Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Hello all... I find myself terribly confused and caught in the middle.
Back in December, I hit a deer with my 2014 Ram 3500 Cummins. The deer pushed the middle of the bumper in enough to damage the intercooler, radiators, and such. I took the truck to a body shop I had used multiple times and trusted. I informed the body shop to be very careful what coolant was used when repairing the truck, as I knew from my time here, that these trucks require a very specific coolant. Anyhow, the truck was repaired and all seemed fine.
Yesterday, I took in the truck, to a dealer for the T51 water pump recall. The dealer called me early yesterday morning stating that my truck had the wrong coolant in it. They claim it was filled with orange, 5 year coolant and that my truck required purple 10 year coolant. They went on to explain that if I didn't have it flushed and refilled with the proper coolant, they would void the remainder of my powertrain warranty (truck is at 57k miles). I was slammed at work so I didn't have time to deal with it really, and I needed the truck back yesterday to go pick up a load of feed. I authorized them to do coolant flush so it would maintain my warranty. I then called my body shop guy, he claimed that he used the right stuff, albeit not Mopar branded. He even went on the claim that he called chrysler themselves before using the coolant, and claims that they agreed the coolant used would be ok. They used Zerex dex-cool. Looking at the specs for this coolant it is a GM OAT formulation. It also (in the spec sheets) shows that, while it is not "approved" by mopar, it does meet and / or exceed the spec MS-12106 requirements as called out for my truck.
So now I am left wondering... How the hell can the dealer void my powertrain warranty based on the coolant color? Is the coolant that was used really a problem? I wish I wasn't so busy yesterday and could have dealt with this, as I feel like I totally got taken advantage of.
Anyone else have a similiar experience? Note - This dealer is not my favorite, although they have done a decent job of service for me in the past... wish there was another dealer option close, although a longer drive may well be warranted now.
Back in December, I hit a deer with my 2014 Ram 3500 Cummins. The deer pushed the middle of the bumper in enough to damage the intercooler, radiators, and such. I took the truck to a body shop I had used multiple times and trusted. I informed the body shop to be very careful what coolant was used when repairing the truck, as I knew from my time here, that these trucks require a very specific coolant. Anyhow, the truck was repaired and all seemed fine.
Yesterday, I took in the truck, to a dealer for the T51 water pump recall. The dealer called me early yesterday morning stating that my truck had the wrong coolant in it. They claim it was filled with orange, 5 year coolant and that my truck required purple 10 year coolant. They went on to explain that if I didn't have it flushed and refilled with the proper coolant, they would void the remainder of my powertrain warranty (truck is at 57k miles). I was slammed at work so I didn't have time to deal with it really, and I needed the truck back yesterday to go pick up a load of feed. I authorized them to do coolant flush so it would maintain my warranty. I then called my body shop guy, he claimed that he used the right stuff, albeit not Mopar branded. He even went on the claim that he called chrysler themselves before using the coolant, and claims that they agreed the coolant used would be ok. They used Zerex dex-cool. Looking at the specs for this coolant it is a GM OAT formulation. It also (in the spec sheets) shows that, while it is not "approved" by mopar, it does meet and / or exceed the spec MS-12106 requirements as called out for my truck.
So now I am left wondering... How the hell can the dealer void my powertrain warranty based on the coolant color? Is the coolant that was used really a problem? I wish I wasn't so busy yesterday and could have dealt with this, as I feel like I totally got taken advantage of.
Anyone else have a similiar experience? Note - This dealer is not my favorite, although they have done a decent job of service for me in the past... wish there was another dealer option close, although a longer drive may well be warranted now.
