Ram is recalling nearly 341,000 of its heavy-duty pickup trucks for an electrical short that could start a fire under their hoods. The recall covers certain Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups, as well as Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cab trucks from 2021 through 2023. All have 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engines with older heater-grid connectors.
The company said last week that it’s recalling the trucks to replace the heater-grid connectors after learning of six potentially related fires. In one case, the owner said that a fire started after the truck’s engine was shut off.
In the meantime, Ram’s parent company, Stellantis, is telling the owners of the affected diesel-powered trucks to park them outdoors rather than in a garage or workshop to avoid danger from a potential fire, other than to the truck itself.
Ram said that it would begin notifying owners by mail next month to bring their trucks in to be fixed. Owners that want to find out sooner can go to the Mopar website and enter their vehicle identification numbers to check if their trucks are part of the recall.
The issue is eerily similar to a 2021 recall for the same trucks equipped with the same engine. In October 2021, Ram also advised owners to park their trucks outside until they were fixed.
During the 2021 recall, trucks with more than 600 engine hours were considered safe and returned to their owners. For trucks with fewer than 600 engine hours, a temperature check was performed to determine if the relay either needed to be replaced or protected with additional insulation.
