Won't Get To Temperature - Seriously - $1k

[oilnewby]

Hi All,

I wanted to share my current experience with a great truck and a company that continues to not stand behind its product. To give you some background, the truck is a '19 Ram 2500 CTD with 42k miles on it. I do understand that it is currently not under warranty but hear me out below before you say they shouldn't cover or assist in covering this

I took my truck in as I have noticed it will not get up to operating temperature recently; always hovers around 150 degrees. I just received a call stating the coolant reservoir has a leak in it and therefore won't get up to pressure and is losing coolant. The service tech then told me it would need to be special ordered and would be just over $900.

This is where I have an issue. This is not a wear item, it is not a serviceable item, and it is nothing more than a tank that holds fluid. I struggle knowing that the truck is 3 years old with 40k miles on it and they will not cover this purely out of taking care of a customer that clearly did not cause this manufacturing error.

I am just so tired of poor quality control and companies sticking it to the consumer.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Hi All,

I wanted to share my current experience with a great truck and a company that continues to not stand behind its product. To give you some background, the truck is a '19 Ram 2500 CTD with 42k miles on it. I do understand that it is currently not under warranty but hear me out below before you say they shouldn't cover or assist in covering this

I took my truck in as I have noticed it will not get up to operating temperature recently; always hovers around 150 degrees. I just received a call stating the coolant reservoir has a leak in it and therefore won't get up to pressure and is losing coolant. The service tech then told me it would need to be special ordered and would be just over $900.

This is where I have an issue. This is not a wear item, it is not a serviceable item, and it is nothing more than a tank that holds fluid. I struggle knowing that the truck is 3 years old with 40k miles on it and they will not cover this purely out of taking care of a customer that clearly did not cause this manufacturing error.

I am just so tired of poor quality control and companies sticking it to the consumer.

Is there a clear leak? It should still get to temp anyhow even with a leak( pressure keeps it from boiling only) It most likely needs a new thermostat i had to replace the one in my 19 last winter as mid winter the truck stopped reaching op temp and would hit max 150°


I honestly would only JB weld the tank if it is truly leaking

 

[oilnewby]

I just put in a case with Ram Care and it looked promising for them to cover at least some of the cost. In fact, the gentleman was extremely helpful; much appreciated. I will let you all know what ultimately happens.

 

[Great White North Eh]

Or take it to somewhere they do plastic welding/ buy a plastic welder.

 

[jetrinka]

A coolant res costs 900 to replace??!! Thats insane. OP if you have basic tools you could do that yourself for a fraction of the cost.

As far as not getting up to temp it just needs a thermostat.... If the dealer is saying a leaking res is the reason its not getting up to temp you need to find another dealer cause that tech has no idea what he's doing.... As @H3LZSN1P3R said maintaining pressure in a cooling system just raises the boiling point of the coolant - it has nothing to do with the engine not reaching operating temp.

 

[AJ608]

Let the engine warm up to 140-150 and see if inlet and outlet of radiator hoses are both the same temp. Sounds more like the T-stat is hung open. There is an aftermarket one (tank) online for ~250.
If they(RAM) don't help you could fix it in an afternoon for a lot less.

 

[areuriding]

Your being punked..

 

[mbarber84]

My 2017 Cummins needed a thermostat three years into ownership. It stuck open and was running around the same temp as what you are seeing. You should be experiencing a MIL on the dash and a corresponding DTC that indicates your operating temp is below the expected performance level. I took the truck to my ordering dealer and the thermostat was replaced under the 5yr / 100k powertrain warranty. The truck was not under the initial 3 / 36 warranty at the time the thermostat failed.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

My 2017 Cummins needed a thermostat three years into ownership. It stuck open and was running around the same temp as what you are seeing. You should be experiencing a MIL on the dash and a corresponding DTC that indicates your operating temp is below the expected performance level. I took the truck to my ordering dealer and the thermostat was replaced under the 5yr / 100k powertrain warranty. The truck was not under the initial 3 / 36 warranty at the time the thermostat failed.

You wont always get a CEL like my 19 i ran it for 2 months with a stuck open t stat never had a CEL for it

 

[fuchsroehre]

You need to find a different dealer, even if that sounds painful. Your dealer seems to have the intern working on your truck .

 

[Riddick]

The fact your dealer is trying to tell you losing coolant causes your truck to run cooler should raise a red flag. I would order a thermostat and a couple of jugs of coolant and change it yourself before ordering a reservoir. On most vehicles thermostats are readily accessible and can be changed within 10-15 minutes. If you are not able to do it find a local shop, I would steer clear of your current dealer.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

The fact your dealer is trying to tell you losing coolant causes your truck to run cooler should raise a red flag. I would order a thermostat and a couple of jugs of coolant and change it yourself before ordering a reservoir. On most vehicles thermostats are readily accessible and can be changed within 10-15 minutes. If you are not able to do it find a local shop, I would steer clear of your current dealer.

These are a 30-60 min job as you have to remove the EGR cross over pipe but still not bad

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Yep, coolant tank has nothing to do with pressure in the system or not getting to temp. The reservoir is not even pressurized. It's just a catch can for excess coolant. The level can go up or down, depending on the needs/temperature of the system.

If it was leaking, you would see coolant on the motor, under the tank, or on the ground.

RUN as fast as you can away from that Stealership. Find a better one.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Yep, coolant tank has nothing to do with pressure in the system or not getting to temp. The reservoir is not even pressurized. It's just a catch can for excess coolant. The level can go up or down, depending on the needs/temperature of the system.

If it was leaking, you would see coolant on the motor, under the tank, or on the ground.

RUN as fast as you can away from that Stealership. Find a better one.

No the tank is pressurized it has been since 2012 on the cummins trucks IIRC

The hemi does still run the tank as a puke tank unlike the cummins

 

[Jimmy07]

No the tank is pressurized it has been since 2012 on the cummins trucks IIRC

The hemi does still run the tank as a puke tank unlike the cummins

6.4 Hemi is the same. It’s pressurized also.

 

[Will_T]

RUN as fast as you can away from that Stealership. Find a better one.

This advice is good but for many of us not a possibility. We only have one dealer in our area, and it is part of a chain of dealers with the same corporate ownership. They seem to have a few good techs, but most are "intern" level. Plus, they are always at about 50% staffed for techs so waits are weeks to months for even the simplest needs. They can also be unpleasant at times to deal with. Although my specific service writer is nice enough the issue with this dealership is quality and quantity of techs. There are two other dealers, but they are 2 to 3 hours away, so it is not practical to use those. One of them is part of the same ownership anyway and the other is very small so caters to people who purchased from them. To get to a decent Ram service department, I would need to travel 4 to 5 hours. I love my truck, but I made a mistake by not thinking of service after purchase when deciding on brand. I have told acquaintances locally not to make the same mistake. Both our local Ford and GMC dealerships have good service reputations. In hindsight, I would say brand of truck is much less important that the quality of your local dealerships.

 

[cashflow44]

I just put in a case with Ram Care and it looked promising for them to cover at least some of the cost. In fact, the gentleman was extremely helpful; much appreciated. I will let you all know what ultimately happens.

I had a different issue with my truck. Emissions problem that kept coming back over and over again, every 1500 miles. Been to the dealership 5 times for the same problem. Finally I call Ram Cares.... they open a ticket. The service rep at the dealership complained to me about how this gal kept calling him every day for like a week to get the status on my truck. He was not happy about it. Well, seems kinda funny now that I got my truck back, the issue seems to be resolved. I just don't trust the dealerships, especially when it is all warranty work they are doing. It's like they weren't fixing it on purpose.

 

[oilnewby]

Hi All,

I wanted to share my current experience with a great truck and a company that continues to not stand behind its product. To give you some background, the truck is a '19 Ram 2500 CTD with 42k miles on it. I do understand that it is currently not under warranty but hear me out below before you say they shouldn't cover or assist in covering this

I took my truck in as I have noticed it will not get up to operating temperature recently; always hovers around 150 degrees. I just received a call stating the coolant reservoir has a leak in it and therefore won't get up to pressure and is losing coolant. The service tech then told me it would need to be special ordered and would be just over $900.

This is where I have an issue. This is not a wear item, it is not a serviceable item, and it is nothing more than a tank that holds fluid. I struggle knowing that the truck is 3 years old with 40k miles on it and they will not cover this purely out of taking care of a customer that clearly did not cause this manufacturing error.

I am just so tired of poor quality control and companies sticking it to the consumer.

Quick update. I did put in a case with RAM Care and received a call t his morning from the case agent. They are going to pay for the repair; I am stunned . Based on what everyone says I guess we will see if the truck will now get up to temperature.

On another note the fact that I had to call Ram and not the dealer is a concern. As someone stated, the part is less than $100 so how can they justify even thinking about charging $900? Lastly, they likely knew they could get it fixed under a warranty but didn’t want to as they will make significantly less than me paying for it. I find that extremely unethical. Just my opinion

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Quick update. I did put in a case with RAM Care and received a call t his morning from the case agent. They are going to pay for the repair; I am stunned . Based on what everyone says I guess we will see if the truck will now get up to temperature.

On another note the fact that I had to call Ram and not the dealer is a concern. As someone stated, the part is less than $100 so how can they justify even thinking about charging $900? Lastly, they likely knew they could get it fixed under a warranty but didn’t want to as they will make significantly less than me paying for it. I find that extremely unethical. Just my opinion

they are called stealerships for a reason

 

[mountainears]

Quick update. I did put in a case with RAM Care and received a call t his morning from the case agent. They are going to pay for the repair; I am stunned . Based on what everyone says I guess we will see if the truck will now get up to temperature.

On another note the fact that I had to call Ram and not the dealer is a concern. As someone stated, the part is less than $100 so how can they justify even thinking about charging $900? Lastly, they likely knew they could get it fixed under a warranty but didn’t want to as they will make significantly less than me paying for it. I find that extremely unethical. Just my opinion

It actually makes sense. The dealer only gets paid if it’s under warranty or if you paid them. They did not make the truck, they just sold it to you and I can see them not wanting to shell money out of their pocket for this. Ram / Stellantis owns the warranty of the truck, they built it (dealers are independent, not owned by Stellantis).

Now that they said they will cover it, the dealer should be happy to take on the service. Hopefully it fixes your problem!


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