NHTSA Investigating 2500/3500 Ram

[cerberusiam]

Disabling clutch switches or having one that is not functional is just an accident waiting to happen no matter how careful one is. Laws of averges will prevail. The CR's aren't quit as bad as they take 2 full revolutions to actually fire and the trucks starts moving before it fires, but, it is still a risk. A well tuned 12V that fires on the first cylinder up and no clutch interlock is really dangerous. The way most of these trucks are wired a short in the wrong places will power the system and engage the starter just from slamming the hood or a door, a running diesel in low gear is not going to stop for much.

 

[jgillott]

Years ago I had to bypass the clutch switch on my '85 Chevy to get me home one night when it failed. Replaced it right afterword. I'm not really sure what advantage it would be for me personally to have the switch bypassed long term.

 

[KIKER]

My friend had a '98 3500 V-10 with a 5-speed transmission and had a malfunction. He had traveled out of town for the weekend and on Saturday morning, when he started it up, it took off in granny gear. He panicked and instead of shutting the switch off, he mashed the brake as hard as he could and did get it shut down. Then, he couldn't get it out of gear. He worked on getting it in neutral, clutching it and trying to move the shifter until it came out of gear. When he got it in neutral, he started it again and cautiously shifted it into gear with no problems, released the clutch and engaged it and everything was normal. When he made it back to Odessa, he had me pick him up at the dealer, letting them check it out. I told him that somehow the hydraulic clutch lost its prime and he had pumped it enough to get the air out, or back in prime and nothing was wrong with his transmission. Well, the dealer called him, after two days in the shop and told him he needed a rebuilt transmission installed to the tune of $6000! He had me take him back up there and he told them they were crazy, that he had driven it all weekend long and then back to Odessa with no gear grinding or anything suggesting a bad transmission. They charged him $95 for a "diagnostic fee". He drove it 3 or 4 more years with no recurring clutch problems.