Just purchased a 2011 5.7L Ram truck, at 110,000 miles so called internet special, sat on the lot for 82 days and is an Extremely clean vehicle. The dealer spent a lot of time at closing on this vehicle pushing a 4000 dollar warranty and since I have been a Mack tractor mechanic for a couple of decades I have always turned down such marketing schemes. Now feeling a bit sheepish. Dealer went as far as to have the circuit board laying on his desk pointing out how complicated a modern day vehicle is. I could not help but chuckle to myself as he had no idea how much technical background I have even though it is in Mack tractors power trains etc....however now ,, well I have always reserved the right to be wrong. Still 4K for a gamble is a lot of money to me.

Problem: After a 1.5 hour journey home got out of the vehicle and as I was walking to the house vehicle started itself, fobs were in my hand and I did not activate any buttons. Got back in the vehicle inserted the key turned it on then off, and it would not shut off engine, stayed running, Stepped on the brake put it in gear then back in park and it shut off with the key.
I have a feeling that I will get the runaround with the dealer, do any of my newfound Dodge Forum comrades have any ideas or experiences with this and what were the other symptoms that went along with this. Can I simply disable the remote start and be done with it? If so is there a fuse for this.

 

Do you only have one remote, or two? If two, does one show more wear than the other? Since you ask about disabling the remote start, I'm going to assume your truck does have a factory installed remote start system. I wonder if maybe the remote start button is bad in one of the fobs. If it were me, I'd see if this was a one time ordeal, making very certain that nothing could be inadvertently pressing the remote start button twice quick succession. If it happens again, then I'd remove the battery from one of the fobs (or disassemble the fob and desolder the switch), then see if it happens again. If so, I'd repeat with the second fob. If it still happens, then I'd start looking at the remote start system on the truck.

If you are not yet attached to the truck you can also explore what your dealership or state's return policy is for used vehicles. Sometimes you have some number of days to return a used vehicle, even if it was sold "as-is." I've never heard details from someone who's exercised such a policy though to know how difficult it is to actually use.

-Rod

 

There is a sensor under the hood that when it get moisture in it can cause this. It can also cause it not to start. I had to have mine replaced twice because I pressure washed the engine bay. The dealership didn't know I washed the engine bay, but they replaced it because it was under warranty.