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That has been standard procedure for a long time. They’re not going to cover a vehicle that wasn’t maintained in accordance with their maintenance recommendations, and rightfully so. There’s a lot we “can’t see” on this TSB because it’s directing techs to go into DealerConnect and review internal guidance on this. I’m trying to get more info on it, but haven’t gotten it yet.
Checking to make sure that the owner of the vehicle has kept up on required maintenance in accordance with posted / established criteria is absolutely a responsible and necessary action. There’s nothing unethical about it. Improper maintenance can indeed cause premature valvetrain damage, so step one is to assure that proper maintenance has been properly performed. The manufacturer who backs the warranty has the obligation to honor the warranty, provided the maintenance has been done according to their clearly defined requirements, the vehicle owner has the obligation of properly maintaining the vehicle if they wish to maintain their warranty. The dealership checking to make sure the maintenance has been done, and that no one has in any way modified the vehicle or tampered with it, is only doing its due diligence in protecting both their financial interests (the dealership) and the manufacturer’s they represent as well. I’m failing to see how that is in any way “unethical” or “nonsensical”.
Might work if the government was up and running.
Problem with this route, is that it has to be seen as a viable safety issue in order for NHTSA to take action. This means you have to prove that it poses imminent risk to life / limb / property, and have substantial evidence to support that. Given this failure does not result in unexpected, catastrophic / sudden loss of motive power or control, your chances of success in getting them to do anything are about nil. The only way this issue gets to the point that it’s causing unexpected and sudden loss of power or control is if the owner has egregiously extended the failure by not having it repaired or at minimum documented. The occurrences of that are likely next to zero. I’ve been documenting / researching this issue for almost two years now. In all my research and experience I’ve never encountered a single owner who had catastrophic failure suddenly. All of the ones that had catastrophic failures were clearly displaying signs and symptoms of failure for a while, and were either not addressed or not documented. The actual instances of lifter failure are significantly small in number. The vast majority of these trucks that are “ticking” are not doing so because the lifters are failing. In the vast majority of cases it comes down to mild (but accelerated) valvetrain wear on the upper pushrod ball, or, the ticking is the result of a phenomenon which is, as of yet, undetermined. That being said, the multiple engines that have demonstrated this tick have been taken down to a bare block, and no signs of damage have been noted on any of the rotating assemblies or the block itself. It’s likely a cavitation noise in the oil passages or something along those lines.
Since my repair in a short 3 weeks and 900 miles after they replaced 4 complete rocker arm assemblies, 8 Pushrods 2 cross over bridges my valvetrain noise has gotten way worse. Explain that to me as it should of gotten better.
Maybe your problem is the “techs” at the dealership that preformed the work, that could be the only way for it to get worse after the repair. I had a bad experience with dealership work that was months on end. I had a failure after the so called repair was completed. There is no way I would take my truck in for what amounts to open heart surgery after that experience. I’ll get rid of it first.
That was my first reaction as well. Sounds like someone firing the parts cannon at a problem, hoping for a solution. This is explicitly why the earlier TSB advised against disassembling unless it was abundantly clear that a lifter had failed. There are ways to inspect / check if a lifter has failed. If there was no distinct sign of failure, nothing should have been replaced or changed until further investigation occurred
Supposedly there lead diesel tech worked on my truck, and my last work order from 10-8-2025 states no more repairs to be made at this time, case is under investigation, no known fix at this time. Engine continues to make noise. I was give a Star case # and sent packing down the road rattling away.
What tests or procedures were used to determine you needed 4 rockers, 8 pushrods, and 2 valve bridges? Were these components visibly damaged or worn? Did you see them with your own eyes or at least receive images from the dealership of the ones that were deemed in need of replacement?
They did 3 different Peco sound test on my engine different dates and then 10-8-2025 they replace those parts after Star asked them to remove the oil filter and cut it apart and check for metal, remove valve cover and check all valvetrain components. I'll post the work order again that is posted at #369 for you. I only received 2 pages to this work order from the dealer and this is the meat and potatoes of it.
So you didn’t physically see these parts before they were replaced, you’re just going by what the work order says. It would’ve been nice to actually see the wear.
My dealer did not offer up to show me the bad parts that they replace on my truck, but shame on me I never asked either. I did not think it was going to be this hard to try and get Star to warranty an issue as I have never in the past in my 5 other 3500 trucks in 20 years. It's a solid bet this will be my last Ram as I went through the CP4 issue and 2 failed pumps on my 2019.
The secondary issue is, this valvetrain has been sold for 6 years now, and even passed on to the new motor in some capacity.I think every reasonable person understands the protocol of warranty work. The issue is there is a known valve train problem in the 19+ trucks and any TSB released by Ram should have a primary focus on reconciling the issue, not passing blame. This is where folks' frustration lies.
Completely agree re the emissions scandal. Maybe they should get the Fed gov to pay for all this vavletrain warranty work?
The TSB doesn’t attempt to pass blame. It follows standard protocol for all warranty repairs regarding components on the engine that failed. The only difference on this particular one is that there just happens to be a snap shot of the protocol from DealerCONNECT which outlines the things that should be attempted / checked (to include checking for proper maintenance). Any maintenance-dependent component on that engine or drivetrain which fails within the warranty period would carry the same series of protocols.I think every reasonable person understands the protocol of warranty work. The issue is there is a known valve train problem in the 19+ trucks and any TSB released by Ram should have a primary focus on reconciling the issue, not passing blame. This is where folks' frustration lies.
Completely agree re the emissions scandal. Maybe they should get the Fed gov to pay for all this vavletrain warranty work?
Me to as well as I went through the CP4 debacle with 2 pump failures on my 2019 and that's how I ended up in this 2022 as I got so tired waiting on Ram pushing the fix out. First it was Q1 then Q2 and on and on it went and I finally said screw it and ordered the 2022.
