Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is recalling certain 2015 to 2018 Ram ProMaster vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter inline-four-cylinder diesel or 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engines and air conditioning (A/C). The engine cooling fan may seize which can cause the cooling fan motor to overheat.
According to the recall, some 2015 to 2018 model year Ram ProMaster vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter inline-four-cylinder diesel or 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engines equipped with A/C may have been built with a cooling fan which may be susceptible to seizure and a cooling fan circuit protection design that may not be sufficient to protect the fan from overheating during a cooling fan seize condition in high-speed mode, which could lead to electrical overloading of the fan motor potentially resulting in thermal degradation.
The suspect period began on April 30th, 2015, the manufacturing date related to the cooling fans for which warranty claims began to increase for seized or rattling fan motors, and concluded on November 1st, 2017 when Ram ProMaster cooling fan warranty claims sharply declined. Warranty claim records and cooling fan manufacturing records were used to identify the suspect population.
Similar Ram ProMaster vehicles not included in this recall were manufactured before or after the suspect period or were not equipped with the suspect cooling fan and circuit protection design.
FCA will conduct a Voluntary Safety Recall on affected vehicles. The remedy is currently under development.
FCA has a longstanding policy and practice of reimbursing owners who have incurred the cost of repairing a problem that subsequently becomes the subject of field action. To ensure consistency, FCA, as part of the owner letter will request that customers send the original receipt and/or other adequate proof of payment to the company for confirmation of the expense.
The recall indicates there are an estimated 99,128 vans in the United States, 8,025 in Canada, and 2,249 in Mexico that is affected. Affected customers will be notified when service becomes available. Should they observe warning lights, they are advised to turn off their vehicles’ engines and contact their dealers.
Those with questions or concerns may call 1-800-853-1403.
