2009 Dodge RAM 1500: key fob or push-button start problems

Filed Dec 1, 2017 · Electrical, Lights · 130,000 miles · MN

Lighting sockets and other electrical parts are melting and smoking causing everything not work. Currently not working after being replace in within the last 3 months: headlights, reverse lights, parking sensors (4), heated seats, randomly the navigation/music system, unlocking/locking with key fob (randomly), ABS sensors, 4 wheel drive being turned off and on, the parking brake randomly turning off and on. I will be driving and things will slowing start to not work. Sometimes the lights don't work when I go to leave in the early morning and I have to take a different vehicle since you cannot legally drive without working lights in the dark. Multiple car repair shops have tried numerous things to fix it. We have spent under 4k in repairs on a truck we have owned less than a year, and we are now being told we are going to have to spend 1k plus labor costs to replace the tipm and another couple hundred to bring it to a dealership after and have it "reflashed"

Filed Aug 28, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 99,900 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 dodge ram 1500. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart while holding the key fob but, when released, the vehicle lost all power. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the wireless ignition switch needed repalcement. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact found the federal safety agency campaign number: 10v2400000 (electrical system) online for the 2010 ram quad cab regarding the same failure. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer for diagnostic testing. The contact stated that the manufacturer was notified, but offered no further assistance. The contact was referred to contact the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was approximately 99,900.

Filed Mar 24, 2017 · Electrical · 95,700 miles · OK

Truck is difficult to start unless you wiggle the key fob, it also shuts off randomly driving down the road due to the key issue. If you adjust the key, you can restart it, can also start it by putting your finger in the hole for the key to go into with the fob next to it. Mostly happens when initially starting it and if you hit a bump in the road. We have removed all keys from the fob but it continues to cut the truck off while driving. This was a common recall on the dodge town and country. I talked to dodge this morning and they said our truck was not affected and we could pay for the repair.

Filed Dec 26, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 65,600 miles · GA

My extremely low-mileage ram is experiencing electrical and sensor issues of a truck tens of thousands of miles higher. The key fob will not lock or unlock the doors but the lights will flash. The esp/bas light remains on along with the slipping light plus the airbag light. They all remain on. The driver side door panel will not lock or unlock the doors. The panel will not open or close the 2 rear windows, but, the 2 front windows will open and close. All lights remain on while in motion or parked. I did notice the column shifter was extremely loose and was not as tight as normal. Vehicle has just over 65,000 miles on it. And is 8 years old possibly related issues are that the truck was recently taken in for wheel sensor replacements and low idle causing stalling.

Filed Dec 6, 2016 · Electrical · 82,000 miles · KY

I am having a complete electrical malfunction with my truck. I remotely started it one cold morning, approximately 20 degrees. After going outside and approaching the truck I noticed that the headlights were on. When remotely starting a vehicle only the parking/marker lights come on. When I tried to unlock the truck with the key fob, nothing worked. I manually unlocked the drivers door and opened it to find an enormous amount of issues. The interior lights would not come on. The windows were still completely frosted up. I noticed that the defrost wasn't working, including the heated seats, heated steering wheel, and heated mirrors. I also noticed that there were no lights or power to the entire radio cluster, heat & A/C controls, parking assist buttons, hazard button, 4 wheel drive controls, etc. The doors didn't have power for any door locks or windows. On the instrument cluster, every warning light imaginable was illuminated. Check engine, ABS, voltage, air bag, park assist, traction control, low fuel, low washer fluid, seat belt, low tire pressure, all gears indicator lights were illuminated. The center message screen was going through every possible fault scenario. I tried to turn off the truck and restart it but the problem persisted. I eventually had to remove the battery because the headlights wouldn't go off. The truck wasn't safe to drive and was not functioning properly whatsoever. I was told by the service manager over the phone that the tipm is the issue. The truck still has not been repaired and is now a paper weight in my driveway. I have had many other issues with the truck as well that I will file separate complaints on each issue. (transmission shift solenoid, staying in 4th gear, tire pressure sensor flying out of the tire while driving 70 MPH, rear power door locks not unlocking/locking with key fob or front door lock controls).

Filed Dec 6, 2016 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · KY

One day I tried to drive my truck to the store without any history of transmission issues. When I placed the truck into drive the truck immediately shifted in 4th gear. I put it back in park then into drive again. This seemed to fix the issue. A few days later while I was driving down the road the truck felt sluggish, almost like I was pulling a heavy load on a trailer. I noticed that the truck was in 4th gear again. I thought that maybe I had accidentally put the truck into manual, but I knew that I had not. So I tried to shift back into drive, but this didn't fix it. I pulled over, turned the truck off, back on and miraculously no more issues. Until I drove it again the next day. It would sporadically shift into 4th gear, and stay there without any type of reset like before. Other days, I could drive just fine. I eventually had an independent transmission specialist look at the truck. He stated that the low gear/reverse transmission shift solenoid was malfunctioning. I replaced it and didn't have any other transmission issues. Besides the rear door locks being inoperable like before, the electrical issues started the following week (tipm). Now I'm starting to think that the tipm might have been the initial issue with the door locks and transmission. I have had many other issues with the truck as well that I will file separate complaints on each issue. (tipm electrical issues, no power to anything inside of the truck, tire pressure sensor flying out of the tire while driving 70 MPH, rear power door locks not unlocking/locking with key fob or front door lock controls) this truck is a safety hazard to my families life as well as my own.

Filed Dec 6, 2016 · Tires, Wheels · 78,000 miles · KY

I was driving my truck to work one morning. I was traveling at a steady speed of 70mph in a straight stretch. All of the sudden my steering wheel started to wobble and I had the low tire pressure warning light on my dash. After no more than 2 seconds the truck pulled extremely hard to the right. I knew that I had a flat tire. After attempting to safely pull off and avoid the tractor trailer from slamming into me I was able to pull over. After inspecting the tire, I noticed that I didn't have a valve stem in my front passenger tire. I attempted to change the tire on the side of the road in the rain but broke the cheap lug wrench that is supplied with the vehicle. Apparently the dealership over torqued the lug nuts. I had to get a ride to work, being 1.5 hours late and leave my truck on the interstate all day. My father in law works for a tire and lube center. He professionally inspected it. The threads completely stripped out of the tire pressure sensor and valve stem. This is what caused it to violently eject from the wheel itself. By gods' good graces I was able to pull over that day and not crash or die due to the high speeds. I have had many other issues with the truck as well that I will file separate complaints on each issue. (transmission shift solenoid, staying in 4th gear, tipm electrical issues/no power to anything on the inside of the truck, rear power door locks not unlocking/locking with key fob or front door lock controls) this truck is a safety hazard to my families life as well as my own.

Filed Dec 6, 2016 · Electrical, Locks · 65,000 miles · KY

The rear power door locks do not work whatsoever in my truck. Trying to unlock/lock the doors in my truck with the key fob only operate the front doors. Trying to unlock/lock the doors with the front driver and passenger side power door lock controls only operate the front doors as well. The only way the back doors will lock/unlock is if it is done manually. When the doors are unlocked, the back doors do not lock when the truck reaches the speed that engages all door locks when in drive. The doors will not unlock when putting the truck into park. I could understand if one or the other is malfunctioning, but not both. This definitely indicates an electrical issue. This is a safety hazard. My children can get trapped in if they try to exit the vehicle in an accident, they could get kidnapped/assaulted if the back door locks were pulled up by them without my knowledge, my items could get stolen in my truck if its left parked and unattended, etc. Anything can happen with a huge number of scenarios. I have had many other issues with the truck as well that I will file separate complaints on each issue. (tipm electrical issues/no power to anything whatsoever with the truck, transmission shift solenoid, staying in 4th gear, tire pressure sensor flying out of the tire while driving 70 MPH) this truck is a safety hazard to my families life as well as my own.

Filed Apr 18, 2016 · Electrical · 110,000 miles · TX

Key fobs, remote door lock/unlock failing. Key fobs keep failing, buy new fobs and after about a year they fail. Owners resort to unhooking the horns as the horns sound when manually unlocking the doors with the key. This is a stationary failure of the fob. However if owners are disconnecting the horns, that would be a safety problem while driving when the need to alert other vehicles arises. Vehicle owners are not purchasing new fobs due to cost but rather disconnecting their horns so that the alarm does not sound when unlocking the drivers door to gain entry. Many owners are not reporting this defect due to the fact that they don't see it as a safety issue with the vehicle. A quick internet search reveals a vast # of complaints on website forums. Source-I am an ase master tech. I have an 09 1500 that this is happening to. I do not disconnect the horns but rather just don't lock the truck. (taking a chance against theft)

Filed Jan 3, 2016 · Electrical · 136,600 miles · TX

Our truck began stalling the engine at low speeds in dec. 2015, I changed all 16 spark plugs thinking this would fix the issue, it didn't. About 2 weeks after this started, I was trying to unlock the truck with the key fob for a short trip into town. The headlights would flash, but the doors would neither lock or unlock with the fob. I opened the door with the key and started the engine. The idiot lights for the air bags and the traction control were both illuminated. We had never had any issues with any of this previously. Next, I tried to lock the doors for the trip, using the pdl switch and found it to be inoperable. Also not working were the pw, HVAC system, horn, and windshield wiper system. This was so very strange that I googled these symptoms and discovered the tipm, totally integrated power module, for these vehicles are failing at an alarming rate. Thank god that my wife didn't stall this truck in a highway driving situation and become the victim of this known and documented safety flaw in these vehicles. Fiat/chrysler needs to step up to the plate and repair these vehicles before lives are destroyed due to this defect.

Filed Oct 23, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 35,200 miles · WA

At 12k -13k miles I experienced an engine stall in the early morning. The instrument cluster remained lit and I was able to engage the emergency flasher. I was on a back road and luckily I was able to coast into a driveway. After numerous turns of the key fob, the engine started. This incident was reported to the dealership, but they seemed to shrug it off. Fast forward to 10/9/15. I had trouble again starting the truck. I proceeded to the store and was on a main thoroughfare when I started to turn across traffic into a parking lot.the engine died and luckily my momentum carried me off the street out of traffic and into the lot. Cars had to go around me as I tried to get the vehicle started. The next monday 10/12/15 I had trouble starting again and I was able to proceed to work. At the end of my shift, it took a couple dozen turns of the key fob to get the truck started and I made it home. The truck now sits in the driveway waiting for a service appointment on 10/30/15. If it does not start, it will have to be towed. When I inquired online about this problem I was aghast at how many others were having the same issue as me and chrysler was doing very little to make it right. The stall of an engine in traffic is a very dangerous safety problem. The truck has a battery less than 2 years old and has only 35200 miles on it. I am not getting any check engine lights. It is serviced routinely by the chrysler dealer.

Filed Jul 27, 2015 · Electrical · 41,000 miles · CA

V-8 hemi quad cab. Problem was also reported to dealership at earlier (unknown) date while under warranty but problem went away at dealership. With car parked, driver side door-mounted lock will not operate door lock to lock when trying to leave car. These incidents occur intermittently maybe once every 1 to 2 months. When approaching parked car and using the remote to unlock electric door locks, it required 5-10 tries on keyfob. So bad one time, actual key had to be used to unlock driver's door. The consumer stated the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time completing the brake transmission shift interlock recall repair.