Maybe I should start my own thread............


After 160 kms........the rear diff whine is BACK!

And worse than before.

I have yet another maintenance visit planned for this upcoming Thursday.

I'm going to push hard for a completely new diff assembly.

Those monkeys don't seem able to fix it right....maybe they are capable of a Re & Re.

 

So the truck went in yesterday morning.

They determined all the guts needed to be replaced and ordered them. Parts showed up today but they then determined they would replace the whole diff assembly.

Should get the truck back tomorrow (Saturday).


Problem child.

 

Could be worse. My dealer said it hadn't been done because they didn't have the part then finally did it after a year. I took it back to them 8 months later because the rear end sounded like both wheel bearings were bad and they wanted $1500 to replace the rear end. Took it to a friend who does a lot of Dodge transmission and rear-end work and he had to replace seals and pinion gears. Said the dealer didn't install the part correctly but no way to prove that. <$800 to fix it but it should never have costed me one thin dime.

We won't even mention the HVAC recall and what they tried there.

 

Got it back as promised. Almost a completely new diff including the carrier.

A $2700.00 repair bill done under warranty. So far....so good.

 

..........and it started to whine at speed again.

Wow.

 

I think I would take it to a different dealer! Rear end setup can be tricky and it sounds like your dealer does not have a mechanic "qualified" enough to do the work. My whole diff was replaced under the recall as it had more play in it than the specs allowed. That was 20K miles ago and it is still as quite as the day I bought the truck new.

 

The thought had crossed my mind. But I've had 3 different techs have a crack at it. Apparently they are ALL qualified.

So far the dealer has been very good in dealing with this. Apart from not having the truck for a total of 5 days, I did some strategic planning so I wouldn't actually need the truck those days.

We'll see. I've got some heavy mileage coming up.....either it will get worse or not.

Other than that....I love this truck!

 

I had the N08 recall done--dealer installed the new retainer and said everything was fine. I drove out of town for 3 hours and the rear end started to sound like it was going to drop out. It was fine prior to the retainer being added. Got it back to the dealer, and they now said it needed an overhaul...pinion bearings, etc. So they overhauled it. Now, 50,000 km later (30,000 miles) there is a loud whine from the differential. I had a bit of an issue with my transmission and had a very good local transmission shop test drive the truck. Transmission issue was minor, but the owner of the shop said "the pinion bearings are gone in your differential." Coincidentally, the owner of the shop has a 2010 Ram and the same thing happened to him at the same dealer. Took his truck in for the recall (installed retainer) and now the rear end is whining. He's taking it back, and I guess I'll be battling with the dealer myself next week. In almost 40 years of driving this is the first vehicle I've ever had differential problems with...never mind repeated issues.

 

So....diff number 3 has gone to schitt. Didn't last that long, either.

I had a sit down with the Chrysler service manager and a test drive.

He has given me assurances that I will be covered after my 5 year warranty is up due to the long and documented history.

Warranty runs out Feb 28 and I have the trucked scheduled for diff number 4 Feb. 17. I figured I'd get the trani and transfer case fluid changed at the same time.....give them a chance to have a look before the warranty was up.

I'm having minor surgery and will be out of commission for 2 weeks so they will keep the truck for at least a week to fix and test.

Hopefully this will be the LAST time for this problem.


This will be 6 diffs on 2 trucks over the last 3 years!

 

Hi, the driveshaft in my 2003 1500 separated from the rear this past weekend at 128K miles because the pinion nut worked itself loose. Question, can I take advantage of the recall even though my truck is an '03? Reason I ask is because the original rear failed at 59k miles and was replaced under warranty by Dodge in 2009 so technically I have a 2009 rear end which would fall within the 2009-12 date range. Dodge told me to pound sand so I asked for a supervisor, they finally gave me a case #. What are my chances of being reimbursed?