Stellantis has bad news for more than 300,000 RAM owners. Their heavy-duty pickup trucks might just happen to catch fire. It’s only the most recent incident in a series of recalls surrounding a similar issue and the largest so far. Until the recall can be completed, RAM advises owners to park affected vehicles outside so as to limit the potential for damage.
Affected trucks include certain model years of the 2500 and 3500 along with 3500,4500 and 5500 chassis cab trucks from 2021 to 2023. In total, the recall includes some 306,165 vehicles. Every one of them has a 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engine under the hood and that’s a key factor.
According to an investigation completed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the intake heater-grid relays on some vehicles can overheat and, in rare cases, create a fire risk. As of the automaker’s announcement, it knows of six potentially related fires. Five of them happened while the truck was running and the sixth was reported after the ignition was turned off.
Read: The Biggest Recalls And The Most Recalled Automakers Of 2022
Back in March of 2021, RAM recalled almost 20,000 heavy-duty pickup trucks for a similar fire risk. In October of that same year, the automaker recalled a further 130,000 trucks again over concerns about the heater grid relay. Late last year, in November, it stacked another 280,000 heavy-duty trucks onto the total but for a different reason.
At that time, the concern was that affected trucks could have a build-up of pressure and heat inside of the transmission. In cases where that occurred, transmission fluid could escape the dipstick tube and then come into contact with ignition sources.
FCA plans to notify customers of the situation surrounding this latest recall directly in March but beginning tomorrow, February 16th, RAM customers will be able to check whether or not they own an affected vehicle by inputting their VIN information on search engines at mopar.com/recalls or NHTSA.gov.
Customers with additional questions or concerns are encouraged to call 1-800-853-1403.
