Worried I May Have Bought a $55,000 Problem

[GCecchetto]

GC, your truck will have to build up some speed prior to the EB kicking in. I drive a similar road to work in the mornings and my EB won't kick in unless I build speed in excess of 40 mph. From that point, the TH and EB take care of the braking chores as designed.

Hmmm, that hasn't been the case with my truck. It will engage well below 40 mph when it's working. But like I said, at 60 mph exiting the freeway this morning, nothing. The behavior this morning seems more an issue with the Tow Haul setting not kicking in and causing the trans to downshift. The trans stayed in 6th and the rpm's just dropped to idle.

 

[photowrite]

On the DRW trucks...it's called TPIS (Tire Pressure Information System). It simply displays the tire pressures......it does not "nag" at one when the pressure gets below a certain threshold. I learned something about rotating a '14 & up DRW w/TPIS as well :
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/2...00-tpis-tire-pressure-information-system.html

Thanks for the clarification... Ah yes, the superior tire pressure system on the dually trucks (I didn't know the acronym) that I read about in another TPMS thread here. I wish my SRW had that setup.

 

[jtwcummins]

My 08 won't lock TC, shift higher than 4th gear, or engage Exhaust Brake until temp gets to around 140*

 

[GCecchetto]

No luck with the dealer today, they said they don't see any updates for my truck. That was by VIN, they haven't had the truck in the shop yet. They're 120 miles from me so it isn't really convenient to stop by for them to check things out.

 

[Bill]

Went to that link you posted. Typed in my VIN number three times and each time I received an error msg stating I could not get any info.

 

[MJWenrich]

Bill...I had a little trouble too until I realized some of the characters in our vins are zeros instead of the letter O. On my vin the zero appears between two letters and fooled me. Or my eyesight fooled me. That's always possible.

 

[Bug Out]

GCecchetto, make sure your not pushing the EB twice putting it in "auto" mode. You should get some slow down from it in 6th gear. Not much, but you should feel it . I get more out of the EB by leaving the transmission in 5th around town. MPG are about the same as leaving it in 6th, but the EB gives more based on gear its in,from what I can tell in my truck.

 

[Bill]

I know this is overkill however, every vehicle I have owned in my life up to and including all the new ones I bought over the last 2+ years, I have changed my oil at 3,000 miles and for a long time, I have always used a synthetic oil. And this includes using syn. in everything I own that has an engine in it. I use to be an Amsoil dealer but quit when they kept raising their prices. Not for a second did I ever believe in the 25,000 mile ~ change filter half way through that ~. You mentioned doing an oil analysis. Great choice. I've been doing that for years. Besides having the 2014 Dodge, have a 2014 Avalon Limited and a 2014 Jeep Rubicon. As soon as I got them and put a couple hundred miles on them, I sent in an analysis on all three of them. That sets a good base line. Even though I change oil every 3,000 miles, I usually wait until I put 6,000 miles on a vehicle and then get the analysis performed again at every 6,000 miles even though my first ones are around 200 miles.

 

[Bill]

Hey, thanks for that information. Never would have thought of that. Then again I'm only running on a few remaining brain cells and their not firing to good.

 

[GCecchetto]

GCecchetto, make sure your not pushing the EB twice putting it in "auto" mode. You should get some slow down from it in 6th gear. Not much, but you should feel it . I get more out of the EB by leaving the transmission in 5th around town. MPG are about the same as leaving it in 6th, but the EB gives more based on gear its in,from what I can tell in my truck.

Thanks for the reply. Definitely not pushing it twice. Honestly, I wish I would have taken the hit in horsepower and torque and gone for the manual trans. The shift algorithm in the 68RFE is a joke. This is my fourth Ram turbo diesel but first with an auto, and I think it's crap. It might be strong and it might be reliable, but it is absolutely crude in operation. It's hard to deal with a trans that so poorly performs. I'm not a GM guy, but I have owned Duramax/Alison equipped Chevy, and the Tundra I just traded in used an Aisin trans with Tow/Haul mode. Both a those trans run circles around the 68RFE. Dodge should be ashamed of themselves for equipping an HD truck with a trans that functions like this. I love the truck, but the shift performance of the trans is a joke.

 

[Bill]

Have a great friend who owns a 2011 Dodge. He told me the other day to kick in the EB and leave it there, even while driving around town. Never said anything about going into 5th or 6th gear. He did say to go to 5th gear with the EB while pulling uphill. This may be a dumb question but first of all, towing the trailer and going down hill in tow mode and the EB engaged, I can't run fast enough to get to the back of the trailer to see if the EB is allowing the brake lights to come on. :>) All I know is when I do engage the EB and I have traffic behind me, all of a sudden I see the front of their cars dipping downwards. So does the EB, when engaged, light up the brake lights? I can't talk the wife into running to the back of the trailer either. :>)

 

[Bill]

Sorry but I'm a little confused. What do you mean by "auto mode?" The first push of the button will enable full strength exhaust brake mode. If you push it twice, doesn't it maintain the vehicle speed present when the accelerator pedal is released. If you then hit the brakes, you again have full exhaust braking enabled? I want my V-8 Flathead 1949 engine back!!

 

[Bill]

I don't know what the factory assemble lube looks like but the "oil" I have all over the main seal inspection plate looks and feels just like engine oil. I just made up my mind to hook-up to my trailer Monday morning and take off for vacation. What is, is and what might happen can happen. IF it is assemble lube then "somebody" should be advising buyers of these diesels to possible expect this.

 

[Wingate]

Thanks for the reply. Definitely not pushing it twice. Honestly, I wish I would have taken the hit in horsepower and torque and gone for the manual trans. The shift algorithm in the 68RFE is a joke. This is my fourth Ram turbo diesel but first with an auto, and I think it's crap. It might be strong and it might be reliable, but it is absolutely crude in operation. It's hard to deal with a trans that so poorly performs. I'm not a GM guy, but I have owned Duramax/Alison equipped Chevy, and the Tundra I just traded in used an Aisin trans with Tow/Haul mode. Both a those trans run circles around the 68RFE. Dodge should be ashamed of themselves for equipping an HD truck with a trans that functions like this. I love the truck, but the shift performance of the trans is a joke.

question, why didnt you purchase an Aisin equipped truck if you had past history with the Aisin?

 

[Bug Out]

GCecchetto, Theres a re-flash coming out in late August I've heard that supposed to deal with the "Flare up shift" for the 68 RFE and cure it. Once that happens, and it shifts like my 2012 did, I'll be very happy with the truck.

I was contemplating trading this thing in for a 3500 with the aisin transmission, but I'll see how the flash does. If the flash fixes it, I'll change my signature to 68 RFE, instead of RFFE.

 

[GCecchetto]

GCecchetto, Theres a re-flash coming out in late August I've heard that supposed to deal with the "Flare up shift" for the 68 RFE and cure it. Once that happens, and it shifts like my 2012 did, I'll be very happy with the truck.

I was contemplating trading this thing in for a 3500 with the aisin transmission, but I'll see how the flash does. If the flash fixes it, I'll change my signature to 68 RFE, instead of RFFE.

Thanks, that's good news. Hopefully it addresses the other crapy shift performance the trans has. If it was possible to get an Aisin in my truck I would have. Checked on updates for the Uconnect 8.4AN and there is one, so I'm hoping that fixes the issue there.

 

[GCecchetto]

question, why didnt you purchase an Aisin equipped truck if you had past history with the Aisin?

Because it's not an option in a 2500 (or 3500SRW according to the dealer), and I don't want or need a DRW truck.

 

[gsbrockman]

Because it's not an option in a 2500 (or 3500SRW according to the dealer), and I don't want or need a DRW truck.

Your dealer needs a head examination. There's lots of 3500 SRW Aisins on the road. There has been times that Aisin availability has been restricted on SRW's but it's been for short periods of time.

 

[GCecchetto]

Your dealer needs a head examination. There's lots of 3500 SRW Aisins on the road. There has been times that Aisin availability has been restricted on SRW's but it's been for short periods of time.

Yes, the dealer told me dodge had a cancelled all SRW Aisin's due to short supply.

 

[GCecchetto]

So there was a firmware update available for my Uconnect 8.4AN. Rather large file too, 545mb and slow to update too. Hopefully it fixes the issues. The installer software is a cumbersome pain in the *****, you have to make sure you don't have any popup blockers on or it won't start the download.

Unfortunately the truck is still leaking oil out of the inspection cover on the bell housing. It would royally suck if my new truck had to be torn apart by a dealer! I'm headed out for a 16 day road trip and will likely be in Idaho so I might stop in at Dave Smith motors and see if they can figure out anything with software for the engine and trans, although it sounds like an update is on the way for the trans.

On a side note, can anyone confirm for me if the exhaust brake indicator in the dash actually turns green when in auto mode like the manual says?