Five problems related to gasoline engine have been reported for the 1997 Dodge RAM. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While driving engine caught on fire, totalling the vehicle.
10 amp fuse in panel marked"engine" blows at erratic intervals. When fuse blows, engine and all components shut down. Replacement of fuse, same size or larger, sometimes allows restart. At times as many as three or four fuses blow as soon as attempt to restart. Truck has shut down at crowded intersections and interstates. . . When traffic lane is blocked, driver must hold driver's door open while attempting to replace fuse, thus blocking two traffic lanes. Truck is used to tow a 32' travel trailer, which further adds to danger. Truck has been taken to Chrysler dealers eight times with no success at finding fault. Truck (and trailer) have been towed by wrecker to dealer three times. Owner has attempted to contact Chrysler rep several times but no return calls. Owner is afraid to drive vehicle any further, especially towing travel trailer. All recourse having failed, seeking legal advice from attorney.
While consumer is driving a couple of minutes with interior gadgets on, the vehicle just cuts off with no warning. Dealer and manufacturer were notified.
I'm not sure if I should be reporting this here but I've encountered the engine shutting down at 45mph and above speeds for less than a second. Invariably I'm at 55-60mph on cruise control when this occurs. It is unexpected. Normally only one incident between starting up and shutting down engine but have had two about several minutes apart a couple of times. I've told my dealer several times when they're fixing other things but they're unable to duplicate it and thus unable to fix the problemo. It is occurring more frequently now than during the first year of my truck purchase and my warranty expires 1/1/00 so I'm sortof concerned about what I should do. Because of your resources I figured I'd let you know and maybe get some help regarding the problem before the engine dies completely. Thank you.
The vehicle was in motion noticed smoke was coming from the engine compartment, and the vehicle caught on fire in the firewall area. Consumer has contacted the dealer, cause of the problem undetermined.