The heater/AC fan will continue to operate with the ignition key removed from the lock. Sometimes the circuit is energized immediately after the key is removed and at other times it energize's on its own. If not identified in time the fan will drain the vehicle battery. The local dodge dealer claims they are unable to duplicate the problem. I suspect the ignition lock/switch is probably defective and is causing this problem.
2002 Dodge RAM 1500 electrical complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 93 of 93, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rack & pinion steering leaking on left side. Transmission rough. No dash lights. Blower motor works seldom. Dangerous and expensive repairs. Seems like these have widespread transmission and electrical problems.
First the transmission is slipping in 3rd gear at times,this has been an on going issue that the dealer can't reproduce. The lamp out light goes on and off with the bell this will do it intermittently for as long as 30 min straight and this truck is all over the road when you hit bumps at high speed.
Dt*: the contact stated while applying pressure to the accelerator pedal the engine sputtered. The check engine, airbag, and check gauges lights illuminated. The dealership was alerted. Updated 03/28/06
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 70mph another motorist alerted the contact the running lights on the vehicle were out. Upon inspection the dealership found the power distribution center and the fcm (part # 56045434aea) failed. There was a power surge through the parts that caused the fuses to be blown. An independent repair shop replaced the power distribution center and the fcm.
Entire gauge cluster failed. Headlights and running lights came on with the switch in the off position. Turn signals, emergency flashers and brake lights did not operate. Electric locks did not operate. It has happened twice. The first time it corrected itself after checking all of the fuses. The second time it was taken to the dealership. The dealership has diagnosed a internal short in the gauge cluster with an expected repair cost of $900.00.
I had an electrical problem with the instrument cluster,which caused all of my gauges to stop working. No speedometer, odometer, battery, oil or temperature gauge. My turn signals, horn, interior lights, wipers, and power door locks also failed. I also discovered that I had no stop/brake lights or fog lights, but had headlights and parking lights even though the interior switch was in the off position. Even though this truck was purchased new in january of 2002 at jerrys dodge (now safford dodge, and the three year warranty was just up, I only had 7,078 miles on the truck at the time of the incident. The dealer replaced the cluster but I had to pay. I think this cluster suddenly going out is a major safety hazard. Thank god mine went out in the day time and not at night. I could have been rear ended as it is. This is the fourth incident of a failed instrument cluster that I know of. I am sure there are more, and I have read that chryslerdaimler/dodge has had cluster problems in some of their other vehicles.
Truck was taken into the autowest dodge dealership to fix taillights that didn't work. At the time the truck was in their possession there were 2 open recalls and they did not notify me of either. Nine months later the brakes, clutch, and power steering went out while I was driving it. Once I got it to the side of the road the engine was engulfed in flames. Truck is a total loss. Truck had 31,000 miles on it. Daimlerchrysler has denied responsibility for the problem.
1) there were no incidents leading up to the vehicles failures. 2) the headlights will not shut off when engine is on / the windshield wipers and pump are inoperable. They both occurred at the same time. Family was stuck on rainy highway for several hours. 3) dodge service "thinks" the power distribution center may have shorted out the electronic control module and recommend replace both -$750 there is a back order for both parts - apparently there are many requests. Part #'s 56045433af and 56051036ad.
There is an electrical problem with the instrument cluster,which is causing the head lights, blinkers, and interior lights not to function. Owner will contact manufacturer. *nm other electrical problems included fog lamps; windshield wipers; turn signals, brake lights and all cluster functions. Dealer replaced a shorted cluster.
Wiring for my 2002 dodge ram pickup 1500 quad cab light bulb continously burn out like in a sequence all tail lights. My brother in law has the same vehicle and had the wiring re done while truck was under warrantee because of a short. Is there any record of anthing like this happening?
Prior to taking delivery of the vehicle the battery was replaced. After several times of service for headlight failures, won't jump start, replaced battery, 7 mo. Later. After several other attempts was informed of need wiring harness due to after market replacement of headlamp. Replaced headlamps to factory and 3rd dead battery. I have invested $1100 since the second dead battery. Dealer says battery has nothing to do with electrical wiring harness???? Most occurances during extended warranty period.
My computer system went out in my 2002 dodge ram 1500 truck. I spoke with an individual named chris on 9/15/04 ref#12633025. The manufacturer will not take any steps to rectify this problem because I was told that there aren't any recalls on the computer systems in these trucks. It's going to cost me $600.00 to get this problem with my lemon fixed.
Intermittent while driving 30 MPH vehicle stalled. This caused loss of steering and brakes. Dealer replaced turn signal switch, but problem recurred. *ak
Vehicle stalled when making left turns and/or braking. This resulted in loses of power steering and brakes. Took vehicle to dealer, and mechanic performed a diagnostic test, but no failure was found.
I own a 2002 dodge ram 1500 quad cab 4x4. In september of 2003, the check engine light came on and it was determined to be the condenser fan inoperable due to open fuse. The service mgr told me that this was a common defect because of the design of the shroud that allows water to collect in the trough. It also freezes in the winter preventing the fan from turning. This is not covered by warranty. I believe it should be because it is design defect. This is quite costly to have this fixed. According to the service representative, there have been several cases of this.
5 minutes after parking vehicle caught on fire.
Since december of 2001 verizon has had (6) dodge full size vans involving 1998-2001 b vans. All (6) fires appear to have started under the hood. All (6) vans are equipped with the kelsey hayes ebc 325 anti-lock brake systems. Three of the fires occurred in the ABS controller area of the engine compartment without the entire truck going up in flames because the drivers were able to have the fires extinguished before the fires got a real good start. Three of the fires happened while the vehicles were unattended and the vehicles were totally destroyed. On sept. 4th, 2003 a 2002 dodge van was reported by the driver to have the ABS pump running continualy for over 2 hours. The ABS pump was extremely hot. Had to disconnect the battery to shut the pump off. When this van was brought into the verizon garage the ABS light and the brake warning lights were illuminated in the instrument cluster and the ABS pump was running continually. The van was towed to rothrock dodge in allentown, pa.,on 9-5-03 and left with danny david for diagnosis. When the scan tool was connected to the ABS system they found (2) codes, main relay open and pump motor circuit open. At this time no repairs have been completed on this vehicle until chrysler and a verizon fleet tech. Support specialist can look into this case. Contact persons at verizon are as follows; tom spezio 732‑493‑9902 bob prince 410‑760‑8836 fred pletscher 610‑264‑0685.
While driving at 30mph vehicle caught on fire, flames came out the dashboard. Dealer notified.
Consumer states vehicle caught on fire. Dealer notified.
Vehicle has lunged forward while in drive. Engine idle electronically advances while transmission in drive, driver must keep foot firmly depressed on brake to avoid accident. Also having significant electrical problems - specifically gauges do not function properly and horn/lights engage. Problems are intermittent.
While driving vehicle will stall without warning. The vehicle serviced several times for this problem, but the dealership can not duplicate, so they cannot fix the problem. Upon further inspection of the vehicle by the consumer, they noticed that ignition can be switched toward the accessory mode without much force. Consumer informed dealership and daimler chrysler. Ts scc
Vehicle will stall without warning while driving. Dealership indicated that this could be caused by the ignition. Please provide more details.
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