2006 Dodge Ram 3500

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.Consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substance that traps and holds moisture) in US vehicles are under recall. These "non-desiccated" inflators either have been or are required to be replaced.In some cases, the remedy part for these recalled inflators was, or will be, an inflator using either propellant 2004 or 2004L that does contain a desiccant. None of these "desiccated" remedy parts (which were installed in older model year vehicles) are currently under recall for a degradation concern. Certain subsets of desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004 for use as original equipment, however, have been recalled for a degradation concern. All Takata inflators produced with propellant 2004L contain desiccant, and none of these desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L are under recall for a degradation concern. There have been no reported field ruptures in any non-recalled desiccated PSAN inflators.It is understood that desiccants fully saturate at some threshold, at which point any additional moisture will not be captured. This means the degradation process observed in non-desiccated inflators using propellant 2004 may also occur in non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004, assuming additional moisture enters the inflator and high temperature cycling occurs. Based on available information, desiccant saturation can occur within the first five years in the worst environments, and the time required for full saturation is affected by multiple factors. While no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004.Three entities -- Takata (now known as TK Global), the Independent Testing Coalition, and Exponent -- have been studying the long-term behavior of Takata desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004L (as well as 2004) in the presence of moisture and temperature cycling. The research efforts, which include development of predictive modeling techniques and field sample analysis, are ongoing. To date, none of the researchers have identified field evidence showing that propellant 2004L is undergoing a degradation process that leads to aggressive deployment and potential rupture. However, the time in service of such inflators remains short compared to that of the inflators using propellant 2004. Further study is needed to assess the long-term safety of desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L.The Office of Defects Investigation is opening this investigation to examine whether a safety defect related to propellant degradation exists in non-recalled desiccated PSAN frontal inflators manufactured by Takata. This investigation will require extensive information on Takata production processes and surveys of inflators in the field. Lists of recall actions that may have used desiccated PSAN inflators as remedy parts, as well as the makes and models originally manufactured with them, is available with the downloadable version of this document (see nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=EA21002 -- note this information is subject to change/revision as the investigation proceeds). This investigation does not supersede EA15-001, which remains open.

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.Nonetheless, at ODI's insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation.The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures.As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.Takata's initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida.Accordingly ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas.Takata's testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions.During PE14-016 four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.Also during PE14-016 four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina.Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls.Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity.Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing.All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.The investigation now includes all manufacturers and vehicles known to be affected at this time.ODI's investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492

RMD opened this audit query (AQ) investigation in order to better understand and evaluate Chrysler's process(es) for timely and efficient execution of its safety recall campaigns, including its oversight and management of its parts division Mopar.Prior to opening this investigation, RMD had raised concerns with the company related to its execution of two safety recalls, 13V-528 and 13V-529, both of which involved safety defects that could cause the involved vehicles, FCA?s heavier Dodge Ram trucks, to lose steering control suddenly and without warning.Specifically, RMD inquired about the availability of parts for recall repairs, by email and phone on January 15, 2014 and February 19, 2014, due to the volume of complaints it was receiving from owners alleging parts scarcity and parts restrictions. FCA steadfastly denied it had placed parts restrictions on its dealers to manage issues of parts scarcity.FCA shared material showing it had uncommitted stock of parts available for its dealers. Nevertheless, consumer complaints of lack of parts continued.RMD made independent inquiries tosome dealers tobetter understand the conflicting claims between owners alleging lack of ability to repair their defective vehicles due to lack of parts, and FCA?s information showing availability of parts.Dealers informed and provided documentation to RMD on February 21, 2014 and February 25, 2014 showing FCA had, in fact, put into place parts restrictions and, further, had in some instances canceled dealerships? back orders for parts.In addition, during the course of its dialogue with dealers, RMD discovered that FCA had notified their dealerships on February 27, 2014 to return the recall remedy parts over quality concerns, and had therefore effectively canceled its safety recall program without notification to NHTSA. RMD issued a request for information (IR) on October 21, 2014.The company failed to respond to a number of the questions RMD asked that required it to produce specifics surrounding the repairs and parts ordering process with the recalls, including a question about whether a dealer order for recall parts could be canceled and under what circumstances.

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.Nonetheless, at ODI's insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation.The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with consistently high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures.As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.Takata's initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida.Accordingly, ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas.Takata's testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions.During PE14-016, four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.Also during PE14-016, four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina.Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls.Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity.Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing.All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.The PE is now closed/upgraded to an Engineering Evaluation (EA15-001) to include all manufacturersand vehicles known to be affected at this time.ODI's EA investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.The recalls related to this PE are: 14V343, 14V344, 14V348, 14V351, 14V353, 14V655, 14V700, 14V701, 14V752, 14V763, 14V770, 14V773, 14V787, 14V802 and 14V817.The number of vehicles affected are an estimate since some vehicles may have both the driver and passenger side inflators recalled. The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492

Takata recall. The contact owns a 2006 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V352000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer stated they were only able to obtain parts for two vehicles at a time. 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 and informed the contact that there were no restrictions set in place regarding the number of parts provided to the dealer. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11481839

Incident

May 24, 2016

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 DODGE RAM 3500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING, THE STEERING WHEEL WOBBLED VIOLENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SIMI VALLEY CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM (2350 FIRST ST, SIMI VALLEY, CA 93065) WHERE THE DEALER DECLINED TO SERVICE THE VEHICLE DUE TO THE PART NOT BEING UNDER RECALL. THE VEHICLE WAS NEXT TAKEN TO CROWN DODGE CHRYSLER JEEP RAM (6300 KING DR, VENTURA, CA 93003) AND THE CONTACT WAS PROVIDED THE SAME INFORMATION AS THE FIRST DEALER. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT THE ENTIRE FRONT-END NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE REMAINED AT THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 13V528000 (STEERING). THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE RECALL PART WAS DISCONTINUED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND PROVIDED A CASE NUMBER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 180,000.

NHTSA ID

11364556

Incident

Oct 5, 2020

Mileage

180,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 DODGE RAM 3500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER WITH THE AIR OR HEATER ACTIVATED DURING WINTER OR DURING RAIN FALL, THE WINDSHIELD BECAME EXTREMELY FOGGY. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER AND MANUALLY CLEANED THE WINDSHIELD IN ORDER TO SEE OUT OF THE WINDSHIELD. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SEVERAL UNKNOWN DEALERS WERE CONTACTED AND HE WAS INFORMED THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE BLEND DOOR IN THE HVAC SYSTEM CEASING IN PLACE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF HIMSELF AND OTHER VEHICLE OPERATORS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE 45,000.

NHTSA ID

11360277

Incident

Feb 20, 2011

Mileage

45,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 DODGE RAM 3500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE DRIVERS SIDE TIE ROD FRACTURED IN AN ACCIDENT. THE VEHICLE WENT OFF THE ROAD INTO THE EMBANKMENT THAT STOPPED THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BACK THE CONTACT'S HOME. THERE WERE NO DEALER WITHIN A 100 MILES SO THE CONTACT PURCHASED THE PARTS AND HAD REPAIRS DONE BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE MANUFACTURER INFORMED THAT THE STEERING SYSTEM HAD BEEN UPGRADED THE MANUFACTURER DENIED THE CONTACT REIMBURSEMENT SINCE THE REPLACEMENT PARTS WERE NOT MANUFACTURER APPROVED. THE CONTACT WAS UNAWARE THAT THERE WERE FOUR RECALLS ON VEHICLE SINCE HE HAD JUST BOUGHT THE VEHICLE USED NINE MONTHS EARLIER. THE NHTSA CAMPAIGNS NUMBERS: 09E001000 (STEERING), 13V528000 (STEERING) AND TWO MORE THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STEERING WERE OPEN RELATED TO THE VIN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 290,000.

NHTSA ID

11219564

Incident

Nov 1, 2018

Mileage

290,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 DODGE RAM 3500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED WITHOUT WARNING AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER IN EITHER DIRECTION. PERFORMANCE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP (2710 AIRPORT RD, JACKSON, MI 49202, (517) 789-7151) DIAGNOSED THAT THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING SHAFT AND U JOINT WERE FAULTY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ID

11203788

Incident

Apr 10, 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 DODGE RAM 3500. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH AND ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A U-TURN, THE STEERING LOST POWER WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A REPAIR SHOP WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO NHTSA. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 68,000.

NHTSA ID

11203781

Incident

Apr 15, 2019

Mileage

68,000 mi

ON THE NIGHT OF APR 16, 2019 IT SAME LIKE EVERYDAY I WENT HOME FROM WORK BACK UP MY TRUCK IN THE DRIVEWAY TURN OFF AND GOT IN THE HOUSE FORGOT MY IPAD WENT BACK OUT AND GET IT ,BACK IN THE HOUSE WENT TO TAKE THE SHOWER AND THEN FIVE MINUTES LATER THE TRUCK BURN DOWN, THE FIRE TRUCK CAME THEY PUT OUT THE FIRE, AND I GOT THE REPORT SAID ENGINE AREA, RUNNING GEAR, WHEEL AREA.

NHTSA ID

11202824

Incident

Apr 16, 2019

Mileage

189,000 mi

A POSSIBLE MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION IN THE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT/FRONT SUSPENSION POSSIBLY CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO VEER INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND CAUSE A FATALITY CRASH. *DT*JB*DT*JB*JB

NHTSA ID

11195784

Incident

Mar 1, 2019

Mileage

135,000 mi

LAMP - DOME

Plate - Planetary

Transmission Kit with Torque Converter 1. All Promaster (VF) 3.6L/62TE equipped vehicles. If the transmission bracket to the transmission case fasteners are removed during servicing, the fasteners (Part Number 06511385A$) are one-time usage. Vehicles built prior to 10/23/2015 requires Service Kit PN 68461214AA; includes Transmission Isolator PN 68264483AA, and Adaptation Bracket 68264479AA and Fastener Service Kit PN 68329056AA Vehicles built after on or after 10/23/2015 will require only the Fastener Service Kit PN 68329056AA. 2. All 3.6L/62TE equipped vehicles. If the vehicle you are repairing has a crack in the flex plate or failed pump bushing inspect and confirm that both (2) dowel pins are present in the engine block, which align the transmission center line to the crank shaft centerline and visually inspect the dowel alignment holes in the transmission case. If the holes are damaged or elongated the transmission should be replaced to prevent further damage to the transmission/flexplate or pump bushing due to the inability to properly align the engine to the transmission during the repair. 3. All 62TE equipped vehicles. If pump bushing is scored or damaged and the dowel pin alignment holes are ok, replace the pump assembly as opposed to complete transmission. 4. All 62TE equipped vehicles. If vehicle is jerking/slipping with MIL code(s) P0740 or P2764, check TCC Solenoid operation. If TCC Solenoid is ok, the codes are indicative of a torque converter failure. Replace the torque converter.

GEAR MOTOR, Transfer Case The gear motor assembly is shipped in AWD/2WD position. The transfer case needs to be positioned in AWD/2WD position to properly assemble gear motor to T-Case. Please reference Star Online publication S2121000003 for further details. Do not have the transfer case in in another position other than AWD/2WD and rotate the motor to align the bolt holes as this could result in damage to the gear motor.

KEY, Master If replacing the key/FOBIK on a WJ, KJ, TJ, or PT Cruiser, use the "AC" NIC level part number. The "AB" NIC level will not program to these platforms. For all other platforms, if the "AB" NIC level will not program to the vehicle, use the "AC" NIC level part and submit a part warranty.

KEY, Master If replacing the key/FOBIK on a WJ, KJ, TJ, or PT Cruiser, use the "AC" NIC level part number. The "AB" NIC level will not program to these platforms. For all other platforms, if the "AB" NIC level will not program to the vehicle, use the "AC" NIC level part and submit a part warranty.