NHTSA Complaint #11528489 — 2014 RAM 1500

On May 26th, 2023 I was driving my Ram 1500 with 3.0 liter diesel down a multilane road with traffic. At about 30 mph, normal driving, the engine stalled without warning and power brakes and steering were lost. Traffic continued to pass as I had to cross lanes of traffic and coast to a stop out of the way of traffic. The vehicle could not be restarted or put into neutral to move. There were no abnormal driving issues, noises, warnings, or messages prior to the event. The truck was towed to a Ram dealership for inspection. The engine code clearly indicated that there was an issue with the crankshaft sensor. The dealership diagnosis was that the oil pump had failed and the engine was destroyed. After towing it to a second, independent shop, the actual diagnosis is that the reluctor wheel (tone wheel) and crankshaft sensor had failed, preventing fuel injection to the engine. This is a known issue on 2014-2016 Ram Ecodiesel trucks. My truck (manufactured in May 2014) was not a part of the recall. Once the transmission was removed to validate the tone wheel issue, it was confirmed when the mechanic found that the magnetic strip on the tone wheel had delaminated and broken off. The magnetic strip had multiple cracks. This part is in my possession and available for inspection. After replacing the tone wheel and crankshaft position sensor, the truck was back to running normally. The repair was completed by the shop at my expense because Ram refused to address the tone wheel issue or even look into it because it wasn't under recall. As of June 9th of 2023, Ram has said that they are possibly going to issue a recall for this (66A) but will not cover the expense because it was not repaired at a Ram dealership.