2017 RAM Promaster Electrical Problems

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Ram Promaster 1500. The vehicle was purchased on February 16, 2024. The contact stated that at the time of purchase, the mileage was 84,000. The vehicle was taken to Valvoline, where the odometer was reported in 2018 February 2023 at 346,000. The contact purchased a Carfax report, which indicated that the mileage was 346,544 in January 2023. In addition, the dealer was made aware of the discrepancy, and the contact was informed that the vehicle would be collected, and the sale would be voided; however, the down payment would not be returned.

NHTSA ID

11719802

Incident

Feb 16, 2024

Mileage

346,544 mi

The windshield cowl on this vehicle is poorly designed, allowing water intrusion from multiple points. This is not a minor leak but a severe design flaw that creates immediate and dangerous safety hazards while driving, particularly at highway speeds. The most critical issue is water pouring directly onto the serpentine belt and pulley system. While driving at highway speeds in heavy rain, I lost power steering after water intrusion caused the belt to slip. This sudden loss of steering assist made the vehicle extremely difficult to control, especially in traffic and during turns. Another major safety risk is water intrusion onto the engine fuse box. While driving at highway speeds, water poured into the fuse box, causing electrical shorting. This led to severe overheating that burned my windshield wiper wiring, making the wipers inoperable and drastically reducing visibility. Surrounding wires also melted, posing a significant fire hazard. The sudden electrical failure and loss of visibility created an extremely dangerous situation. Additionally, water pooling on the transmission can drain into the breather hole, allowing significant water intrusion into the transmission fluid. This can cause erratic shifting, transmission failure, or complete power loss. At highway speeds, this can lead to sudden deceleration or loss of acceleration, putting drivers and others at serious risk. This issue has been experienced by multiple owners and confirmed by independent service centers. It is not a DIY repair—the defective cowl design allows excessive water ingress. There are no warning lights or messages before failure, only sudden and dangerous symptoms once water intrudes. This is a major safety concern, particularly at highway speeds, where sudden power steering loss, electrical failure, or transmission issues can lead to catastrophic consequences. Immediate investigation and corrective action are necessary to prevent accidents, injuries, or fatalities.

NHTSA ID

11648025

Incident

Feb 3, 2025

There’s already a recall on the engine cooling fans. I was driving on the freeway when the cooling g fans failed causing overheating and major damage to the engine, specifically the head gasket, thermostat, and radiator. I took it to the dealer after finding out about the recall. They replaced the fans but are still not working correctly. They also refused to repair the other damages that were caused due to the recall part failure. I use my vehicle for work and have been unable to work for more than 2 weeks now due to the damages and have had to decline a lot of work in that time. This is affecting my livelihood. So far the dealer and manufacturer have only wanted to charge me for any additional diags or repairs when my vehicle was running great until this incident. The vehicle is unsafe to drive and the recall report stated the engine could catch fire. I took my vehicle to the dealer, a second time to see what they could do for me, Just to find out, they only wanted to charge me for multiple diagnostic diagnosis and would have me wait. At least a week before they could even begin touching my vehicle also refusing to give me a loaner vehicle in the meantime.

NHTSA ID

11614481

Incident

Aug 27, 2024

What happened: While driving on the freeway, the engine cooling fans failed, causing the engine temperature to rise excessively and increasing pressure within the cooling system. This resulted in a hole being blown through the thermostat, and all the coolant leaked out. Only after the coolant was lost did the engine overheating warning lamp come on. I safely pulled over, but the engine had already overheated severely. I was unable to drive the vehicle for a week while waiting for the dealer to replace the cooling fans under the recall. After the recall repair was completed, I picked up my vehicle from the dealer. On my way home, I noticed a loss of power, poor acceleration, and engine shaking, especially after the engine had been off for a few hours. I replaced the thermostat and radiator myself, but I believe the overheating caused internal engine damage, potentially a blown head gasket, cracked, or warped heads. Additionally, before taking the vehicle back to the dealer, I noticed the newly installed cooling fans (replaced under the recall) stopped working again. Despite all these issues clearly being related to the initial fan failure and overheating, the dealer is now charging me for further repairs and is not addressing the underlying problem with the cooling system. The fact that the cooling fans have a recall due to failure and have caused other issues are trying to tell me I’m responsible. They wouldn’t give me a loaner vehicle while they were performing the initial recall repair or now since I’ve taken it back.

NHTSA ID

11614112

Incident

Aug 28, 2024

The contact owned a 2017 Ram 2500. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle in the parking lot of a residential building and turning the engine off, approximately 36 hours later the contact was alerted by the property manager that the vehicle was on fire. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the failure, the vehicle was destroyed. A fire report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was towed to a local holding yard. The fire department indicated that the fire originated in the center dashboard of the vehicle. The exact cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The contact referred to the NHTSA campaign number 19V818000 (Equipment, Engine, Engine Cooling) and indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 85,000.

NHTSA ID

11527396

Incident

Jun 16, 2023

Mileage

85,000 mi

2017, 119,000 miles. 8/9/18: maintenance transmission service at 62,651 miles. 6/4/20 Recall WOO shifter cable replaced. 11/11/21 AGM Interstate battery MTX-49 replaced. ISSUE: End of May 2022 (~117,000 miles) had driven from Florida & back 2x without any problems but was slowing down by taking my foot off the gas for exit ramp - the engine started roaring louder & the vehicle apparently had shifted to ?neutral - pulled off the road & shifted to P & then to D & drove on home without any further problem. That was #1 occurrence & I took it to a transmission shop in July (had not had the problem again) to see what they thought. They did road test, fluid check & scan of control modules for trouble codes/errors & analyzed data stream for inconsistencies - found no error codes or inconsistencies. Incidentally, have been having some type of parasitic draw on my new battery for the past year. Occurrence #2: almost a year later April 2023 I am driving up to 55 mph running errands & I slow down to 45 mph & the engine starts to roar & the van is coasting & the light up area of P-R-N-D backlight is not lit up that is normally lit up & no check codes/warnings have appeared - everything else including front drivers light panel all normally lit. I pull off into a parking lot, put in park, turn it off, then turn back on (still with unlit gear display) & I put in drive & it runs normally around the parking lot & the remaining way home.I have driven it locally for 40-60 miles each time with intermittent stops for about 4-5 times since then & can’t replicate the problem again. Incidentally still parasitic draw on battery. 1) could replaced shifter cable be a problem? 2) fuse #38 problem causing loss of power to solenoids? 3) transmission range sensor failing causing it to fall out of gear? 4) transmission control module problem? 5) solenoid problem? 6) worn/broken transmission bands? 7) worn out gears? - some cause putting into “limp mode”? This is dangerous situation?

NHTSA ID

11526688

Incident

May 29, 2022

Was not notified that my Ram Promaster 2017 needed two recalls when purchasing it from an official Ram dealership in 2020 with 35k miles on it. Now, at 90k miles I'm having to replace a radiator and cables that failed as a result of the coolant fan being replaced. Took it to two separate shops (first shop couldn't lift it) which both confirmed that my radiator experienced failure and caused electrical faults including blowing a 60amp fuse because this part was not replaced. I never was notified by Ram over the phone regarding this issue or from the dealership I purchased it from. Now, I'm having to pay a lot out of pocket to repair these parts (because I can't get my vehicle into any Ram dealership in the area for over a month) and having a third party, high quality mechanic do the repairs instead. I had to also pay to have the vehicle towed to the shop at my own expense as the vehicle had the check engine light on and was deemed by the first mechanic to not be safe to drive. I will upload files of the repair costs once the repairs are complete. $315 tow, $300 in diagnosing fees that won't be covered, and $1600 out of pocket for repairs is what I'm looking at. If I didn't have a 3rd party extended warranty, it would cost me close to $5k for repairs.

NHTSA ID

11525077

Incident

May 28, 2023

We purchased 4 of these Dodge promasters about 4 years ago. During the first year we were replacing headlights about every 2 months. Dodge told us that we needed to use their "heavy duty" bulbs. These bulbs seem to last about 1 year. They have a 2 year warranty on original purchase, so after 2 years we have to pay again. This last time the bulb blew it also melted the housing the bulbs sits in. We were required to replace the assembly and the bulbs. I believe Dodge has a voltage issue causing premature bulb failure and now creating a fire hazard. Headlights should not burn out in a year!

NHTSA ID

11432883

Incident

Aug 25, 2021

RECALL NHTSA # 19V-818 COOLING FAN MODULE CAN FAIL CAUSING VEHICLE FIRE. RECALL NHTSA # 20V-036 SHIFTER CABLE. UNINTENDED VEHICLE MOVEMENT WHICH CAN CAUSE A CRASH. DEALER AND DODGE ARE NOT WILLING TO CORRECT THE ABOVE. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT SAFE OPERATION OF MY VEHICLE

NHTSA ID

11396420

Incident

Dec 10, 2020

HAD THE VAN SERVICED PER THE RECALL FOR THE ENGINE COOLING FAN ISSUE. TOOK TO THE DEALERSHIP I PURCHASED FROM. AFTER DRIVING AWAY FROM THE DEALERSHIP AND GETTING ABOUT 50 MILES DOWN THE ROAD THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I COULD NEVER GET AHOLD OF THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN. DON JACKSON IN ATLANTA. THEY WOULD NEVER RETURN CALLS. I TOOK TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAY IT'S THE ENGINE COOLING FAN RELAY IS SHOT. I DID NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM BEFORE.

NHTSA ID

11360452

Incident

Sep 8, 2020

Mileage

70,000 mi

RECALL NUMBERS W00 AND VB2 FROM FCA HAVE NOT BEEN REPAIRED IN A TIMELY MANNER. THE RECALL LISTED VB2 IS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN AS "A VEHICLE FIRE MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY TO OCCUPANTS AND PERSONS OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, AS WELL AS PROPERTY DAMAGE" . I HAVE CONTACTED FCA AND THE DEALERSHIP NUMEROUS TIMES AND THEY HAVE NOT YET GIVEN ME NOTICE AS TO WHEN THE CAR MAY BE FIXED. ADDITIONALLY THEY ARE NOT OFFERING ME RENTAL CAR SO I CAN SAFELY DRIVE AS I FEEL UNSAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. IN CALIFORNIA THE LEMON LAWS CAN BE USED AFTER 2 INSTANCES OF REPAIRS, THIS WILL BE THE 3RD REPAIR NEEDED FOR THIS VEHICLE. I HAVE TRIED TO BE PATIENT BUT AS YOU CAN SEE ITS BEEN OVER 5 MONTHS SINCE THE FIRST RECALL AND 2 MONTHS SINCE THE SECOND RECALL. I AM CURRENTLY DRIVING THE CAR AS NEEDED TO GROCERY SHOP AND NEVER GOING OUT OF TOWN AS THE RISK OF BREAK DOWN OR FIRE, ESPECIALLY FOR THE A/C COOLING UNIT, IS TOO GREAT ESPECIALLY WITH THE SUMMER MONTHS HERE IN CALIFORNIA ALREADY STARTED. *TR

NHTSA ID

11324145

Incident

Dec 12, 2019

Mileage

24,682 mi

HAVE RECEIVED 2 RECALLS FROM FCA (VB2: ENGINE COOLING FAN MAY SEIZE LEADING TO VEHICLE FIRE AND W00: TRANSMISSION SHIFTER CABLE MAY SEPARATE, DISCONNECTING SHIFTER FROM TRANSMISSION RESULTING IN INABILITY TO SHIFT TRANSMISSION). THE REMEDY FOR THIS CONDITION IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AND REMEDY AVAILABILITY IS UNKNOWN.

NHTSA ID

11320058

Incident

Nov 1, 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 RAM PROMASTER VAN. WHILE DRIVING DOWN A LARGE HILL, THE BRAKE LIGHT ILLUMINATED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. AN UNKNOWN DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER WERE MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE, BUT THERE WAS NO REMEDY. THE ONLY WAY TO TURN OFF THE LIGHT WAS BY TURNING OFF AND RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS A CONVERTED 2017 RAM 355 CARGO VAN BY WINNEBAGO. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5,000 AND HAS CONTINUED TO BE A PROBLEM.*CW*JB

NHTSA ID

11268897

Incident

Nov 30, 2018

Mileage

5,000 mi

CONTINUALLY BLOWS HEADLIGHTS ON EITHER SIDE FOR NO APPARENT REASON. I HAVE REPLACED ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BRIGHTS

NHTSA ID

11234008

Incident

Jul 18, 2019

Mileage

42,000 mi

COOLING FAN 3 BEARING FAILED 1 YEAR AFTER PURCHASE, P0482 P0696 CEL CAME ON, NO TSB'S NO RECALLS, NO INFORMATION ON WIRING DIAGRAMS AVAILABLE. REPLACED FANS WITH NEW FANS AND ALL RELAYS AND SHROUD AND SENSORS, NOT UNDER WARRANTY, NOW FANS DON'T WORK AT ALL, CEL STILL ON 696 AND 482 EVEN AFTER RESET. COUNTLESS GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS WITH SAME PROBLEM. FEELS LIKE THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL.

NHTSA ID

11207203

Incident

May 9, 2019

Mileage

151,000 mi

AMBIENT TEMP SENSOR FAILURE IN MIRROR..NOT A SERVICEABLE SENSOR..MUST REPLACE THE ENTIRE UNDAMAGED MIRROR AT A COST OF $ 389.00 DOLLARS.

NHTSA ID

11152883

Incident

Nov 1, 2018

Mileage

45,000 mi

HEAD LIGHT BULB ELECTRICAL SHORT BLOWING LIGHTS OUT ALL THE TIME. READ ONLINE COMPLAINTS. THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS FOR THE HEADLIGHT BULBS.

NHTSA ID

11120032

Incident

Nov 1, 2017

1 THE LIGHT COMING ON OFF ON DASH BOARD ITS SAYING RUNNING LIGHTS OUT I CHECK ALL THE LIGHTS EVERYTHING WORKING ITS JUST COMING ON AND OFF ITS SELF WHEN MY HEADLIGHTS ITS ON . ON MY VEHICLES EVEN DOESNT HAVE THE RUNNNING LIGHTS 2 IM ADDING ANTIFREEZE LIKE EVERY 10K TO 15K MILLES DEALER TOLD ME THAT NORMAL 3 ENGINE HAVE SOME VIBRATION SHAKING LOOKS LIKE LOOSING POWER

NHTSA ID

11073437

Incident

Dec 20, 2017

TPMS SYSTEM INOPERABLE. ONGOING FOR 3RD CONSECUTIVE MONTH WITHOUT REPAIR SOLUTION FROM RAM. INSTRUCTED TO CONTINUE DRIVING UNTIL ENGINEER IS AVAILABLE NEXT YEAR.

NHTSA ID

11051679

Incident

Sep 1, 2017

Mileage

7,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 RAM PROMASTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL ILLUMINATED TOO DIMLY, WHICH CAUSED THE SPEEDOMETER TO BE DIFFICULT TO VIEW WHILE DRIVING IN THE DAYTIME. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO STERLING HEIGHTS DODGE (40111 VAN DYKE, STERLING HEIGHTS, MI 48313, PHONE NUMBER: (586) 939-3900) WHO STATED THAT THE LIGHT WAS DIM AND COULD NOT SERVICE THE VEHICLE BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED IN THAT MANNER. THE CONTACT WAS ADVISED TO CONTACT CUSTOMER CARE. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED IN THAT MANNER AND NOTHING COULD BE DONE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 600. *BF CONSUMER STATED VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE SPEED. UPDATED 7/23/18*JB *TR

NHTSA ID

11030497

Incident

Jul 24, 2017

Mileage

600 mi