NHTSA Complaint #11502862 — 2017 RAM 2500

Starting roughly a year from the date of this report, the vehicle would randomly issue a warning "Service Electronic Braking System" and turn on the Traction Control and ABS warning indicators; it would also disable Cruise Control. These errors would appear sporadically and persists for a few seconds to a few minutes. The dealer was unable to diagnose as the error was not actively triggered at the dealership. Over time, the error happened more often and persisted for longer time periods (minutes, hours, then days) but would eventually (and randomly) reset. It became clear that it was oftent triggered by a sharp jolt or a tight turn. Recently the error stayed on permanently and the dealer was able to retrieve an error code which led them to suspect a faulty connector. It took 6 weeks to get the connector and when the dealer attempted to install it they came to the conclusion that both the wiring harness and the connector are OK. They were able to retrieve additional error codes that pointed at the HCU (Hydraulic Control Unit) of the ABS system needing replacement. No HCU units are currently available. I have conducted extensive online research concerning this issue and the four symptoms: 1. "Service Electronic Braking System" message 2. Traction control indicated lit and traction control disabled 3. ABS indicator lit and ABS disabled 4. Cruise Control disabled and found that there are a large number of reports for RAM 1500 and 2500 models with mileage as low as 12,000 miles. This appears to be a wide spread failure of the HCU component that points at a flawed part that causes significant safety issues as it randomly disables both traction control and ABS functionality. RAM simply burdens the consumer with the cost of having to replace the HCU, sometimes multiple times as new units tend to fail again.