1998 Dodge RAM 1500: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Sep 24, 2015 · Airbags · TX · crash

My son was driving home from high school band practice when he lost control and hit a tree head on fire department had to brake window to get him and the boy with him out of the truck. Neither air bag went off.I called the 800 number and reported it. Was told truck to old

Filed Aug 8, 2015 · Electrical, Fuel system · 141,000 miles · VA · fire

Drove my 1998 dodge ram 1500 to empty my trash, started back home and had driven less than 1/4 mile when the truck hesitated like it was going to stall out and there was some smoke beginning to come up through dash area on drivers side. Thinking I might have a busted radiator hose I immediately pulled over in the yard of person doing repair work on an old building. When I opened my truck door on drivers side flames shot between the inside of the door and seat. I jumped out of the truck but was not injured. The man saw flames shooting from the truck and I was very fortunate he had a fire extinguisher. He kept spraying the truck under the hood and was able to get the fire under control just as the volunteer fire department truck showed up. There were a lot hot spots and the fireman kept spraying it with water until it finally quit smoking. The main part of the fire was right at the front of the cab of the truck below the motor. You could see the fire burning from the side looking through the wheel wells. They said it had to be caused by a faulty gas line because of the location. All the electrical wiring including the wiring harness was melted. Thank goodness the man had the fire extinguisher or the whole truck would have burned. Very scary incident especially for a woman.

Filed Mar 31, 2014 · Fuel system · 120,000 miles · IL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 1998 dodge ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump had caught on fire, burning and melting the fuel tank. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 120,000.

Filed Jul 21, 2009 · Fuel system · 260,000 miles · IA · fire

1998 dodge 1500 fuel line break its the crossover line between the fuel rails on the 5.2 ltr engine a small rubber line. Because I drove my truck 3 miles to a car wash to wash lawnmower on trailer didn't wash truck didn't smell gas started truck to get gas at station drove it 1 block to station turned truck off and at that moment I herd a whoomping noise and then white smoke and flames came out from under the hood on the passenger side between the windshield and the hood big flames then black smoke I had barley had enough time to unhook trailer ran to drivers side black smoke was coming out of the cab put truck in neutral and pushed it away from gas pumps then called 911. From the time I got to the gas pumps and the fire department put the fire out was 15 min and it completely gutted the cab and engine compartment. The fuel rail crossover line is the only way that I figured the fire started on the passenger side because the fuel and return fuel line is on the drivers side. I'm afraid if this would of happened driving down the road with passengers somebody could if gotten seriously hurt .

Filed Sep 18, 2008 · Fuel system · 160,000 miles · AS · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge ram. While driving 20 MPH, the contact heard a loud bang that sounded like an explosion. He looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that the entire rear of the vehicle was in flames. The flames quickly engulfed the driver's side of the vehicle. He managed to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road and attempted to extinguish the flames. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to a local service station and a large hole was found in the fuel tank. The mechanic stated that the entire fuel system needed to be replaced at the estimated cost of $3,500. A police report was filed. The failure and current mileages were 160,000.

Filed Aug 19, 2003 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 60,035 miles · MS · fire · 1 injury

My son, william, was driving our 1998 dodge pickup on highway 78 when it began to lunge. Since we had to put 2 transmissions in his previous dodge pickup, he thought something was wrong with this transmission. He started to pull off the road and looked in his rearview mirror for traffic when he saw flames and smoke coming from between the cab and bed. He hurriedly pulled off the road and when he opened the drivers door flames englufed the cab. He had to go out through the fire. About 1 minute after he and his passengers emerged from the pickup, it exploded. The only thing left of the truck was what was metal. Will had second degree burns to his face,ears,neck, hands and arms. He spent one night in the hospital. I contacted dodge and was told there would be an investagator look at the truck. I was then told by dodge since the pickup burned totally there was no way to determine they were at fault. After looking on the internet I found that there seems to be quite a number of fires in dodge vehicles.

Filed Aug 17, 2003 · Electrical · 80,035 miles · MS · fire · 1 injury

My son was driving on hwy 78 when the pickup lunged a couple of times. He was going to pull off the road to check for a problem. He had the cruise set so he thought it might be transmission problems. He looked in the rear view mirror for traffic behind him and saw flames and smoke coming from between the cab and the bed. He immediately pulled off and told his finance to get her baby out because they were on fire. When he opened his door the flames errupted into the cab and he had dive out through the flames. The pickup exploded about one minute after they got out. They lost everything in the truck.

Filed Apr 5, 2003 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · ND

I own a 1998 dodge ram 1500. The transmission went out on me and the pickup only had 61000 miles on it. There was actually fire inside the transmission, you could tell when the mechanic dropped the pan, there was nothing left every thing was fried. That could of started the whole pickup on fire and I could of been killed or badly hurt. I have talked to some other guys and they owned 1998 rams and the same thing happened. Now this is a big safety thing and there was not a recall on the faulty transmission. I contacted chrysler to see if they would pay for a new transmission and they said no, they wouldn't even help me out. This could of been a big law suit if I would of gotten hurt.

Filed Jan 20, 2003 · Electrical · 95,000 miles · AZ · fire

While my wife was sitting with the truck on, in park, it burst in to flames. The entire front and cab of the truck was burned. It was a total loss. Electrical problems are suspected by the fire dept. Very scary and very dangerous!!!

Filed Jan 16, 2003 · Engine · MI · fire

The vehicle was parked over night with engine turn off. The next morning vehicle had caught on fire. The vehicle was a total loss. Cause is unknown. Please provide any further information.

Filed Sep 14, 1999 · Fuel system · TX · fire

While driving vehicle smoke suddenly was noticed coming from the gas tank by other drivers. Consumer pulled over and noticed flames around the gas tank. Fire department put the fire out, cause unknown, and the dealer has not been contacted.

Filed Apr 16, 1999 · Fuel system · WV · fire · 1 injury

Consumer was pumping gas and the trush burst into flames, burning half of his body, and there was a fuel leakage.