NHTSA Complaint #10511430 — 2004 DODGE RAM 2500

TRAVELING ON HWY AT 55 MPH WHEN TRUCK LOST ALL POWER INCLUDING POWER STEERING. NO WARNING. STEERED TO SIDE OF HWY AND STOPPED. HWY WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND 50 MORE YARDS I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN MIDDLE OF ROAD BECAUSE NO SHOULDER WITH CONSTRUCTION. TRUCK RESTARTED, AND I CONTINUED ON BECAUSE IN RURAL AREA. TRUCK STOPPED AGAIN IN MIDDLE OF INTERSECTION IN TOWN ABOUT 2HRS LATER. DEALER COULD NOT LOOK AT IT UNTIL NEXT DAY, SO I HAD TO DRIVE HOME (40 MI) AND HOPE I MADE IT. BROUGHT IT BACK NEXT MORNING AND TOLD NEEDED NEW LIFT PUMP AND WOULD KEEP IT OVERNIGHT. MY DEALER'S SERVICE DEPT IS GREAT, AND THEY GAVE ME A RIDE HOME (40 MI). NO OPTION TO INSTALL ORIGINAL PUMP OF SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS. HAD TO INSTALL ONE IN THE FUEL TANK WITH COST OF $1000. SEVERAL CONCERNS. ONE, THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ENGINEERING DEFECT SINCE THEY NOW INSTALL THE LIFT PUMP IN THE GAS TANK WHERE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG. TWO, THEY ARE MAKING A NICE SUM TO REPLACE IT AND PUT IT IN THE TANK. THREE, THIS IS AN URGENT SAFETY FACTOR BECAUSE WHEN VEHICLE SHUTS DOWN, THERE IS NO POWER STEERING. THERE ARE DROP-OFFS WITH NARROW SHOULDERS (OR NO SHOULDER AS IN MY CASE BECAUSE OF CONSTRUCTION) ALONG HWYS IN MY AREA. I COULD VERY EASILY HAVE GONE OVER OR DOWN THE SIDE OF ONE OF OUR HILLS. FOUR, VEHICLE CAN LOSE POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION WHEN MAKING A TURN IN FRONT OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC (AS IT DID IN MY CASE). FIVE, THERE IS NO PRIOR WARNING OR WAY TO CHECK THE POTENTIAL OF THIS HAPPENING. WHEN THIS HAPPENED YESTERDAY AND I STARTED RESEARCHING, IT WAS THE FIRST I HAD HEARD OF IT. MY TRUCK IS SERVICED REGULARLY BY MY DEALER, AND THERE IS NO TEST FOR THIS. IT WAS A VERY SCARY SITUATION ON THE HWY AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION. THE FACT THAT I HAVE HAD THE TRUCK FOR SEVERAL YRS SHOWS THAT EVENTUALLY THEY WILL PROBABLY ALL FAIL AND SHOULD BE REPLACED BEFORE THEY DO. *TR