'14 Power Wagon needs new motor at 63k... :/
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:55 am
My 2014 PW has been at the dealership for 4 weeks now needing a new motor according to service manager, and hasn't been approved for warranty, yet...
4 weeks ago, I was driving home from the grocery store. Turned off highway onto dirt road, and shifted into 4wd. Passed a dump truck and about 1 min later, with no warning (no warning lights, no sounds, etc), the truck shuts off. I shift into N and turn the motor over while still moving (approx 45 mph). The truck starts back up and I drive another 10 min. Then, with no warning, it shuts off again. This time I come to complete stop and turn ignition off. At this point, I'm thinking there is some sort of electrical glitch, so I decided to completely stop turn off ignition. Once again, no warning lights, no abnormal temps, etc. Truck tries to start, but acts like it has a dead battery - labored cranking. I kinda smell burning electrical smell - maybe starter is getting hot. Guages all read normal with key in "run" position, but I do notice that trans temp is reading "---", basically no reading... at this point, I'm baffled. I call my neighbor to come give me a tow as I'm only about 15 min from home (I live 2 hrs from any major city in the middle of nowhere). I wait about 10 min while neighbor is on the way and try to start truck again. Truck turns over better, but still sounds labored, almost like it is trying to start "in gear". I shift transfer case into neutral to prep for my neighbor to tow me and try to start truck again. Truck almost starts and seems way less labored. At this point I'm thinking some sort of tranny or torque converter issue - no trans temp reading and almost starting with transfer case in N. Neighbor tows me home, and I'm hoping it's still just some electrical glitch, so I disconnect negative battery cable and let truck sit for an hour. Try to start and ince again super labored like dead battery, but then shift transfer case into neutral, and the truck actually starts but runs kinds rough - only runs for about a minute and shuts off... That's all she wrote. Next day ( Wednesday) I called roadside assistance to have it towed to nearest dealership (Vista Chysler - Silverthorne, CO). I tell the tow truck driver that I think it's a trans or torque converter issue. No call from dealer for two days, so on Friday, I call and the service manager tells me that the reg tech couldn't get truck to communicate with diagnostic equipment, and that he needed a foreman to look into my truck... The following week ( Tuesday or Wednesday) I get a call from the sevice manager telling me my motor is seized - they can't get it to crank/start. He asked me to forward all my oil change records and that he'd try to get it covered by warranty... I'm still thinking that something else is keeping motor from turning over, so I ask them to try and start it with t case in N. Get a call the following day saying they tried that and no dice, but that my truck has no compression... I'm starting to get confused as "seized" and "no compression" are two very different things... I send them the past two years of oil change records. My truck is a showcase vehicle for our business - meticulously maintained, vinyl wrap, etc, and honestly, I drive like a Grandpa... I wait another week with no news. Finally, after multiple messages to service manager, Chysler cust service, email, etc, I get call from service manager saying that warranty request was denied due to some part#s not being correct on their end, but that once approved it would only take 4 days until my truck was fixed. Fast forward another week. We're at 3.5 weeks at this point. Newest update is that warranty is requesting an engineer to inspect the motor to verify that there are no modifications. My truck is BONE stock except 35" tires as I purchased the 5/100 bumper to bumper warranty when buying my truck brand new and wouldn't consider doing anything to void it... Meanwhile, I'm in a rental Dodge Journey and had to cancel a cross country business trip as Chysler would not authorize a comparable tow vehicle... They told me to go ahead and rent a 2500 for $600/week and that they'd decide how much they would cover once we brought it back... really?
So, here I am at 4 weeks with no answers and crappy rental... I'm baffled that my truck needs a new motor with absolutely no warning signs - Truck has run like a top since new right up until it shut off the first time. No weird noises, no temp issues, no warning lights... Had to be a freak, mechanical failure of some sort. Wonder if they'll even tell me the cause?
Anyone have any corporate contacts that actually give a sh#t? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've been stonewalled at every point of contact... Even had cust service manager tell me to pound sand regarding comparable rental... Service manager is super short handed and actually told me that Chysler would pay to have it towed to another dealer in Denver... I'm at a loss and have been waiting patiently since they said an engineer needed to verify no mods (said it would take 3-5 days for that... 3-5 days ago... Smh
Thanks in advance,
Troy
4 weeks ago, I was driving home from the grocery store. Turned off highway onto dirt road, and shifted into 4wd. Passed a dump truck and about 1 min later, with no warning (no warning lights, no sounds, etc), the truck shuts off. I shift into N and turn the motor over while still moving (approx 45 mph). The truck starts back up and I drive another 10 min. Then, with no warning, it shuts off again. This time I come to complete stop and turn ignition off. At this point, I'm thinking there is some sort of electrical glitch, so I decided to completely stop turn off ignition. Once again, no warning lights, no abnormal temps, etc. Truck tries to start, but acts like it has a dead battery - labored cranking. I kinda smell burning electrical smell - maybe starter is getting hot. Guages all read normal with key in "run" position, but I do notice that trans temp is reading "---", basically no reading... at this point, I'm baffled. I call my neighbor to come give me a tow as I'm only about 15 min from home (I live 2 hrs from any major city in the middle of nowhere). I wait about 10 min while neighbor is on the way and try to start truck again. Truck turns over better, but still sounds labored, almost like it is trying to start "in gear". I shift transfer case into neutral to prep for my neighbor to tow me and try to start truck again. Truck almost starts and seems way less labored. At this point I'm thinking some sort of tranny or torque converter issue - no trans temp reading and almost starting with transfer case in N. Neighbor tows me home, and I'm hoping it's still just some electrical glitch, so I disconnect negative battery cable and let truck sit for an hour. Try to start and ince again super labored like dead battery, but then shift transfer case into neutral, and the truck actually starts but runs kinds rough - only runs for about a minute and shuts off... That's all she wrote. Next day ( Wednesday) I called roadside assistance to have it towed to nearest dealership (Vista Chysler - Silverthorne, CO). I tell the tow truck driver that I think it's a trans or torque converter issue. No call from dealer for two days, so on Friday, I call and the service manager tells me that the reg tech couldn't get truck to communicate with diagnostic equipment, and that he needed a foreman to look into my truck... The following week ( Tuesday or Wednesday) I get a call from the sevice manager telling me my motor is seized - they can't get it to crank/start. He asked me to forward all my oil change records and that he'd try to get it covered by warranty... I'm still thinking that something else is keeping motor from turning over, so I ask them to try and start it with t case in N. Get a call the following day saying they tried that and no dice, but that my truck has no compression... I'm starting to get confused as "seized" and "no compression" are two very different things... I send them the past two years of oil change records. My truck is a showcase vehicle for our business - meticulously maintained, vinyl wrap, etc, and honestly, I drive like a Grandpa... I wait another week with no news. Finally, after multiple messages to service manager, Chysler cust service, email, etc, I get call from service manager saying that warranty request was denied due to some part#s not being correct on their end, but that once approved it would only take 4 days until my truck was fixed. Fast forward another week. We're at 3.5 weeks at this point. Newest update is that warranty is requesting an engineer to inspect the motor to verify that there are no modifications. My truck is BONE stock except 35" tires as I purchased the 5/100 bumper to bumper warranty when buying my truck brand new and wouldn't consider doing anything to void it... Meanwhile, I'm in a rental Dodge Journey and had to cancel a cross country business trip as Chysler would not authorize a comparable tow vehicle... They told me to go ahead and rent a 2500 for $600/week and that they'd decide how much they would cover once we brought it back... really?
So, here I am at 4 weeks with no answers and crappy rental... I'm baffled that my truck needs a new motor with absolutely no warning signs - Truck has run like a top since new right up until it shut off the first time. No weird noises, no temp issues, no warning lights... Had to be a freak, mechanical failure of some sort. Wonder if they'll even tell me the cause?
Anyone have any corporate contacts that actually give a sh#t? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've been stonewalled at every point of contact... Even had cust service manager tell me to pound sand regarding comparable rental... Service manager is super short handed and actually told me that Chysler would pay to have it towed to another dealer in Denver... I'm at a loss and have been waiting patiently since they said an engineer needed to verify no mods (said it would take 3-5 days for that... 3-5 days ago... Smh
Thanks in advance,
Troy
