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2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 422 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Dodge Ram 2500, most often about the steering (36% of complaints, typically around 96,000 miles). It is 5th of 13 Ram 2500 model years by number of complaints and has 6 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory2 recalls for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 problems
Steering
153 complaints · 36%Half of these problems showed up before 96,000 miles. Parts named most often: linkages.
I was driving on a 2 lane asphalt road at approximately 55mph. I was crossing a bridge and when I got to the end, there was a low spot in the roadway. When the truck hit the bump, the front end started shaking violently and uncontrollably and I had to hit the brakes and slow to 25 MPH before it quit. On 12/17/2010 my…
Massive uncontrollable shaking in the front end of my truck. I can not drive my truck over 50 miles per hour without fear that I will loose control if it starts to shake and not be able to get it off of the road without rolling it or hitting another vehicle. It does this any time you hit a bump or go over an extension…
Suspension
77 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 89,500 miles. Parts named most often: front.
Traveling on us93 out of kingman, az. Hit a patch of rough freeway and truck went into an uncontrollably death wobble. I was pulling a 12 foot haulmark motorcycle trailer when this occurred. It was a miracle we didn't crash. Got it slowed down and off the road everything appeared o.k. Proceeded cautiously and now it…
'death wobble': severe shaking of the front suspension. Happened at speeds over 45 MPH, usually after hitting small bumps or irregular road surfaces. Several (6-8) episodes over 1 month period. Required decrease of speed from highway speeds to less than 30 MPH or even full stop to end episode. In one particular…
Air bags
76 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 137,000 miles. Parts named most often: frontal.
I have had continuous issues with my 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 I have stated to Dodge that I have stalling issues constantly they say their is nothing wrong and the steering issues are life threatening I have spent at least 4 or 5 grand on this truck trying to fix it make it safe to drive being Dodge can't and now there is…
Involved in a head on collision, air bags did not deploy. This vehicle had been taken into the dealer upon notice of the recall for tekata tk holdings air bags. The repairs were made. Injuries were sustained in this accident,but could have been minimized if our airbags would have deployed. The other driver ran a red…
Transmission
63 complaints · 15%Half of these problems showed up before 25,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline, transfer case (4-wheel drive), axle assembly.
Tl *- the contact called regarding the 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that he left the vehicle running and exited the vehicle. He walked approximately 20 ft when the vehicle accelerated in reverse and struck a light pole. There was damage to the driver's door and the front and rear bumper. There were no…
Vehicle was recalled to remedy failure to go into park. Mfr's. Solution was to make the horn blow if the truck wasn't firmly in park. This was never explained to me, and I thought the horn blowing was an electrical problem in the steering column. If the dealer doesn't take the time to explain the so-called fix to the…
Electrical
34 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 73,000 miles. Parts named most often: horn, ignition, wiring.
The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. While driving approximately 45 MPH and signaling a right turn, the turn signal failed to engage without warning. The contact also stated that while signaling to make a right turn, the left turn signal activated without warning. The contact pulled the vehicle over and also…
Uncontrolled throttle (unintended increase in engine speed). While driving in cruise control, the truck stated going faster. Hitting the brake did not disengage but turning the cruise off did. A day letter, while driving in first gear, the engine went to 3500 RPM and would not return to idle. This happened twice and…
Fuel system
20 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 88,500 miles. Parts named most often: fuel injection system.
The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. While driving approximately 45 MPH, smoke appeared from the hood of the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the engine was covered with fuel. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel…
While driving on my way home from the grocery store I got a real strong diesel smell coming into the cabin, I was half a block away so I kept driving got into my driveway and popped the hood to find injector line #4 leaking like crazy turned the truck off and the next day I went to the dealer and bought two new…
Engine
19 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 32,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine.
Tl contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. While driving at an unknown speed, the transmission warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, smoke and vapors appeared from the engine compartment. The contact used a 10-pound fire extinguisher, but was not successful in extinguishing the flames. The fire…
The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the headlights, windshield wipers, instrument panel lights, and gauges failed to operate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis testing. The mechanic stated that the engine…
Lights
17 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 73,000 miles. Parts named most often: turn signal.
The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. While driving approximately 45 MPH and signaling a right turn, the turn signal failed to engage without warning. The contact also stated that while signaling to make a right turn, the left turn signal activated without warning. The contact pulled the vehicle over and also…
Recently in my 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 when I turn my right blinker on my left one goes on instead or vice versa. Sometimes they both go on like flashers. I was almost involved in serious accident do to this failure. My vehicle only has 70,000 miles on it.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2005 Dodge Ram 2500 recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. These inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling. An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the chrysler, dodge, jeep and ram owners. Mitsubishi owners will be notified by their company. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on march 27, 2017. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is s43. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v-7700.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) expanded the affected population to include 73,712 2005-2009 ram 2500 trucks produced at the st. Louis north assembly plant. With this change, chrysler is recalling certain model year 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 ram 3500, 2007-2010 ram 3500 cab chassis, 2008-2010 ram 4500 and 5500 cab chassis, 2004-2009 dodge durango, 2007-2009 chrysler aspen, 2007-2012 jeep wrangler, 2008-2012 dodge challenger, 2005-2008 dodge magnum, 2005-2012 chrysler 300, 2006-2012 dodge charger, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in al, ca, fl, ga, hi, la, ms, sc, tx, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, chrysler is also recalling 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 r
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the affected chrysler and dodge owners and mitsubishi will notify the affected raider owners. Dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began for chrylser on june 8, 2015. The recall for mitsubishi started on june 24, 2015. Chrysler and dodge owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Mitsubishi owners may call 1-888-648-7820. Chrysler's number for this recall is r25. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v817 in its entirety.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 dodge ram 2500, 2004-2008 dodge ram 1500 and durango, 2006-2009 dodge ram 3500, 2008-2010 dodge ram 4500 and 5500, 2007-2008 chrysler aspen, 2005-2010 chrysler 300, 300c, 300s, and srt8, 2006-2010 dodge charger, 2005-2008 magnum, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passengerâs frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. For vehicles that were sold, or are currently registered, in florida, puerto rico, hawaii, and the u.s. Virgin islands, owners were notified and the recall began on december 5, 2014. For all other vehicles, chrysler notified owners and the recall began on february 3, 2015. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is p40 expanded. Note: this recall has been superseded by recall 16v-352. This recall superseded the passenger air bag p
Full defect summary
Chrysler group llc (chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2004-2005 dodge ram 1500, 2500, and 3500, 2004-2005 dodge durango, 2005 dodge dakota, 2005 dodge magnum and 2005 chrysler 300, 300c and 300 srt8 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in alabama, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, texas, puerto rico, u.s. Virgin islands, saipan, guam, and american samoa are addressed by this recall. Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
Steering: tie rod assembly
Risk: A failure of the tie rod assembly may result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Chrysler notified owners and launched its recall campaign in january 2014. Owners may contact chrysler at 1-800-247-9753. Chrysler's recall campaign number is n62.
Full defect summary
Chrysler group llc (chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2003-2008 dodge ram 2500 4x4 and 3500 4x4, model year 2007-2008 dodge ram 3500 4x2 cab chassis and model year 2006-2008 dodge ram 1500 mega cab 4x4 trucks manufactured february 12, 2002, through february 13, 2008. The left tie rod assembly may break.
Steering: tie rod assembly
Risk: This condition could result in the potential loss of directional stability in the left hand front wheel, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the tie rod ends for relative orientation and replace the left outer tie rod as required and perform a front end toe alignment as needed. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 3, 2011. Owners may contact chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Full defect summary
Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 dodge ram 2500/3500 4x4, manufactured from february 14, 2008, through march 28, 2011; model year 2008-2011 dodge ram 3500 cab chassis 4x2, manufactured from february 14, 2008, through march 28, 2011; and model year 2008 dodge ram 1500 mega cab 4x4, manufactured from february 14, 2008, through august 15, 2008, because the left tie rod ball stud may fracture. This condition tends to occur during low speed parking lot type maneuvers when the customer is making a tight turn. Additionally, model year 2003-2008 dodge ram 2500/3500 vehicles may have received the affected tie rod assembly as a replacement part during normal service.
Transmission: column shift
Risk: This error is an unintended action that may result in a lack of transmission park pawl engagement and possibly delayed rearward movement of the vehicle.
Fix: Dealers will perform a software modification to equip these vehicles with an out-of-park alarm. Owners may contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Full defect summary
On certain pickup trucks equipped with diesel engines and automatic transmissions, in an attempt to exit the vehicle quickly without shutting off the engine and removing the key, the driver may inadvertently leave the automatic transmission shift control in indicated reverse.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Chrysler's execution of 13v-528 & 529
Summary
Rmd opened this audit query (aq) investigation in order to better understand and evaluate chrysler's process(es) for timely and efficient execution of its safety recall campaigns, including its oversight and management of its parts division mopar.prior to opening this investigation, rmd had raised concerns with the company related to its execution of two safety recalls, 13v-528 and 13v-529, both of which involved safety defects that could cause the involved vehicles, fca?s heavier dodge ram trucks, to lose steering control suddenly and without warning.specifically, rmd inquired about the availability of parts for recall repairs, by email and phone on january 15, 2014 and february 19, 2014, d
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Clutch interlock switch malfunction
Summary
On december 16, 2104, chrysler group llc submitted a safety recall report to NHTSA describing a defect in the clutch ignition interlock switches in approximately 66,819 model year (my) 2006 through early-2007 dodge ram trucks, dodge dakota, and mitsubishi raider vehicles equipped with manual transmissions and built between july 1, 2005 and july 31, 2006 (NHTSA recall no. 14v-795, chrysler recall no. P80), including 38,969 my 2006 dodge ram 2500 and 3500 vehicles that are part of the subject vehicle population for pe14-013.chrysler's safety report states that:1) the clutch ignition interlock switch return springs may experience fatigue failure due to material issues; 2) if the return springs
Engine stall
Summary
Analysis of the complaint, field report and warranty data shows that the majority of stalling incidents in the subject vehicles appear to be related to the engine calibration concerns that daimlerchrysler addressed with service bulletins releasing revised PCM software.analysis of the complaints and odi's survey of owners of vehicles that received engine management software updates under tsb #18-013-05 show that these stalling incidents have the following characteristics: - they occur at low speeds, often during parking lot ordriveway maneuvers; - they occur during decelerations, such as braking for a stop sign or traffic signal; and - the operator is almost always able to immediately restart
Engine stall
Summary
On may 16, 2005,odi opened preliminary evaluation pe05-027 to investigate complaints of engine stalling in model year 2004-05 dodge durango suvs and ram 1500 series pickups equipped with the 5.7l v8 engine.information provided by daimlerchrysler during pe05-027 indicated that a large percentage of the complaints are related to an idle undershoot condition that may cause the engine to stall during turning maneuvers.in february 2005, daimlerchrysler revised the powertrain control module software in production vehicles and issued a technical service bulletin (tsb 18-013-05) releasing the new software as a service remedy for the idle undershoot condition.the bulletin was superceded by tsb 18-013
False park
Summary
The subject vehicles are heavy duty pickup trucks with diesel engines and automatic transmissions commonly used for commercial and work purposes.a column mounted shift lever is used for gear selection and an electronic prndl on the instrument panel provides gear position information to the driver.the subject vehicles are also equipped with a brake-transmission shift interlock that prevents the shift lever from being moved from the park position (when the engine is on) unless the brake pedal is depressed and an ignition-shift interlock that prevents key removal unless the transmission is in the park position.complainants generally report that the vehicle was being operated in a forward gear a
Questions about the 2005 Dodge Ram 2500
- What are the most common problems with the 2005 Dodge Ram 2500?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: steering (153 complaints, typically around 96,000 miles); suspension (77 complaints, typically around 89,500 miles); air bags (76 complaints, typically around 137,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 have?
- 6 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from May 24, 2016 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2005 a bad year for the Dodge Ram 2500?
- It is 5th of 13 Ram 2500 model years by number of complaints, with 422 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.