CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002 has the well-known and documented problem with their dashboards falling to pieces, but it also has engine failure from oil sludge. That's a doube shot of awful in your morning coffee.

9.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
190,000 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (2 reports)
2002 Dodge Ram 1500 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Owner Comments

problem #2

May 152017

Ram 1500 26G 4.7L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 260,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I am driving along, after midnight going home from work and all of a sudden my headlights start flashing on and off as if they were emergency flashers and at the same time the horn starts to blare !

I do a panic pull over into a driveway (I am sure the homeowners appreciate the noise) and kill the engine, nothing, I pull the keys and use the key fob to stop the noise, nothing, start the motor and shut down again. I popped the hood, pulled the fuse box cover, looked up the horn fuse and pulled it out. The crisis suddenly stopped. My drive home is 4 hours, so I turned around and ran back to my starting point and put the fuse in, messed around a bit and nothing happened so started out again, it happened again, 90 miles down the road, Pulled the fuse and put it in my pocket and drove home.

Same thing happened some months later. Now I drive with no fuse in the horn circuit.

I found a Dodge Tech report that explains the problem was with the alarm system and to update the software in the front module to the latest version. so I took it to a couple dodge dealers and asked them to flash the front module.

Either they insist on charging me an extra $75 to first run their computer diagnostics, which I do not wish to pay for, then they say they no longer have '02 software.

So, I do not want to pay for the diagnostics, am I wrong?

- Bill H., Fairfax, US

problem #1

Jan 232011

Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4.6L V8

  • Automatic transmission
  • 120,000 miles

I had an after market stereo on the truck, the unit plays DVDs and I was going on a long trip with the baby on my other car so I pulled the stereo out. I ran the truck with no stereo on it and now the anti theft system went crazy. The keyless entry system doesn't work, if the switch is not turned either to acc or on, the entire electrical system is dead, this includes dome lights, hazard lights, door locks not even the horn.

Once the engine is running, everything works fine except the stereo, it wont work at all.

- marcodurazo, Douglas, AZ, US

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