The Office of Defects Investigation has opened an… uhm… investigation into the 2022 Ram 1500 and Jeep Wagoneer due to stalling allegations from owners of vehicles equipped with the 5.7L eTorque V8 engine. To date, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 80 complaints.
Engine stall and the subsequent loss of motive power increase the risk of a crash. The preliminary evaluation brought together investigator Arnaldo Torres Diaz, reviewer Bruce York, and approver Tanya Topka. If said preliminary evaluation turns into a safety recall, FCA US LLC will be required to fix approximately 150,000 trucks and utilities.
Many of the aforementioned 80 complaints reveal that the mild-hybrid HEMI would shut off unexpectedly while traveling at low speeds, prompting the vehicle to shift into park and engage the emergency brake. Certain owners reported intermittent ability to restart. Customers also reported the battery fault symbol lighting up, with many customers reporting a low-voltage condition to boot.
Similar to a regular hybrid or a plug-in hybrid, the Chrysler-developed eTorque system is connected to a battery with a higher voltage than the 12-volt battery hiding underhood. In these applications, the motor-generator unit supplies 48-volt current to a relatively small, air-cooled battery supplied by LG Chem. The lithium-ion pack is rated at 430 watt hours.
The motor-generation unit, meanwhile, replaces the alternator. It provides up to 130 pound-feet (176 Nm) of torque, and this torque also has a role in smoothening shifts. It also smoothens the transition from eight- to four-cylinder mode and back again to eight. As opposed to the Continental-supplied MG in the 3.6-liter eTorque, the 5.7-liter eTorque uses a motor-generator unit from Magneti Marelli.
Photo: Ram
Turning our attention back to the investigation, FCA US LLC announced recall 23V-265 in April 2023, describing a defect affecting 2021 Ram 1500 pickup trucks equipped with the mild-hybrid V8 lump. As per the documents filed with the federal watchdog by the Auburn Hills-based automaker, the powertrain control module software may lead to an incorrect fuel mixture condition, resulting in an engine stall.
The Office of Defects Investigation determined that 2022 models don't suffer from the over-rich fuel/air mixture of the described recall, but rather something else. To this effect, preliminary evaluation PE24018 aims to assess the root cause behind the reported incidents.
Model year 2025 saw the Ram 1500 switch from the 5.7-liter HEMI to the 3.0-liter Hurricane, with the latter being an inline-six design with two snails to its name. The 3.6-liter Pentastar soldiers on. It's hard to understand why Stellantis-controlled FCA US LLC dropped the V8 from the half-ton pickup, especially if you remember that crosstown rivals Ford and General Motors continue offering half-ton pickups with eight cylinders.
Ford takes it up a notch with dual overhead cams for the naturally aspirated Coyote and the supercharged Predator, with the latter V8 being exclusive to the Raptor R package. Over at General Motors, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the GMC brand's Sierra 1500 can be had with free-breathing small blocks featuring displacements of either 5.3 or 6.2 liters.
The Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer have also dropped their HEMIs for the Hurricane, which is hardly a surprise. As a brief refresher, the body-on-frame SUVs feature Ram 1500 underpinnings.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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