Alternator Recall - S68

[firefighter_2000]

https://www.chrysler.com/universal/webselfservice/pdf/S68.pdf

A couple of days ago I was headed to work and could smell an electrical burning smell. As I pulled into the parking lot, I got a low battery voltage alarm on the display. Opened the hood & the alternator was extremely hot to touch. A couple of hours later I drove the truck to the Landers Dodge in Benton AR about 4 miles away. The truck died completely as I was nearing the lot and luckily I was able to coast into the lot. Left the truck and went back to work. Later in the day, my service advisor called saying that the alternator had indeed failed & took the batteries down with it. She told me that since the updated alternator was not yet available she would attempt to repair under warranty. Picked the truck up the next morning with two new batteries and a new alternator. My service advisor told me that I would still need to have the alternator recall work completed when parts become available.
Be sure & check to see if your truck needs this recall done. I had been throwing soft codes for some time, and according to the Tech the problem was likely early warning signs of the alternator failure.
Another word of advice. DON'T use your fingers to check the temperature of the alternator if you suspect failure.

Check your VIN here:
https://www.mopar.com/en-us/my-vehicle/recalls.html

 

[DonFitzwater]

Since updated alternators aren't available, can I assume that my new 2016 2500 with the 220 amp alternator is within the affected range even though it's not yet listed? Or are all the updated alternators already being installed on newer builds? Can anyone confirm?

 

[jelag]

I checked the Ram web site and didn't get it figured out... than gave their support staff a call... was pleased with the people I was talking to.... but she couldn't tell me if my truck by Vin # was going to be in the re-call but she did verify that my truck also has the 220 amp alternator.... I'm now in a warm climate and I've read where the problem occurs most often is in cold climates where the alternator goes to full output to support the truck....

I have had 2 friends.. who are back home.. where it gets cold, who have already had issues with this... one was an engine compartment fire.... so I'm waiting to see what happens....

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Maybe it's nothing, but two days ago we were in the truck and I smelled what to me would have been an electrical fire. My wife smelt it too but wasn't real sure. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

 

[Mingoglia]

This doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy. I have the dual 220 amp alternators because I plan to run a BIG inverter with 4 batteries in the slide-in camper so I can run the A/C going down the road. This will require significant power out of both alternators. Looks like I'll be laying low with this until I hear more.

 

[jelag]

It would be interesting to use a point and shoot temp gauge and see what the surface of the alternator is running...

Mingoglia, do you understand ohm's law and the required cable to run that kind of amperage to a trailer.... your talking about cables larger than battery cables to move 250 amps (14 volts) to supply an inverter to make 25 amp (120 volts) at the trailer... My BIL when he wants to run the AC going down the road... just starts the gen-set...

 

[EDankievitch]

There are a few threads about this. I've also had an alt faiure. My truck burned up some wireing out of pocket cost was over a grand to fix. Chrysler customer service said I'll be rembursed once they have "Known Good Parts availabe". For now I wait for the new parts . They also said the alt that was installedin my truck is bad and will need to be replaced.
Not happy but what can I do.....

 

[Mingoglia]

It would be interesting to use a point and shoot temp gauge and see what the surface of the alternator is running...

Mingoglia, do you understand ohm's law and the required cable to run that kind of amperage to a trailer.... your talking about cables larger than battery cables to move 250 amps (14 volts) to supply an inverter to make 25 amp (120 volts) at the trailer... My BIL when he wants to run the AC going down the road... just starts the gen-set...

Yes, I've calculated it out based on a 11k A/C. I will have 4 batteries and the inverter close to the camper to handle the surges (I don't recall the running load figures I calculated but they're obviously a lot lower than 25 amps) and some marine hardware closer to the truck. This is also a truck camper which means the lengths will be a bit shorter.

 

[Dieselnerd]

I don't understand why updated alternators are not available. The alternator recall only goes through trucks made before July 2013.

Based on that, all trucks made after that should have an alternator that has better diodes. Seems strange they would not be in the parts supply.

 

[sag2]

I don't understand why updated alternators are not available. The alternator recall only goes through trucks made before July 2013.

Based on that, all trucks made after that should have an alternator that has better diodes. Seems strange they would not be in the parts supply.

They are selling trucks with good generators now. They have to get a vendor to gear up to build thousands a day more. Some would say quit building trucks and recall those already built. That is a sure way to go broke as it would take months of truck production out of the system. I'm sure it is strictly a business decision.

 

[MJWenrich]

I have a point and shoot temp gauge but would not know what is a normal temp for the alternator as opposed to one that is creating too much heat. Any thoughts on that?

 

[DonFitzwater]

I'm now in a warm climate and I've read where the problem occurs most often is in cold climates where the alternator goes to full output to support the truck..

Cold climates........great, like Fairbanks! Hahahahahahaha:-laf

 

[Jeff Knight]

Cold climates........great, like Fairbanks! Hahahahahahaha:-laf

More like FRIGID.

 

[Newsa]

https://www.chrysler.com/universal/webselfservice/pdf/S68.pdf

A couple of days ago I was headed to work and could smell an electrical burning smell. As I pulled into the parking lot, I got a low battery voltage alarm on the display. Opened the hood & the alternator was extremely hot to touch. A couple of hours later I drove the truck to the Landers Dodge in Benton AR about 4 miles away. The truck died completely as I was nearing the lot and luckily I was able to coast into the lot. Left the truck and went back to work. Later in the day, my service advisor called saying that the alternator had indeed failed & took the batteries down with it. She told me that since the updated alternator was not yet available she would attempt to repair under warranty. Picked the truck up the next morning with two new batteries and a new alternator. My service advisor told me that I would still need to have the alternator recall work completed when parts become available.
Be sure & check to see if your truck needs this recall done. I had been throwing soft codes for some time, and according to the Tech the problem was likely early warning signs of the alternator failure.
Another word of advice. DON'T use your fingers to check the temperature of the alternator if you suspect failure.

Check your VIN here:
https://www.mopar.com/en-us/my-vehicle/recalls.html

Can you specify which (soft) dtc codes might be a warning? Are they electrical in nature? I have an afflicted truck, but all my codes have been emissions related.

 

[sag2]

Usually it will be low voltage codes that set in different modules.

 

[Newsa]

Usually it will be low voltage codes that set in different modules.

How Is this displayed to the driver? Do these individual and somewhat isolated (in modules) low voltage measurements trigger a CEL/MIL? Or do the trigger a low voltage warning on the dash. Is there a light that illuminates for low voltage? Or is it a verbal message that is spelled out in words on the EVIC?

 

[EDankievitch]

When my Alt burned up I got a strange groning noise. after the noise I got a CEL lamp and message low batt voltage. When I went through the truck info screens the Batt voltage screen showed only 11 volts. When I hooked up my scan toolI came up with code U059F, P0626 and code B1A8F00. After driving a bout 20 min I got a message that the truck was in "Safe Batt Mode" and the charging system came back on only I was showing 14-15 volts.
That said I'm still waiting for the notice that "good parts are now availabe" so I can get it fixed as the Alt that was installed is part of the "Known Bad" batch.Once they send out those notices I'll also be able to get refunded for the repair ($1004.00) .......

 

[sag2]

How Is this displayed to the driver? Do these individual and somewhat isolated (in modules) low voltage measurements trigger a CEL/MIL? Or do the trigger a low voltage warning on the dash. Is there a light that illuminates for low voltage? Or is it a verbal message that is spelled out in words on the EVIC?

Nothing displayed to the driver. The modules will store the codes where they can be read by dealer or quality scan tool.

 

[Newsa]

Nothing displayed to the driver. The modules will store the codes where they can be read by dealer or quality scan tool.

Ah, Yes. This answers my question. I plan on not driving more than 70 miles from home until this is fixed. Sounds like it comes on somewhat without warning.

 

[firefighter_2000]

What I call "soft codes" are codes that don't register on my code reader. The code reader I have says the codes are "pending" and doesn't offer specific numbers. From what another tech told me, the Star Scan Tool can see these, and mine was a laundry list of communication bus failures and low or high voltage codes that had no rhyme or reason to them. Hopefully the codes will stop for now.