RAM is Down!

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Dinky

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I have been over at HD Ramforum with my issue. Got a hold of RAM care and they are working on it now. The dealer essentially did not listen to what I said, there is fuel in my oil. They ran a stationary regen with possible fuel in oil and low oil.


If you have a 5th gen diesel watch how often it regens, make sure the dealer knows about possible fuel in oil due to too frequent regen. Check your oil and pay for black stone so this does not happen to you. It's looking like this is my issue but won't know untill later this week. RAM care has taken the helm now and hopefully my motor isn't toast but it's not looking good.

(ORGINAL POST AT HDFORUM.)

My truck is 2022 3500 SRW S.O. 43K miles.

Last Friday I had my mechanic change my oil and fuel filter change. When he drained the oil it filled a 5gal pan with really thinned down oil and over flowed a bit. Approximately 2 gallon extra fluid, he told me to take it the dealer as I probably have a injector leak. So I called the dealer and told them the story and booked a appointment for Monday.

My check engine light was already on for frequent regen mode due to air filter.

Got to the dealer Monday morning and they had me scheduled for a oil change..... same guy I was talking to set the appointment up. Told the story once again and he said no problem we will make room for you.

Tuesday I get a phone call about regen and how they will force regen under warranty and install the partical recall and should take care of it. Then proceeded to tell me my pcv valve and crank case vent had oil in it from someone over filling my oil. He told me it would be $900 to replace those and won't be covered under warranty do to oil being over filled. I told the guy he was out of his mind of course there was oil there, the system filled 5gal pan on my last oil change. Asked him if they found any issues with my injectors or why I have excess fluid in my oil. He said he doesn't know because they didn't change my oil, he then told me they can't move forward with test until they replace the parts for $900. I told him to transfer me to the manager. I told assiatant manager to stop with the ******** and look at the issue I asked for and quit funding their fishing exhibition. He told me to test for leaks will be $220, I asked what test will they perform? The assitant manager told me a injector power balance test. I told him I am not a certified tech but I think that test is for making sure the injectors are functioning and doing equal load. He told me this test will make sure there are no leaks and if it passes the test there are zero chance of injector issues. I wasn't going to argue there and said if he can guarantee me this test will prove I have not leaks go for it.

Wednesday around 11am I get a call from the assistant manager saying it passed the power balance test no fuel leaks. They check oil level and they are good, added the partical sensor, did a stationary force regen and flashed and reprogrammed my ecu. The total was going to be $590 for test performed. At this point I said I'll come pick up my truck and plan to talk to the manager about the quality of service I received.

The real manager and I spent about 45mins talking about how they never listened to me about potential fuel in my oil and were looking for a quick buck. We came to the terms once my oil level went up I would return and they would not charge me for any testing. I figured that would be good since they technically didn't not see the fluid and were going off a paying customer word. We went out together to document the fluid level with a picture even though the tech marked safe operating level. I pulled the dip stick and no oil was on my dip stick..... they told me they just pulled it around and let it set for a minute to let oil drain down. We waited 15mins and the oil was barely marking on the dip stick. I looked at them and said see why I can't trust your team...I guess it's simple any oil on the dip stick I just bring it back right? The manager looked at the assitant manager like someone was getting punched out. The manager instructed me to drive it home and let it set for a hour and take a picture then. He said the tech said it was in safe operating level and will be good....So I drove home which is 2 miles from the dealer and had to get a ride to work to pick my jeep up. Once home I heard a loud clacking noise, sounds like a dead injector or cylinder slap. I took a video to capture the noise and returned to the dealer. Service advisor came out and heard the noise and said they will check my truck back in. I sent the video to the manager right then since he was not around i went home. No check engine lights on or any Christmas tree lights.

This morning I called @RamCares To Open a claim as thing are not looking like the dealer are going to take care of it. Still waiting for a call from the adjuster now.

The dealer called me a 5pm to tell me they found the clacking issue. They said my batteries need to be replaced as they were low causing ecu problems. One battery was 550cca and the other was 600cc.... they said once they balance and fully charged the batteries the noise went away..... they said they can replace them but it will cost me out of pocket.. I told them I will call them back tomorrow with an answer.

I find it very funny you force regen my truck on low oil... then flash the ecu and reprogram the computer and it makes noise and you blame it on batteries at 70%. You let the customer pick it up making noise and low oil. Hopefully Ram cares takes care of this. Still zero resolution on why there was excess very thing oil in my system.
 
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jejb

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That is such a nightmare, when a dealer finds one problem after another which then makes things worse. Do you have another dealer within easy driving range?
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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That is such a nightmare, when a dealer finds one problem after another which then makes things worse. Do you have another dealer within easy driving range?

Yeah I have 2 one is 15 miles away and another is 20. We will have to see, at this point it will need to be towed if anything. Ram care said he will have more info by Friday. Ram care did say the dealership are privately owned and there is only so much they can do. I would guess if Ram made the appointment and said it was another dealer mess up it would get full attention. We will see how this goes. I will update as it progresses.
 
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stevenP

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OMG. They are unfortunately always just looking for the quickest out the door fix solution. I always go into the dealer, armed with as much knowledge as I can muster. They are just in too much of a hurry, to sometimes take a moment to really listen to the customer.

Wow, really filled a 5 gallon drain pan, that would definetly catch your attention. How many miles on that change?
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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OMG. They are unfortunately always just looking for the quickest out the door fix solution. I always go into the dealer, armed with as much knowledge as I can muster. They are just in too much of a hurry, to sometimes take a moment to really listen to the customer.

Wow, really filled a 5 gallon drain pan, that would definetly catch your attention. How many miles on that change?

I came armed, my first thought was injectors and it was like pulling teeth to get them to do any test. When they did a test the charged me $220 for a injector power balance test which doesn't find if it's leaking lmao. Yeah it really filled a 5gal pan, I was standing there when the plug was pulled. I was right at 8k miles on the oil change.
 

Units

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Man, dadgum dealership. I went through a whole 6 month ordeal here recently and ended up getting that truck lemon lawed. I will not be taking my new truck back to that dealership for anything. I did however get some warranty work done on the new truck at a different dealership and they seem very knowledgeable. I’m not gonna repeat everything I wrote on your post on the HD forum!! Keeping up with oil levels is on my hot list. Stay on em’ till it gets made right. Wouldn’t hurt to touch base with a lawyer and have them waiting in the wings.
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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Man, dadgum dealership. I went through a whole 6 month ordeal here recently and ended up getting that truck lemon lawed. I will not be taking my new truck back to that dealership for anything. I did however get some warranty work done on the new truck at a different dealership and they seem very knowledgeable. I’m not gonna repeat everything I wrote on your post on the HD forum!! Keeping up with oil levels is on my hot list. Stay on em’ till it gets made right. Wouldn’t hurt to touch base with a lawyer and have them waiting in the wings.

I told Ram care if the motor is worked on substantially I will need diminished value compensation. Any motor work done on a truck with 43k is a red flag for a lot of people. Too early to tell but I will stand my ground as the dealer did a horrible job and started with the end testing vs beginning test. I do have a lawyer on retainer and already sent a heads up email. No matter what people say going the lawyer route will always cost you $10k lol.
 

Units

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I told Ram care if the motor is worked on substantially I will need diminished value compensation. Any motor work done on a truck with 43k is a red flag for a lot of people. Too early to tell but I will stand my ground as the dealer did a horrible job and started with the end testing vs beginning test. I do have a lawyer on retainer and already sent a heads up email. No matter what people say going the lawyer route will always cost you $10k lol.
Right there with ya on the lawyer costing money, may not get it directly from your pocket, but in the end that’s really where it comes from. I said the same thing about the 9k miles I had on my last truck and the dealership wanted to tear into it a second time, I said no damn way when it should have been fixed right the first time.
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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Right there with ya on the lawyer costing money, may not get it directly from your pocket, but in the end that’s really where it comes from. I said the same thing about the 9k miles I had on my last truck and the dealership wanted to tear into it a second time, I said no damn way when it should have been fixed right the first time.

Yep similar to what I got. Too late for most repair besides open heart surgery and then what bearing failure or cylinder rings? The fuel did damage already and too late to go back.
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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well Ram Care Took the side of the dealer. My hands are tied and now i got to figure out the next steps.
 

chri5k

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If you have not done it already, write down all the conversations and visits you have had with the dealer. Date, time who you spoke to and what was the result or agreed upon action. Add any new visits or conversations to the log. Email the manager after any dealer visits to confirm all conversations.

Order a Blackstone sampling pump ($40) and as many sample kits as Blackstone will give you for free. Keep checking the oil every day after it has been driven. Keep a log and take pictures. Take an oil sample once per week and document in the log and with pictures. Save one of the unused sampling kits for the next step.

Once you see the oil has gone up take the truck back to the dealer. Draw a sample of the oil while the technician watches. Have the technician or manager initial the sample label. Take photos of everything. Send samples off to Blackstone for analysis.

Do not tell the dealership you have retained a lawyer. Most dealers will stop dealing with you when they hear the "L" word. They will make you go through their attorney for any interaction.

The steps above will give your attorney very valuable facts if you need to file a suit in the future. When you get to court, it will be all about what you can prove.
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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If you have not done it already, write down all the conversations and visits you have had with the dealer. Date, time who you spoke to and what was the result or agreed upon action. Add any new visits or conversations to the log. Email the manager after any dealer visits to confirm all conversations.

Order a Blackstone sampling pump ($40) and as many sample kits as Blackstone will give you for free. Keep checking the oil every day after it has been driven. Keep a log and take pictures. Take an oil sample once per week and document in the log and with pictures. Save one of the unused sampling kits for the next step.

Once you see the oil has gone up take the truck back to the dealer. Draw a sample of the oil while the technician watches. Have the technician or manager initial the sample label. Take photos of everything. Send samples off to Blackstone for analysis.

Do not tell the dealership you have retained a lawyer. Most dealers will stop dealing with you when they hear the "L" word. They will make you go through their attorney for any interaction.

The steps above will give your attorney very valuable facts if you need to file a suit in the future. When you get to court, it will be all about what you can prove.

Already done or in the works. yep lawyer is the last step and most time they will run the bill up and price you out. I will run the course i need and get to the next step. I have a couple sales people working on trading in right now as a option.
 

Yardbird

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Or, just let it fill itself with fuel until it blows, then the dealer will have to warranty it.

I wouldn't trust it now if they did fix it today. I had a big truck engine start putting fuel into the oil.. Result, bad crankshaft......And I caught it quickly when the oil pressure started slowly dropping.
 

06 Dodge

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Already done or in the works. yep lawyer is the last step and most time they will run the bill up and price you out. I will run the course i need and get to the next step. I have a couple sales people working on trading in right now as a option.
If you need I can loan you my new sample pump to pull an oil sample...
 

06 Dodge

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If you have not done it already, write down all the conversations and visits you have had with the dealer. Date, time who you spoke to and what was the result or agreed upon action. Add any new visits or conversations to the log. Email the manager after any dealer visits to confirm all conversations.

Order a Blackstone sampling pump ($40) and as many sample kits as Blackstone will give you for free. Keep checking the oil every day after it has been driven. Keep a log and take pictures. Take an oil sample once per week and document in the log and with pictures. Save one of the unused sampling kits for the next step.

Once you see the oil has gone up take the truck back to the dealer. Draw a sample of the oil while the technician watches. Have the technician or manager initial the sample label. Take photos of everything. Send samples off to Blackstone for analysis.

Do not tell the dealership you have retained a lawyer. Most dealers will stop dealing with you when they hear the "L" word. They will make you go through their attorney for any interaction.

The steps above will give your attorney very valuable facts if you need to file a suit in the future. When you get to court, it will be all about what you can prove.

I would absolutely not use Blackstone for a UOA, I would get either a Fleetguard or Cummins UOA kit, it would be much harder for Ram to say a Cummins lab does not know how to test an oil sample...
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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Or, just let it fill itself with fuel until it blows, then the dealer will have to warranty it.

I wouldn't trust it now if they did fix it today. I had a big truck engine start putting fuel into the oil.. Result, bad crankshaft......And I caught it quickly when the oil pressure started slowly dropping.

That's the plan as of now. Oil level is documented with the dealer and I need to return after 500 to 1000 miles. We will pull oil sample then.
 
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Dinky

Dinky

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I would absolutely not use Blackstone for a UOA, I would get either a Fleetguard or Cummins UOA kit, it would be much harder for Ram to say a Cummins lab does not know how to test an oil sample...

Got info on either? Fleetguard or Cummins uoa?
 

chri5k

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I would absolutely not use Blackstone for a UOA, I would get either a Fleetguard or Cummins UOA kit, it would be much harder for Ram to say a Cummins lab does not know how to test an oil sample...
Fleetgard or Cummins might have a conflict of interest since Stellantis is their business partner / customer for the Cummins 6.7 engine. OTOH, Blackstone is more of a neutral third party.
 

06 Dodge

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Fleetgard or Cummins might have a conflict of interest since Stellantis is their business partner / customer for the Cummins 6.7 engine. OTOH, Blackstone is more of a neutral third party.
IMO a Fleetguard/Cummins lab is totally separate from the engine dept so not sure how it would be in conflict, all the lab does is analyze oil samples and nothing else, also Blackstone does not have the same up to date equipment like a Fleetguard/Cummins lab. During mid 1980's to 2000 when I was in & around the trucking industry the only names I knew who owner operator & small fleet owners relied on for UOA was Fleetguard/Cummins, Cat, Volvo Penta, Oil Analysis Lab and a few others, until I started to read car & pickup news groups I had never heard of Blackstone labs so for me I will still go with a lab that people who need dependable UOA labs to keep there 200K truck on the road every day... BTW did you even know that Blackstone guesses the amount of fuel in the oil by flashpoint method where Cummins goes by GC?
 
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