Ram News: Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 4x2 Models Making Their Owners Sick

[William Maley]

The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel has been widely lauded by the press for its impressive fuel economy. It has also become a big hit for the company. However, a number of owners are feeling a bit ill when driving their EcoDiesels.

Detroit ABC news station WXYZ reported back in December that a number of Ram 1500 EcoDiesel owners are reporting feeling sick with a exhaust smell coming into the cabin. That smell happens to be diesel exhaust which causes headaches, lightheadedness, and dizzy-ness. Ram owner forums started reporting this issue in September and October, with a number of trucks being investigated by Chrysler and then being fixed with new exhaust coupling. At the time Chrysler said a small number of trucks were affected, however the number of complaints has since grown larger.

Since the initial report, WXYZ has updated their story with a statement from Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne saying the problem affects more trucks than previously thought, but only those that are two-wheel drive. Mayne decline to say how many trucks are affected, but did say that owners will be notified through a technical service bulletin, not a recall.

Why not go with the recall? Chrysler has done internal testing to see where carbon monoxide levels were in the effected trucks and found that the levels were below a level where they were deemed to be too dangerous. Not surprisingly, some owners want Chrysler to go further. WXYZ interviewed a number of owners who reported that the smell was choking them and driving their vehicle required the windows being open. One said that he was worried about carrying kids in the truck due to the smell.

We keep you updated if anything changes.

Source: WXYZ, GreenCarReports.com, Ram1500Diesel.com

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[David]

Bummer, they need to fix this soon or really face an ugly backlash.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm shocked... really shocked.. .that they haven't issued a recall on this.   

[FAPTurbo]

A recall may not be 'necessary,' but once media and social media gets a whiff of this CO story, FCA's going to be choked.