Ram recall: defective cruise control may cause vehicle acceleration

Updated Jun 2, 2018
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Ram pickups and chassis cabs are part of a large FCA recall targeting defective cruise controls that may not turn off and instead may cause vehicle acceleration.

Nearly 5 million vehicles, including 2014-2019 Ram 1500, 2014-2018 Ram 2500, 3500 pickups and 2014-2018 Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs, may have a defect that could prevent cruise control from disengaging.

“If, when using cruise control, there is a short circuit within the vehicle’s wiring, the driver may not be able to shut off the cruise control either by depressing the brake pedal or manually turning the system off once it has been engaged, resulting in either the vehicle maintaining its current speed or possibly accelerating,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.

FCA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the software, and perform a software flash on the engine or powertrain control module free of charge. The recall is expected to begin July 6, 2018.

Other affected vehicles include the 2014-2018 Dodge Journey, Charger and Durango, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300; 2015-2018 Dodge Challenger; 2015-2017 Chrysler 200; 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica; and 2018 Jeep Wrangler vehicles.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Note: Owners are advised to stop using cruise control until the software update has been performed.

In the event that cruise control cannot be disengaged while driving, owners should firmly and steadily apply the brakes and shift the transmission to neutral, placing the vehicle in park once it has stopped.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

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