The Stellantis-owned Ram truck brand has identified an issue affecting certain vehicles produced for the US market for the 2023 model year. As it happens, an iffy weld between the transmission's control unit cover and baseplate may result in transmission fluid leaking onto electric components, leading to a loss of transmission control and/or a loss of motive power.
This condition also has the potential of losing the park function. As for the remedy, the automaker states that replacement valve bodies and control units are in the offing for 214 vehicles. The affected population can be split as follows: 6 units of the 3500 pickup, 1 unit of the 3500 cab chassis, 36 units of the 2500, and 171 units of the 1500.
The part numbers for the affected control units are 52854996AB, 52854997AB, and 68550344AA. The Michigan-based subsidiary of the ZF Group is listed as the supplier of the 8HP's transmission control unit. Ram 1500s equipped with the 5.7-liter HEMI come with the 8HP75, meaning that said transmission is capable of taking up to 516 pound-feet (700 Nm) of torque. For gas-engined vehicles, the ZF 8HP-based Torqueflite 850RE automatic is good for up to 369 pound-feet (500 Nm).
Said tranny is used by the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6-engined Ram 1500. The old-gen Ram 1500, which is known as the Ram 1500 Classic, uses the Torqueflite 850RE and the ZF 8HP70. Higher up the spectrum, the 6.4-liter HEMI of the 2500 and 3500 are rocking the 8HP75-LCV automatic.
Attached below, the recall report for recall 24V-413 reads that dealers and customers will be informed on or about July 26, 2024. In the meantime, owners can easily determine if their pickup trucks are included in said recall by running the 17-character VIN on the automaker's online recall portal.
Photo: Ram
Ram produces full-size trucks at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan and at the Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant in Mexico. If the vehicle identification number starts with 3, that means your truck was assembled at the Mexican facility.
The first quarter of 2024 was especially bad for all things Ram, with an emphasis on the brand's ProMaster and ProMaster City vans. Their deliveries fell by 67 and 99 percent, respectively, from the first three months of 2023. The Ram P/U, which is the short way of saying full-size trucks ranging from the 1500 Classic to the chassis-cabbed 3500, sales fell by 15 percent stateside.
The leading truck brands in the United States are Ford and Chevrolet, with Ford moving 170,377 units of the F-Series in the first quarter of 2024 in the United States market. By comparison, General Motors reported 129,987 total Silverado sales.
That said, it's hard to believe that Ram's 1500 Classic is $38,705 from the outset compared to $36,875 for the lowliest F-150 and $36,800 for the Silverado 1500 WT with rear-wheel drive, the regular cab, and the standard bed. It's even harder to believe that Ram continues making the 1500 Classic because it doesn't have a mid-size truck to call its own.
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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