Dodge Power Train: Cooling Unit and Lines

Dodge is recalling about 960,000 vehicles over a problem with the power train. When these temperatures occur, the fluid line will not stay connected with the transmission and fluid can spray onto the exhaust manifold, resulting in smoke or fire.

Campaign
97V084000
Manufacturer
CHRYSLER CORPORATION
Reported
5 May 1997
Vehicles
960,000
Built between
Jan 1994 – Feb 1997
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
19 May 1997
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between January 1994 and February 1997. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1994-1997 Dodge RAMBuilt January 1994 to February 1997

What the defect is

Under certain high load operating conditions, the transmission fluid temperature can exceed the melting point of the material used in the connector to retain the fluid line to the transmission.

What could happen

When these temperatures occur, the fluid line will not stay connected with the transmission and fluid can spray onto the exhaust manifold, resulting in smoke or fire.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE HIGH TEMPERATURE SIDE OF THE TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLER LINE CONNECTOR FITTINGS WITH CONNECTORS THAT INCORPORATE A STAINLESS STEEL RETAINER.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtJanuary 1994 to February 1997
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA5 May 1997
  3. Owners notified19 May 1997

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 5 May 1997.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
CHRYSLER CORPORATION
Recall initiated by
ODI

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owner notification began may 19, 1997. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.ALSO contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-800-424-9393.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand