We were pulling camper to Nashville TN. We pulled off I24 toward I65 North. I noticed the engine was raving and it felt like I was missing gears on the transmission. I was roughly 4 miles from my destination when I noticed smoke coming from under the hood on passenger side and flames coming from under hood on passenger side of the hood. I stopped the truck/ camper. Three of us had extinguishers trying to put fire out. The entire engingine compartment burned and fire intruded into driver compartment.
2020 Ram 3500 transmission problems
12 complaints (10% of all complaints for this car). 1 crash reported.
- owner complaints
- 12
- of this car's complaints
- 10%
- crashes
- 1
- recalls
- 2
Which part fails
- Automatic transmission: internal: gears1
- Automatic transmission1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Ram 3500 transmission problems in other years
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- FCA US, LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Ram 2500 and 2020-2022 Ram 3500 vehicles. A build-up of pressure and heat inside the transmission may result in a transmission fluid leak from the dipstick tube.
- Risk
- Leaking transmission fluid may contact an ignition source within the engine compartment, increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the transmission dipstick and transmission vent assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 29, 2022. Owners may contact FCA US, LLC customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is ZA3.
Recall number 22V835000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Ram 2500 and 3500 Pickup vehicles equipped with six-speed automatic (68RFE) transmissions. A build up of pressure and heat inside the transmission may result in a transmission fluid leak from the dipstick tube.
- Risk
- The leaking transmission fluid may contact the turbocharger or another ignition source within the engine compartment, increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission valve body separator plate and reprogram the powertrain control module. The recall began March 2, 2020. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W03.
Recall number 20V043000 · Recall details
What 2020 Ram 3500 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 3500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and turned off, the gear shifter shifted into drive independently, causing the vehicle to roll away. The vehicle stopped before crashing. The vehicle was taken to a dealer; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 3500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and the engine was turned off, the gear shifter shifted into the drive position when the contact's minor [XXX] child entered the vehicle to retrieve an item using the steering wheel and gear shifter to enter, causing the vehicle to roll down a hill and collide with a tree. The impact resulted in significant damage to the passenger side door, bumper, and truck bed. Although a child was inside the vehicle at the time of the incident, no injuries were reported following the collision. No air bags deployed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it had notyet been inspected. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 3500. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V835000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Vehicle will not go into park and shut off. I could not turn the engine off. Not having the ability to turn the motor off is a safety concern. This has progressed to where it says vehicle is not in park while vehicle is in drive and moving. The problem is intermittent and I have documented it with multiple pictures and videos and witness accounts but the dealer has not been able to reproduce the malfunction. The service representative has been helpful but has not been able to. The vehicle has not been inspected by the police or other independent representatives. The vehicle does not have any codes associated with it. This same exact series of malfuctions occurred on my 2016 Ram 2500 and the valve pack on the transmission failed and the vehicle would not move and eventually the transmission failed. Then the emission software would not extinguish the check engine light even though there were no issues. The dealer reinstalled the software and after less than 25 miles the same issue happened. I traded in the vehicle because Ram would not honor the warranty and I could not pass smog with a check engine light on and nothing wrong with the sensors or the output. Now I am having problems with the 3500 progressively going in the exact same way as the 2500. I have had to take it to the dealer 6 or 7 times in as many months and less than 10,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 3500. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V835000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted several times. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
My high pressure fuel pump went out while I was towing the 43 ft enclosed trailer causing the engine to shut down. I was able to get it home and onto a car hauling trailer took it to a dealership and confirmed the high pressure fuel pump was the culprit they informed me that they would not perform the safety recall because of a modification to the vehicle which has no bearing on the safety issues at hand I contacted FCA they encouraged me to take it to a different dealership which I did. I had to pay a tow truck to haul it to another dealership in which they told me they would do the recall however when they put my VIN number in their system my pickup had been blacklisted by the parent company Chrysler saying do not work on this vehicle for safety recalls. I at this point got quotes to have it done and it was extremely expensive to friend advised me to look into the law so I contacted a lawyer and they told me to file a complaint with the federal safety agency.
The vehicle does not always go in park. If you attempt to shut the engine off it will notify, If you left the engine running and get out of the vehicle it could roll away. This failure has happened more than 30 times. 3 times today.
We where driving down the highway and the drive shaft fell out the car. This took out my brake lines and my transmission harness. This caused major damage to my car and it almost killed my drivers because they were unable to stop with no brakes they had to go into a ditch to avoid hitting someone. I have spoken with some other owners and they had some of the same issues. My truck was taken care of and just left the shop the previous week. We did not hit anything it just appears that some of th bolts came apart. This is a flaw in th design because the truck should not fall apart going down the highway.
While leaving the veterinary office parking lot there is a short steep hill. As I started up the hill slowly as there are pedestrians around. About halfway up my truck starts rolling backwards as if the transmission has shifted into neutral I hit the brakes to stop and then start out again. This has happened about 5 times in the same place since I have owned the truck and one other place that also was a short steep driveway. I did take the truck to the dealership and they could not recreate the problem but they did do an update to the TCM. So far no problems.
Questions about the 2020 Ram 3500 transmission
Does the 2020 Ram 3500 have transmission problems?
Owners have filed 12 complaints about the transmission of the 2020 Ram 3500, 10% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2020 Ram 3500 transmission problems start?
Not enough complaints include the mileage to tell.
Was there a recall on the 2020 Ram 3500 transmission?
Yes, 2 recalls: 22V835000, 20V043000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Ram 3500 have bad transmission?
The Ram 3500 model years with the most transmission complaints are 2022 (115 complaints), 2014 (39 complaints) and 2015 (32 complaints).
Other 2020 Ram 3500 problems
Fuel system 57Engine 30Electrical 9Brakes 8Steering 7Wheels 7Tires 5Body 4Driver assistance 4Acceleration 3Airbags 2Visibility 2
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