I have 2014 Ram Outdoorsman hemi. When braking hard engine stalls. Starts right back up. Took to dealer under warranty, only 35k, he diagnosed it for 10 weeks. Said it happened several times for him. Computer does not trip code for problem. He said their is a problem but he does not know what it is and can not fix it, without an error code. Any ideas, I see a lot this problem on the Ram hemi, but not a cause and fix. Thanks.
Do they ever teach anyone about auto mechanics and diagnostics anymore except to look for a code? If no code then they are lost and don’t know what to do? Wow and for $100 an hour.
I’ve never taken any auto course and even I would be looking for a vacuum leak or a faulty brake booster. But I’ll defer to the experts here. Sheesh feel better now but how many times have we heard people say they brought it to the dealer and couldn’t find a code so didn’t know what to do?
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Agree with Bing on this.
I too agree with Bing.
What I’d recommend that you do is pursue the problem up the chain IAW the complaints protocol clarified in the paperwork that came with your owners’ manual. Keep everything fully documented, make sure your copies of the shop orders have complete information on them (and keep your copy), and keep going up the ladder until this is resolved.
Meanwhile, check your state’s 'lemon laws" with you state attorney general’s office. Stalling like this could easily be considered a safety issue. You may basis to force them to replace the truck or refund your money.
Is the truck still under warranty . . . ?
This shop is clearly incompetent . . . if they have experienced the problem several times already, it’s not an intermittent problem, which means they should have figured out the cause already.
mountainbike has the best advice so far, IMO
If your truck still has warranty, make sure EVERYTHING is documented, because the warranty will probably soon expire
The ultimate solution may be to get it to a different shop/and or dealer. Because the shop you have it at now can’t think for themselves.
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Some techs today make you feel like you are dealing with HP’s tech support in some third world country.
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HP tech support has been ok for me, though I hate outsourcing jobs to other countries.
Have you tried hard braking in neutral to rule out a transmission problem?
Have they tried cleaning the electronic throttle body?
The electronic throttle body is what controls the engine’s idle speed. And if it becomes dirty it can cause the engine to stall under certain conditions.
Tester
Could be the engine rocking on it’s supports under heavy braking, and causing a connection to open up.
Heavy braking in neutral would tell you if this is the problem.
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Failure of the torque converter to unlock is another possibility.
Another vote on checking the TB. It might need some cleaning. Torque converter could also be the problem.
You need to file a complaint. All owners should file to force a fix. Otherwise they will deny and deny until it’s out of warranty. Document and check your lemon law.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/
Common causes of stalling
- Not enough gas getting to engine
- Lack of spark
- Engine lugging due to some combo of low rpm and/or high load at idle
I think those are the places to focus for the cause. One idea, a lab volt meter could be positioned in the cabin so the driver could watch it to see if anything weird happens coincident w/this symptom. It could set up to monitor the battery voltage or the ignition system voltage for example. If the drive noticed the voltage tanked right when the car stalled, that’d be a big clue. An rpm gauge could be used also. And a gauge installed so the driver can monitor the fuel rail pressure.
I presume the shop has already checked the engine and transmission mounts, right? And you’ve already tested if this happens when stopping in neutral vs stopping in drive, right?
If a person has this problem, like they feel faint at times when standing up, a doctor will give them a monitor gadget they wear around all the time. It monitors stuff like heart rate, ecg signal, etc. I think they have one for blood pressure too. When the symptom occurs, the patient presses a button on the gadget and it remembers all the things it was monitoring at that time. Then the patient returns the next week and all those sets of button-press physiologic data are reviewed. Something like that maybe is available for cars too. Maybe ask the shop if there is such a thing. If not, a great business opportunity has just presented itself … lol .
Does the motor have an idle vibration as you jam the brakes and hold down while you are sitting still (in park)? Or, does it only occur when you have the motor under a load (in gear, driving)? I would suggest you have a smoke test done on your vehicle. Also, find out if you have an enertia switch on your vehicle. It could be the culprit.
Tommy , do you realize you are responding to old threads . The person who started this has not been here since Oct. 2016