Question about procedure

I have a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, 4.7 V8. A couple weeks ago, I was coming
home from my sister's, with my daughter in the truck, and the oil
pressure guage bottomed out. The engine had plenty of oil. Not being
a mechanic, I figured if the engine wasn't getting any oil, it would
overheat, and since the temp guage was fine, I assumed the problem was
in the sensor or something. So I tried to make it the rest of the way
home. The engine started knocking, and as soon as I could find a wide
enough shoulder to safely pull over, I did. We had the truck towed to
a mechanic, who said the engine needed to be re-manufactured. Since
it's only 3 years old, I figured it should be covered under warranty.
It has a 7 year - 70,000 mile warranty on the drive train, or power
train, or whatever. So, I had it towed to the local dealer, who said
the problems were due to improper maintenance, and they wouldn't be
covered under warranty.
In 29 years of driving, I've had approx 19 vehicles, and I've never had
one blow an engine after 3 years, regardless of how well or poorly they
were maintained.

I can't get a phone number for the local warranty rep from the dealer,
or from Chrysler.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to pursue this further? It seems to
me that Dodge should honor their warranty. It's not like I'm 3 miles
or 3 days past the warranty, I'm well within the coverage period
whether by miles or years.

Thanks

 

You should re-post this to alt.autos.dodge.truck/trucks.

Where did you have your regular servicing done? If at the dealer,
then they can't claim improper maintainence. If somewhere else, then
be prepared to produce the records (invoices, etc) for the third-party
work.

These days, it really doesn't pay to have normal oil changes for a new
vehicle done anywhere other than the dealer.

 

Dodge Customer Service
(800) 992-1997
8am - 5pm in all timezones

Dodge Customer Service Center
PO Box 21-8004
Auburn Hills, MI 48321-8004

Thats gonna be an expensive repair. If it had oil, why did it seize
(bad pump?). Tell the dealer you need to see the zone representative.
If he balks, contact another dealer. Also, you might want to get a
lawyer (unfortunately) or at least let the dealer know that you are
considering such action if the situation is not resolved to your
satisfaction

 

If the valve covers or intake manifold was removed and there is excessive
buildup of varnish from lack of maintenance Chrysler will not honor the
repair. Assuming you have oil receipts to back up the maintenance.... why
worry? Look in the back of your owners manual and call the 800 number to get
things rolling.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

yea like on the 2.7 engines that sludged up and were well maintained and still
blew up and did get fixed
dealer's are slow in my area anyhow find one that wants the work they will get
it covered
but go in asking for help don't demand it

 

No, it's self-destruct. That's the word you're looking for. They don't get
hot during the blowing-up process.

It's possible the engine was killed by your lack of maintenance. You didn't
really give enough information for us to judge. However, since the dealer
will want to tear the engine down, they'll make that determination based on
the actual evidence.

If it was maintained properly, then they might fix it. On the other hand,
if you'd just stopped, none of this would have happened. You probably
shouldn't admit that to them if you want to take their money.

 

It's not their money. The dealer gets paid by Chrysler corp. for warranty
work, didn't you know that? The dealer will pull the manifold only to look
and see if there's not obvious neglect, like a lot of sludge. If there is
then the dealer knows that Chrysler corp will deny warranty coverage.
Otherwise they will just put it in as a warranty claim and Chrysler corp
will probably want the engine back intact to study it anyway.

Ted