CELs - I am Livid!

[65plymouth]

Well, I am ticked off. The wind has been completely taken out of my sails and I am completely and utterly pissed off. 150 miles on my new 2016 PW. Today while driving home the truck threw a CEL and immediately started to rough idle and shudder. CEL starting blinking and then would go off for a minute and reappear only to start blinking again. Called the dealer and they told me to call roadside and have it towed. Flat bed is on it's way. Picked the truck up at 2pm Last Friday.
Ideas of what this could be? Suggestions on how I should handle it? Boy... I am upset right now. WTF!

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Well, I am ticked off. The wind has been completely taken out of my sails and I am completely and utterly pissed off. 150 miles on my new 2016 PW. Today while driving home the truck threw a CEL and immediately started to rough idle and shudder. CEL starting blinking and then would go off for a minute and reappear only to start blinking again. Called the dealer and they told me to call roadside and have it towed. Flat bed is on it's way. Picked the truck up at 2pm Last Friday.
Ideas of what this could be? Suggestions on how I should handle it? Boy... I am upset right now. WTF!

If I was you I would be pissed too. That being said, walking into the service department screaming and yelling like a crazed maniac might not be the best approach. It could be a very simple fix, and I've learned through dealing with people that yelling right away doesn't always get you want you want or need. Calm but firm is a great approach. If that doesn't work, then you do what my dad calls "raising your voice in the office."

Good luck man!

[65plymouth]

Well, I am ticked off. The wind has been completely taken out of my sails and I am completely and utterly pissed off. 150 miles on my new 2016 PW. Today while driving home the truck threw a CEL and immediately started to rough idle and shudder. CEL starting blinking and then would go off for a minute and reappear only to start blinking again. Called the dealer and they told me to call roadside and have it towed. Flat bed is on it's way. Picked the truck up at 2pm Last Friday.
Ideas of what this could be? Suggestions on how I should handle it? Boy... I am upset right now. WTF!

If I was you I would be pissed too. That being said, walking into the service department screaming and yelling like a crazed maniac might not be the best approach. It could be a very simple fix, and I've learned through dealing with people that yelling right away doesn't always get you want you want or need. Calm but firm is a great approach. If that doesn't work, then you do what my dad calls "raising your voice in the office."

Good luck man!

I know. That is what I used to do when I was a younger man. I am not old by any means, but I know how to handle myself. I have been very pleasant and firm. However, if the dealer drags their feet, makes excuses, or gives me problems that wouldn't be good. I am an insurance appraiser by trade. I visit and negotiate with car dealers every single day for the last 20 years. I am just upset.... My wife and kid were with me at the time. Driving my one year old back from the doctors office with a 103.5 degree fever and the CEL goes on, the truck starts stuttering and heistating. CEL then starts blinking. Still rough idle and shuddering. I have no clue what this can be. a quick google search didn't reveal anything. Better no be something serious like an engine replacement... If that is the case, the dealer will be buying this truck back.

[olyelr]

Dang it all you guys with '16's having issues... your scaring the hell out of me!

Mine had a bad battery, which would not even start the truck after a few thousand miles. I was furious when it happened, and I was even in the comfort of my own garage with a charger on hand... cant imagine how upset and helpless you felt.

Best of luck. Hope its an easy fix and the dealer treats you well.

[flattire]

Relax "65"......wait until your lockers don't work.

[adeluca73]

Ugh...

Is it me, or does it seem like the 16's have had an unusual amount of issues??

[Low_Sky]

Ideas of what this could be? Suggestions on how I should handle it? Boy... I am upset right now. WTF!

Be calm, and let the dealer try to take care of it. Don't waste energy on what-iffing how bad they are going to screw you over, or how big a POS your new truck is. It's an absurdly complex machine, and you have 150 miles on it. You're going to find issues with it, this one just happened to leave you on the side of the road (which does suck, you're not wrong there). There's just too many systems involved to expect to pick up a brand new truck and have it be flawless from day zero; it's why they come with warranties.

[Reloaderguy]

Ugh...

Is it me, or does it seem like the 16's have had an unusual amount of issues??

There are two types of Ram owners...those with CEL's and those that will have CEL's.

I did a smokey burnout yesterday to celebrate no CEL's.

[Retired BLM Rig]

Sounds like a misfire. Could be MDS, coil/plugs, fuel injector or...

The only times I've seen a CEL flashing, it's usually due to a misfire and the computer is trying to get the drivers attention to stop the vehicle. This is standard protocol on all vehicles I've worked on. They don't want unburned fuel going into the cats and damaging them, which could happen quickly under load.
If it's not too bad/making noise and you don't have far to go, I would just drive it easy to get home or to the dealer if it's close. Otherwise, towing is the safest option.
Once they pull codes they should have a diagnosis for you in short order. Probably just a faulty component that slipped thru quality control.
All of the above is just educated speculation without seeing it firsthand.
Keep us posted.

[olyelr]

Ugh...

Is it me, or does it seem like the 16's have had an unusual amount of issues??

There are two types of Ram owners...those with CEL's and those that will have CEL's.

I did a smokey burnout yesterday to celebrate no CEL's.

No CEL's YET!

[FirerescuePW]

You need to let them pull codes and follow the diagnostic tree. It could be simple or quite complex. I wouldn't think it's a gas cap with the stumbling, but it would be nice if it was equally simple.

Unless you have already had bad experiences with the dealer, don't project the incompetence you have heard about on them. Let them create their own reputation with YOU. Someone else's bad experience is not yours, and not everything is catastrophic.

Oh, and I understand exactly how you feel, and would be pretty pissed too. Somebody would have to tell me what I just told you!

[65plymouth]

Thanks guys. All very sound advice. I am just bummed. It is also very hard explaining to my wife why my 40K truck with less than 150 miles is running real bad. She doesn't understand and by default, it's making me more upset. Plus, as I mentioned, my 1 year old son is sick on top of everything.

I am just waiting to see what happens at this point. I do Agree with "Retired BLM Rig" it did sound/feel like a misfire or fuel issue. I am hoping the dealer doesn't have my truck for weeks and can figure this out by the stored codes in the computer. I really hope it is something simple and not an engine teadown. I will keep you posted.

[yooper68]

That almost sounds similar to what I have experienced a few times ("limp" mode). I just pull over in a safe spot and shut the truck off for about a minute before restarting it - this has worked every time.

I did pull the codes from the self-diagnostics (key on-off sequence) but I didn't learn too much from that. Something about throttle body or throttle position sensor... Obviously my truck is far from new and I only experienced this maybe 3-4 times (in the past 3 years) so I'm not going to spend much time and effort trying to dig into a fix.

However, if I had a new (or newer) truck, especially under warranty - then by all means the dealer should get it fixed.

Good luck.

[65plymouth]

Picked it up from the dealer tonight. Thank god. Just a loose connector at the coil pack causing a misfire on cylinder 5. plugged the connector back in until it snapped, truck fixed!! I am so relieved..

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I'm glad to hear it was something quick and easy.

[65plymouth]

I'm glad to hear it was something quick and easy.

Thank you. Me too!! Just glad to have my truck back and consider myself lucky that the dealer didn't have to tear it all apart

[Will]

I did that changing my own plugs last time. Cranked it and it was sputtering and misfired and CEL came on and I was like WTF!? I don't know why but I went through and checked all of the coil plugs and sure enough, I didn't get one on far enough for it to click. Glad it worked out for you.

[65plymouth]

Thanks for the support!! I am glad everything worked out. So happy it was something simple and stupid. I wish I would have just popped the hood and started looking at electrical connections. I guess it is a good thing I have documentation from the dealer as I hope the continued misfire didnt cause any long term issues with the engine. I am sure it didn't, but, you never know.

[olyelr]

Thanks for the support!! I am glad everything worked out. So happy it was something simple and stupid. I wish I would have just popped the hood and started looking at electrical connections. I guess it is a good thing I have documentation from the dealer as I hope the continued misfire didnt cause any long term issues with the engine. I am sure it didn't, but, you never know.

My guess is it was not continuously misfiring, it was most likely connected enough for everything to work properly. Then, when you traveling home the plug probably finally became disconnected enough that it was no longer working... which triggered the code/shuddering.

Regardless, it was an easy fix and your back in action!

[Reloaderguy]

Thanks for the support!! I am glad everything worked out. So happy it was something simple and stupid. I wish I would have just popped the hood and started looking at electrical connections. I guess it is a good thing I have documentation from the dealer as I hope the continued misfire didnt cause any long term issues with the engine. I am sure it didn't, but, you never know.

Whenever you get a CEL just remember:

[65plymouth]

LOL ^^^^^