2004 Dodge RAM 3500 visibility problems

Filed May 5, 2017 · Visibility · 98,000 miles · WA · crash

This complaint is for wiper motor sudden failure on a remanufactured part supplied from oreily auto parts. I replace my wiper motor when the originals wiper park function became finicky. I installed the rebuild motor to factory spec and it functioned properly for about 3 months and proceeded to fail in a major rain storm the wipers would be running full speed then just stop and would resume after about 20 seconds this problem only occurred in heavy rainfall on the hi setting. When it first happened my vehicle partially left the roadway because I misjudged the shoulder width from poor visibility. I exchanged the faulty motor at oreilys for another rebuild motor which lasted about 6 months and it also failed in the high setting in heavy rain in this case it went from working just fine to making a large screeching noise on one wipe and it quit completely this unit did not come back to life. I again exchanged it for another rebuilt unit for oreilys and the new unit lasted about a month and also has failed. It will work fine but just stop working at random until you jerk the wiper arms then it will start working again. This unit was returned to oreilys and I purchased a new unit from dodge. The fact the quality of the parts are so poor it put myself and others in the public at risk due to a high rate of failure from a essential safety component to allow me to see where I am going. The failures occurred on the highways city streets while in motion and at times turning

Filed Nov 17, 2016 · Visibility · 125,419 miles · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 3500. While driving various speeds and towing a trailer, the flip up tow mirrors vibrated abnormally. The contact stated that it was impossible to use the tow mirrors due to the vibration. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be inspected. The contact was informed that the mirrors needed to be replaced. The contact was concerned that there was no way to tighten the mirrors. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 125,419.

Filed Mar 28, 2015 · Visibility · 99,700 miles · WA

Vehicle had faulty wiper motor. Replaced with remanufactred unit from oreilys auto parts. After replacement wipers will stop working during heavy rainfall. The wipers will not work again until you stop and tug on the wiper arms.

Filed Mar 10, 2015 · Visibility · 110,000 miles · CO

My dodge has had a problem with the blend doors for quite some time in my truck. It will not go to defrost so when I drive my windshield fogs up and this relates to me having to pull over so that I do not get into an accident. It is a safety issue that needs to be addressed by the manufacturer. They use a plastic piece for the blend door that breaks and wont let the vents open or close. It is ridiculous and cheap part. The prongs are not even matched up you have a 5 prong on the actuator switch that goes into a 3 prong. The friction causes it to break. A dealer will charge the customer upwards of $1200 to fix because they have to pull the whole vent box out. There are numerous dodge forums that address this issue as well. In order to get the word out to you guys I'm making this complaint. Deaths can happen because of this cheap engineering that needs to be fixed and my truck is 2004. I do not believe dodge has addressed the issue as of yet they are still using the same cheap parts even thought 1000's of people have complained, but possibly not to you guys.

Filed Dec 4, 2014 · Visibility · 80,000 miles · CO

The blend door that works the defroster for the windshield is faulty due to poor engineering. In cold weather this could cause serious accidents due to build up of snow and ice on the windshield. Dodge uses cheap parts for the blend door primarily plastic faulty parts. The mechanism that opens and closes the blend door wears out the two pieces that fit together. This causes either the plastic piece to break completely or just continue to rotate without opening or closing the blend door. Dodge will notrecall this because in order to do it right they have to pull the whole ventilation box and heater core out of the vehicle. However they would like to charge customers upwards of $1000-1400 to fix it. Please look into this there are numerous complaints all over the internet about dodge and their faulty blend doors not working due to poor engineering and cheap parts.

Filed Jan 2, 2013 · Visibility · 78,000 miles · ID

Heater control door failure. 2 occurrences. First (aug 2012 ) was the a door which did not allow air flow to any vents as it should. Second was a mode control door (12/31/2012), only allowing air to the dash vents, none to the defroster. Potential to restrict visibility in winter conditions due to inability to defrost/melt accumulations on the windshield. This seems to be a fairly prevalent issue on these vehicles.

Filed Jan 17, 2012 · Visibility · 77,000 miles · AL

Message: I drive a 3500 dodge ram pick up truck. Recently I was beginning to have difficulty seeing due to windshield fogging up. I turned on the defroster on and there was no help in the visibility through the windshield. My visibility went to zero very quickly. I veered off the highway and into a ditch before I could get my vehicle stopped. Upon investigation of the problem, I discovered that the blend door in the HVAC system had broken. The blend door directs the air to the appropriate vents as directed by the vehicle operator. The door being broken would prevent the direction of air to anywhere except the default location which in this case would be the dash vents. This is a major safety problem in this vehicle. The default location of this door should with out a doubt be the defrost location. After having this near miss I have investigated other reports of this vehicle and found that they are numerous. My determination of this safety issue is that chrysler should immediately have a safety recall to address this issue.

Filed Feb 14, 2011 · Visibility · CO

The vents on my 2004 dodge 3500 diesel stay on the front vents and will not change with the knob. After reading about this problem it appears to be the blend doors as well as the HVAC component. There are numerous complaints on dodge websites about this. The cost is over $600 dollars due to the labor of pulling the entire dash out of the truck and replacing the parts. The parts are around $50 dollars. They used cheap plastic that wears out.

Filed Jul 9, 2010 · Visibility · 167,000 miles · SD

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 3500. While driving at any speed, thewindshield wipers did not work properly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that his VIN was not included in the manufacturers recall. The failure mileage was 167000 and the current mileage was 168000. Updated 09/22/10. *lj updated 09/23/10

Filed Feb 28, 2010 · Visibility · 109,000 miles · KY

Started truck up let warm and defrost windows. Snowing and freezing cold temps. After warming up truck left house about 1/2 mile windows frozen over and could not see out. Pulled off road defroster was not switching to blow air on window. Just bought truck used. Local dealer informed me did 2-3 repairs a week for this but no recalls yet. Wanted 750.00 to fix. Dodge ram trucks all series.