general problems of the 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 - part 1

The heat stopped working so I replaced the blower motor and blower relay the heater switch and still have no heat. The wire gets hot to the touch. The heater only use to work on high then all of a sudden it just stopped all the way around.

Tried to get the truck started and could not get it to work. Took the keys out and throw them up on the dash and the truck started and all electronical stuff in truck came on. Then when driving home it would rev up and down and would try to shut off when I had to stop.

Tl the contact owns a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. An independent towing company towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The contact took the vehicle back to the independent mechanic who informed the contact that the wire harness convertible box had a lot of corrosion around it and needed to be replaced. A collision shop was contacted. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 200,000.

Intermittent turn signal failure. Turn left signal on, and flash then right signal will occasionally flash. Sometimes left and right will alternate. This is not the same as emergency flashers where both lights are on at the same time. This is dangerous, I'm in a left turn lane with my left blinker on but my truck is telling other drivers that I want to turn right. The failure, erratic behavior is random and intermittent.

The fcm and pdc are extremely bad on the 2002 Dodge. They corrode causing your brake lights, blinkers, headlights and emergency flasher not to work. Dodge should have been mandated to recall and replace both parts on every truck. The corrosion is do to the poor design of the pdc "fuse box" with holes in the bottom allowing water and moisture to enter the pdc and start to corrode. This in turn causing the fcm " front control module" to short out. This is a severe danger to the truck owner as well as other motorists and pedestrians on the road. This is a very serious matter and needs to be looked in to and fixed. I have personally experience this and have almost been hit several times by motorists behind me do to the fact my taillights quit working and my blinkers did as well. I have replaced my fcm and pdc 4 times already and each one shorts out after a year. That's $600-$1200 each time. Dodge is responsible for this problem.

While driving over railroad tracks last week, the key slid out of the ignition. When I attempted to pull to the right shoulder, my steering colomn locked and the motor finally died and coasted to a stop.

When I turn on the heater the blend door and actuator make a popping sound when turned heat on , blend doors broken and actuator not working properly. It occurs while vehicle stationary and in motion when heat is turned on.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 75 mph, the hvac blower motor failed to operate without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 03v078000 (steering). The failure mileage was 190,000.

I was on my way home from picking up my paycheck driving on the highway in the fast lane doing around 70 mph when all of a sudden my truck shut down with no warning and then restarted. I immediately got off of the highway and took back roads. About 1. 5 miles from my home at a red light the truck once again shut down completely, no engine, no electric, nothing, it was completely dead on a fairly busy road. I had to have the truck towed home and have not been able to get it started at all. I went online to see what might be the cause and have found many related cases to what I am dealing with.

Dashboard cracked, lamp light is on and alarm keeps dinging. Checked all lights and they are all working.

Dash board has shattered and the air condition/heater does not blow.

Vehicle problem first started when turning steering wheel to the right entirely. Currently vehicle airbag light comes on and of through all ranges of steering.

The speedometer stopped working, abs light on, ebrake light on, airbag light on, no controls for defroster, found no power to fuses on 32-38 several people online in forums have the same problem.

Hello, I have just bought a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 truck from my father in-law. Before he sold it to me he mentioned that the air blower for the air conditioning and heater doesn't work. He said it was a recall that he never took in to get serviced. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The contact replaced the terminal battery, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 102,000.

Vehicle has severe dash cracking. Power windows are not working and lamp indicator will not shut off causing ongoing beeping. Concerned that dash parts are stuck inside causing driving conditions to be unsafe. Would like to be notified if an investigation has been done to remedy the problems at dealer cost.

Dashboard on my 2002 Dodge ram is completely cracked and is falling apart. Many spots on the dash that could severely injure an individual in the event of an accident because of these cracks when defrost is turned on pieces of foam and plastic shoot out. Dodge will not replace or fix the problem. Something needs to be done about this issue as it is a defect with their material within their vehicles.

Air conditioning works fine, as long as the vehicle is moving. When stopped at traffic lights or intersections, the a/c gets warm, as if the condenser is not working. When starting up again, it gets cold after a bit of time. Searched the internet, and found this is a problem that occurs often, and many said check the fuse #39. On Aug. 1, I checked the fuse, and found that the plastic and metal parts of the fuse had melted onto the spot it was plugged into. All of the other fuses seem to be fine, but there is a tiny chunk of metal I cannot remove from the fusebox to plug in another fuse, nor do I want to plug in another fuse, as I don't know why the previous one melted. I am not sure if this is covered in any recalls. Also, when I tried to have the truck inspected, it failed for the check engine light, and there are several recalls listed in the possible cause list for the code that registered in the inspection machine.

2002 Dodge Ram 1500 slt 2wd 5. 9 v8 (gas) with 86,000 miles. Turn signals have suddenly become dangerously intermittent. Also, occasionally when signaling 'left' the right dash indicator for the turn signals will flash instead. It happened twice today, we turned the signal off then back 'on' and it worked properly. Because this is intermittent we cannot duplicate the problem to determine if the outside bulbs are flashing left or right, therefore we worry they might be incorrectly signaling our intentions to other drivers. While searching on-line for a solution before we determine a repair course of action, we discovered this is common to the Dodge ram trucks from 2002 through at least 2008 model year trucks, but the dealer did not mention or address it in advance of failure. We paid in advance for a seven year 100% warranty with no deductible, which has not expired. We believe Dodge had prior knowledge of the weakness and could have repaired it during the no-deductible warranty period. The passenger door window switch continues to fail. Its a simple plug-in module and I have replaced it twice with the factory part, and now its intermittent again after less than one year. From the mileage its clear we are not wearing out switches.

When turning left and signal is applied, the right blinker comes on inside & outside and when right signal is applied nothing happens inside or outside.

Dash board has cracked and pieces are falling into the electrical unit and ac units underneath the dash area. Afraid airbag will be damaged as they are not protected with the dash missing. Ac unit on passanger side is damaged and not working due to the condenser housing unit being exposed. Other electrical issues have occured like loss of function of the speedometer and all gages. Called the ram specialist at 866. 726. 4636 was instructed not under warrenty and nothing they could do to help. It would be our responsibility to cover the cost of 926. 00 plus tax at our Dodge dealership. This is a manifactor defect that should be covered by Dodge.

Have had a cracked dashboard for quite some time now, I have filed a complaint before and could not get a resolution from Chrysler/Dodge. My dashboard has cracked to pieces causing a safety hazard. Finally my electrical systems have started to malfunction due to the pieces of my fallen dashboard falling on electrical components, there was a small short/fire that caused my cruise control to stop working and my dash lights also. I feel it has been long enough and something needs to be done before, someone not as lucky as me, gets really hurt from this safety hazard issue that has haunted us Dodge ram owners for a long time. We need to get our dashboard replaced ASAP.

I own a 2202 Dodge Ram 1500 and my taillights/running lights suddenly stopped working. I was nearly rear ended by another vehicle. I checked with a technician and he stated this was a common problem due to moisture in the fuse box. It was going to cost me close to 1000. 00 dollars to be repaired. The tech stated this should not happen and it is a manufacturing defect. He stated a replacement comes with a shield to protect it from shorting out. It sounds to me like this is a problem that Dodge should be liable for since it is a "manufacturing defect".

I was driving home one night from shopping at walmart and was pulled over by the local law enforcement for not having any tail-lights on my 2002 Dodge ram. Come to find out , none of my parking lights worked, but the signal and brake lights did work. Upon further investigation and a visit to the local Dodge dealer to find out that the parking light circut had blown and I woulg need a new fuse box ($550. 00) and a front control module ($250. 00) and an hour and a half of labor ($133. 50) + tax, totals close to $1000. 00 to repair a defect that Chrysler/Dodge kwows about and has the diagnostic equipment to search for such a problem. According to the parts person at that same Dodge dealer I went to, this a common problem with Dodge trucks. From my investigation on the internet, I found I am not the only person with this problem and that this is not the only model year that has this problem. There should be a recall on Chrysler/Dodge's part before this result in an accident and/or loss of life on the road due to a faulty circut on a circut board. They are making money on an item that involves public safety.

Stopped several times for no taillights. Was advised that I could be ran over for not having tail lights. Lamp out indicator was not lit. Mechanic traced problem down to fcm (front control module).

No parking lights. The fuse box is needed to be replaced.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that the exterior lights (parking lights) failed and they would not illuminate when needed. The cruise control light on the steering wheel also failed. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the fuse box needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired but the parts were ordered. The manufacturer was not notified. The current mileage was approximately 101,000. The failure mileage was approximately 100,980.

Recently I had to replace the major fuse box in my 2002 Dodge ram1500. The old box shorted out and as a result I lost my park lights, driving lights, as well as my license plate lights. I was first made aware of it by the police when I was out driving with no tail lights. It was a good thing I was stopped or I could have been rearended or in a major accident before I noticed they were not working. I ended up replacing the fuse box at a cost of 600. 00. I guess this was a concern of Dodge because they had fuse boxes onhand and available.

Dashboard started cracking in 2010 and has progressively gotten worse. It now has open holes and completely cracked. And since the last few months it is causing electrical failure and dangerous to drive. This situation I have now found out to be very common for my truck and now realize that this is not common wear for this or any other vehicle. Chrysler has told me they are not excepting any responsibility for the product failure and that it's up to me to pay for the costly repairs. This is unacceptable as this problem is clearly a product defect that they are aware of and should at no cost to the consumer be fixed.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge ram. While driving at night the headlights failed. He stated that water entered the power distribution center box and caused it to short circuit. No repairs were made. The failure and current mileages were 95,000.

Significant cracks in both primary dash and auxiliary dash section between dash and windshield. Existing cracks growing/opening and new ones developing. Starting to experience unexplainable electrical issues, like power windows, and door locks not working on occassion. Dealer quoted replacement cost is outrageous.

Dashboard cracking and holes in it. Engine won't shift gears now and dashboard lights go completely out at times.

The heater / ac fan became inoperative at anything other than the high speed setting. When I removed the fan speed resistor block I found the area to be packed with dry and burnt leaves and acorn caps, consistent with those from the coast live oak trees on my property and in my community. The resistor block power supply is equipped with a spring-loaded solder connection apparently designed to interrupt power if the circuit becomes hot enough to approach the melting point of the solder. The system partially worked by cutting power under extreme heat conditions. I feel though, that allowing a large quantity of combustible materials to enter and collect in an area where heat approaching the melting point of solder is present is unacceptable. I photographed and retained all of the dry tree material possible that was removed from the resistor / fan area. Much of it was reduced to a black carbon powder. The volume would be approximately 50 cubic inches of loose material. I resoldered the spring-loaded connection and re-installed the resistor block. Initial tests showed that it was operating correctly and cool to the touch. Several hours of driving this past weekend produced the same results but I would like to replace the resistor.

I was just driving along, crack my dash cracked from front end to almost the back. The crack caused me to jump swerve my truck almost causing an accident. Dodge has been no help and my dash has deteriorated even more ever since, I'm getting very worried it might affect the air bags as all the dash peices fall into the recess where the air bags are which would be a bad thing should there be an accident.

Hi, I read an article by channel 6 news problem solvers in orlando, florida. That did a report on dashboards collapsing in 2002 Dodge ram and other models. In the article, it showed that Dodge was replacing the dashboards at a cost of $100 to the customer. 2 years after I bought my truck, my dash started cracking. A friend of mine had a 2003 quad cab and he was experiencing cracks in his dash in the exact same spots. A year later he traded his truck in and I still have mine. My dash is still continuing to crack to this day. Since my dash started cracking, I have had other problems with my truck. My stereo is messing up. My a/c and blower motor don't work right. My heater core leaks. In summer time I have no a/c. In winter I have no heat and no window defroster. When it rains, I have no defroster. These are a safety issue if I cant see where im driving. For the past 2 years, I've been trying to get Dodge to replace my dash. They will replace it only at full cost to me! will you finally force Dodge into recalling these 01-04 Dodge ram, dakota and durango dashboards???????????????????????.