[Cut Right Sharpening]

Ok,
Now had my 5th occurrence of a Check Engine light that included the very scary RED LIGHTNING BOLT with RED BRACKETS around it.

I st time I ended back at the dealer and they pulled the code (something about a manifold leak) and did a reset and it cleared.

The last 4 times I have pulled off the road, shut off the engine and the RED LIGHTNING BOLT has stayed off, but the orange engine light has stayed on but before I can get to a dealer to have to code checked, the light goes out.

WTF???

 

[proeddie]

CRS,

You might want to consider getting the Torque app for your iPhone or Android and a Bluetooth OBDII unit. Together they will cost about $12 and will allow you to read codes when they are happening.

ed

 

[Cut Right Sharpening]

CRS,

You might want to consider getting the Torque app for your iPhone or Android and a Bluetooth OBDII unit. Together they will cost about $12 and will allow you to read codes when they are happening.

ed

Humnnn. I never thought of anything like this, but it makes sense. But, since one of my complaints is a lack of full instrumentation, I think I may spend a bit more and get something that will let me do some real time monitoring or some things I would like to monitor.

Thanks

 

[proeddie]

Load the free version of the Torque app and try it. It has realtime monitoring and I can't think of much that it doesn't monitor. The pay version is about $5

Acceleration Sensors X Y and Z acceleration sensors Engine Load Percentage load of the engine Engine RPM RPM (Revs per minute) of the engine Fuel Level Percentage of fuel remaining Intake Manifold Pressure Air intake pressure at manifold Mass Air Flow Rate Air intake flow rate measured as mass Throttle Position ECU commanded throttle position (not user commanded) Timing Advance Degrees advance of engine timing Trip Distance Distance travelled since start of app/reset 0-100kph Time Performance counter 0-100 Kilometers per hour timer 0-60mph Time Performance counter 0-60 Miles per hour timer 1/4 Mile time Performance counter quarter mile timer 1/8 Mile Time Performance counter one eigth mile timer Altitude (GPS) Altitude as derived from GPS chipset Ambient Air Temp Ambient air temparature Barometric pressure Air pressure as measured by ECU Engine Coolant Temperature Engine coolant temperature Fuel Pressure Fuel rail pressure Fuel Trim bank X sensor X Individual fuel trims Horsepower Calculated Horsepower Intake Air Temperature Air temperature measured at air intake Speed (OBD) Speed as measured from ECU Speed (GPS) Speed as measured from GPS unit.

I don't make any money from this product... I just like it!

 

[Cut Right Sharpening]

The only one in that list I am interested in is the manifold pressure and manifold intake temp. I really want readings on the alternator.

 

[Cut Right Sharpening]

OK, Got a new one.

23. Generic Warning Light
The Generic Warning Light will illuminate if
any of the following conditions occur:
• Air Bag Warning Light Fault
• Engine Oil Pressure Sensor Failure
• Fuel Cut Off Intervention/Fail
• Parking Assistance Failure
• Engine Minimum Oil Level
• Engine Minimum Oil Pressure Fail
• Electronic Park Brake Fail Fixed — If Equipped
• Electronic Park Brake Inspection — If Equipped
• Electronic Park Brake Maintenance — If Equipped
• Electronic Park Brake Sensor Fail — If Equipped
• Swivel Seat Malfunction

Again, it went out before I could get to a dealer.

Will that Torque thing read these codes??

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

You haven’t said much about having the van in to the dealer except that first time with a code reset. If you haven’t done it, your van needs to be serviced and the latest flash update installed. There may be nothing wrong except that the software is not responding correctly. The diesel, after about March or April of 2015 has been nearly faultless IF the software is updated.
Best

 

[Cut Right Sharpening]

The Van only has 34000 miles on it. The software is up to date. It has been serviced as required by the manual.
The Only ONE time has the light stayed on long enough to get to a dealer to have the codes pulled.
Every other time the light has gone out in less than 10 miles or after two re-starts.The only service that has not yet been done is Recall
R64/NHTSA 15V-799
and
S29/NHTSA 16E-039

The dealer I am using for service (their sales guys would not even talk to me about selling me anything they didn't already have on the lot and they didn't have any 136 WB diesels with double sliding doors) seems to be dragging their feet. I am going to make one last attempt to get them to order the parts and schedule the repairs. The recall paperworks says one will take 1.5 hrs and the other will take 2 hrs but the dealer keeps claiming that I need to drop it off with them and that it may take a week before I would get the truck back. They give me that run around again and I am going to report them to NHTSA.
I think they simply don't want to do the recall as a scheduled service. They want the van sitting their for someone to work on in their spare time when there isn't any paying service scheduled.

But, neither recall lists any of the things the spurious lights would be associated with.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Thanks for the update and I agree with you that they need to get the parts and be ready for a service. What is it with some dealers? I’d probably call Ram customer assistance too at 866-726-4636 and let them know about both the service issue and the dash lights. Good luck. Let us know.

 

[keeponvaning]

Next move - go to a different dealer.

 

[bkhi]

Dealers get paid very well for recall service, sometimes software updates take a long time and just opening a door during the update can cause the update to fail. The light causes a draw on the battery which causes the issue.

My Sprinter had 2 updates 1 took an hour 1 took 6 hrs

 

[Mike P]

My dealer is telling me it's bad biodiesel causing it. Said they sampled the tank and it was really dark. This vehicle can run up to 20% biodiesel but I always fill up with #2 low sulfur but may have happened by accident when I wasn't paying attention. They want to flush the tank and lines and replace the fuel filter and the friggin fuel pump. Said nothing about flash updates, reset or replacing the ETC module. I'm not sure what to do but I'm not paying them almost $1000 for that crap when at 5 months and 11,000 miles there should be some warranty items checked out first.

 

[Mike P]

Ok,
Now had my 5th occurrence of a Check Engine light that included the very scary RED LIGHTNING BOLT with RED BRACKETS around it.

I st time I ended back at the dealer and they pulled the code (something about a manifold leak) and did a reset and it cleared.

The last 4 times I have pulled off the road, shut off the engine and the RED LIGHTNING BOLT has stayed off, but the orange engine light has stayed on but before I can get to a dealer to have to code checked, the light goes out.

WTF???

I've recently had the same problem. My dealer would not change the ETC module as their warranty rep said it was bad fuel based on putting a sample in a refrigerator and seeing it gel indicating some biodiesel. I live in Texas and haven't seen cold in the 5 months I've owned it but have travelled a lot in the south putting 11,000 miles on it. I agreed to pay for them to flush tank, lines and replace fuel filter. They were so confident at least they said if that didn't fix it they would refund the cost. I hope it works as it is a pain to drive with this occurring. Will pick it up in a day or two to see.

 

[Cut Right Sharpening]

Ok. An Update.
Since my last post I have gotten the recall stuff done without having to be without it for a week.
Also had a module failure that affected the radio controls on the steering wheel and sometimes caused the radio to think I was trying to talk to it.
On the 5th of June 2018 I had no choice but to put in 20.19 gal of 5% bio-diesel at 9:49 AM and about 2 PM I had the scary RED lightning blot in RED brackets and a check engine light come on.
Pulled off the road, shut it down, restarted it and got a SERVICE ENGINE message and the check engine light but the lightning bolt was gone. Did multiple shutdowns and start ups during the rest of the day but never got the SERVICE ENGINE message again, just the check engine light.
Got to an AutoZone about 10 AM the next morning (closest dealer was 40 miles away) and they checked for code and there weren't any. Got to a dealer about noon and they couldn't get a code or reset it.
Went to a Sams Club and put in about 12 gal of REAL #2 diesel. Did city driving for about 3 hours and noticed the check engine light had gone off.
Real puzzler.. I had been avoiding the bio-diesel and I think I will continue doing that.