console and all is well). That Hub has a CPU capable of the same microcode (or at least it should), it just has to be programmed properly. And selling 550,000+ trucks a year with THAT Hub the increase in cost would be spread pretty thin. As opposed to IBM only selling 5000 z13's in a year. The customer obviously doesn't need that type of redundancy everywhere but I think maybe it does for something that can leave you high and dry in the swamp of life, so to speak.

 

[Rebel tough]

Went to get in my truck the other night and nothing seemed to work. Fobs would not open the doors and it seemed dead. I used my manual key to open the doors and the alarm went off. Lights were on the dash and the start button showed "Off" lighted. The Radio screen also showed some life. I popped the hood and tried charging the battery (nope). I called roadside assistance and they tried to jump start it - nothing worked. Called the dealership and they said to have it towed in. Well, that turned out to be very hard. The truck locked all four tires - they would not roll. Pulling the orange cord under the dash did not release the wheels as the dealer said it would. So, they came and eventually dragged the truck onto a flatbed aided by snow.

When they dropped it at the dealer. they had to disconnect the driveshaft and tow it into their shop. They said that they removed the backseats and installed a new RF Hub. They also reprogrammed both Fobs. The truck seems good as new. I was very happy with the dealer (Bryden's in Beloit Wi.) in that they had the truck repaired in less than 24 hours. They even came to and picked me up so I could drive my truck home. It was definitely an ordeal but happy to have my truck alive again!

 

[Rebel tough]

I wish I could have read this in December... same exact problem right after Christmas... got towed to the dealer on a Friday night(service closed on the weekend) come Monday my rebel started right up. The dealer did a bunch of diagnostics but found nothing wrong no codes were read. On my way home from the dealer that Monday the truck actually shut down on me as I was driving, another tow to the dealership LOL Covid hit my garage so two weeks later they finally came to the conclusion that it was the kin module. Went over 3 months with no issues until May, truck wouldn’t start or unlock(alarms going off when I open the door manually) 8 hrs later my truck started. Dealer finally found the problem today, my rear window seal was leaking causing water to leak all over the RF hub... problem solved now...

Went to get in my truck the other night and nothing seemed to work. Fobs would not open the doors and it seemed dead. I used my manual key to open the doors and the alarm went off. Lights were on the dash and the start button showed "Off" lighted. The Radio screen also showed some life. I popped the hood and tried charging the battery (nope). I called roadside assistance and they tried to jump start it - nothing worked. Called the dealership and they said to have it towed in. Well, that turned out to be very hard. The truck locked all four tires - they would not roll. Pulling the orange cord under the dash did not release the wheels as the dealer said it would. So, they came and eventually dragged the truck onto a flatbed aided by snow.

When they dropped it at the dealer. they had to disconnect the driveshaft and tow it into their shop. They said that they removed the backseats and installed a new RF Hub. They also reprogrammed both Fobs. The truck seems good as new. I was very happy with the dealer (Bryden's in Beloit Wi.) in that they had the truck repaired in less than 24 hours. They even came to and picked me up so I could drive my truck home. It was definitely an ordeal but happy to have my truck alive again!

 

[Chopemupgood]

This seems to be an older thread but I just had this happen to my 2021 Ram. With the shortage in parts, I am being told up to 3 months without my favorite ride and that bothers me greatly. That means that I could possibly make 3 payments on a vehicle that I can't even drive and even though the dealership is being generous in loaning me a 21 Grand Cherokee Limited I still don't have my baby!!! THAT really stinks!!! Any suggestions from anyone out there in knowledge land about who I could contact to make things move quicker??

 

[pittsbfan2000]

Have you had anymore issues with your FOB board? I have a 2019, the board has now been replaced 4 times in about 6-7 months....... they just replaced the rear window - blaming water intrusion.(the fob board is located below the rear window behind the seat).... Not sure if this will solve it or not.

 

[GTyankee]

OK, i will try to explain a bit, just things that i saw on Youtube & read about on different forums

There are 2 types of FOBs
1 fits inside of the ignition
The other is the one that is for keyless entry

Both types have a circuit board of sorts,

The Ignition itself has a ring around it, where if you touch the ignition with your thumb, you are touching that ring.
That ring is part of the electronic chain, it actually reads your FOB & tells the computer that the correct FOB is being used to start the Ram

Also if you have the Keyless Entry system & your FOB battery is dead, you can touch the ignition with the corner of the FOB or RKE & your ignition will function correctly, because the RKE battery is bypassed.

Behind the rear seat, on the left rear cab wall & to the side of the vent on the drivers side. There is the Radio Frequency HUB

2013 - 2018, & 2019 (Classic) Dodge RAM Replacing RFHub Fobik Remote Part 3

2013 - 2018, & 2019 (Classic) Dodge RAM Replacing RFHub Fobik Remote Part 3Auto Tech ElectronicWalton Guerrero102 S Malinche AveLaredo, Texas 78043Office 956...

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[GTyankee]

Ram ignition switch gone bad

Ram Trucks, Dodge And Chrysler Common Ignition Switch Key Failure

In this video I talk about and repair my 2011 ram 1500 that has a common ignition switch failure "KEY IN IGNITION" for cool tee shirts and merch check out th...

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[Lou Charlier]

This has haappened to me twice on my 2020 1500 Limited. Same, thing, Locked up tight and they had to drag it onto the flatbed both times - can't be good for the transmission and drive. They replaced it the first time, but apparently did not seal the window good enough, because less than month later it did it again. They damaged the front end dragging it onto the flat bed this time. This is a known issue - there are service bulletins about the 3rd brake light above the rear window. If you have philips head screws in the light, they are supposed to be replaced with Torx screw to prevent the leaking. They did this when they repaired it the first time, but I guess that was not enough because it happened again. Hate to think what would happen if it decided to lock up at highway speed!!