10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
104,627 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Dodge Ram 1500 engine problems

engine problem

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2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Owner Comments (Page 2 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #53

Jan 072016

Ram 1500

  • 127,000 miles

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

Vehicle stalls within 2-4 seconds after coming to a complete stop. This problem first manifested itself in 2010, it occurred once and did not happen again until six months ago, occurring once a month or so. It has now become nearly a daily occurrence this month. There are no other indications such as warning lights, check engine light or trouble codes. The vehicle will usually start right back up but on 01-07-2016 it took almost an hour before it would restart, that was after blocking traffic at a busy intersection for 40 minutes and a 20 minute tow.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #52

Sep 142015

Ram 1500

  • 131,500 miles
When driving on the highway at 60 to 65 mph the red lightning bolt light on the dash begins to flash, the vehicles engine becomes eradic, sometimes it dies, other times it revs hard and won't change into another gear, all control of the fuel system seems to be lost causing a serious situation at highway speeds. This happens to the engine intermittently, some days you can drive 70 miles with no problems other days it will go crazy as described when the light flashes. When the vehicle dies on the highway, it is very hard to steer it to the side of the road or stop it. The vehicle has been in 5 different repair shops and the fifth being a Dodge service center. This Dodge service center has had my vehicle for 4 weeks about to enter the fifth week and they cannot figure out the problem. The throttle body with tps sensor has been replaced twice, accelerator pedal position sensor replaced twice, egr valve replaced, PCV valve cleaned and inspected, PCM replaced and re flashed, the battery replaced, alternator replaced, all 4 O2 sensors replaced and the wiring harness and all connectors tested and inspected. The vehicle still is having the same problem and the dealership service department gave up and told me to come and get my truck. I contacted Chrysler and got them involved, they're resource technicians have been trying to solve the problem with the service department now for 2 weeks and still no answers and I still have no vehicle. Chrysler case #28169313

- Branson, MO, USA

problem #51

Nov 122014

Ram 1500

  • 170,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. While backing out of the driveway at approximately 5 mph, the vehicle seized without warning. The contact placed the vehicle in park and the vehicle restarted. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 170,000.

- Graham, TX, USA

problem #50

Jun 192006

Ram 1500

  • 16,200 miles

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

While pulling out of a parking lot to proceed on a main road the vehicle died when I attempted to pull out and cross multiple lanes of on coming traffic. I pushed the accelerator and the truck briefly accelerated and then just died. I was able to put it in neutral and restart the engine. I purchased this vehicle with approximately 6500 miles on it and now I have 204000. This is the 4th occasion it has stalled while at low speed for no reason. The latest occasion just occurred ON08/11/15 while I was going threw a round about. I entered the round about turning slightly to the right, half way around coming out of the turn as it was straightening the truck just shut down. In all the occurrences I have been traveling at lower speeds 30 mph or less. 2 almost causing a crash with another vehicle. On the last occurrence I was able to restart the truck while coasting in neutral, even though the side of the dash that the gear range is burnt out so you cant actually see what gear you are in. All the times it has stalled it has been during summer months hot outside and no precipitation. At times the truck will hit a low RPM while at an idle but will recover. The vehicle has gone years in between stalls first 2 when the truck had less than a 80K, and the last 2 stall outs about a year apart. No codes stored in the computer. Totally random events.

- New Palestine, IN, USA

problem #49

Nov 252014

Ram 1500 8-cyl

  • 165,000 miles
When I purchased this Dodge Ram 1500 hemi 5.7 it had a bad engine. After the engine was fixed, I notice the truck would just stop running or stall and no engine light. I would start it back up and it would kill at anytime I would slow down to turn or slow down to stop. This would happen 2 to 10 times a day. Then not for a day or two. When I looked online there are a lot of people with this problem. The dealer is not fixing the problem. This can kill someone and I had to stop my son from using this truck. Because I was afraid he would get killed or kill someone else. There should be a recall for this matter. Updated 9/15/15.... updated 09/30/15

- Metairie, LA, USA

problem #48

Feb 022013

Ram 1500

  • 98,000 miles
While drivng 55 mph the vehicle just died out I had to coast over to the side of the road. The truck lost all power. Once I stopped the truck, I put in park and turned off the igninition, I was able to continue driving. The dashboard light showing a symbol of a lightening bolt, after researching I see some comments of it being a wire harness or tranny loose wiring, had truck looked at several times and wires were checked, but the truck still dies out. This has happened 5 times since 2013 always while dring more than 3 hours. I no longer take the truck on long trips, it is a very dangerous problem, I was thankful I was able to pull over on shoulder evrytime.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #47

Jun 012013

Ram 1500

  • 75,131 miles

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

As stated in other complaints, the vehicle will stall after slowing down at intersection of driving in heavy traffic. If you ride the brake and gas, you can keep from stalling. This incident started to happen after a smell of gas vapor smell after filling tank. Researched stalling and gas smell, was led to other scalp notice for hemi gas tank due to ethanol gas causing the rollover valve in the gas tank to expand and not close. When you fill the tank you get liquid gas in the purge vapor canister and line. This giving you the gas smell upon filling. I have stopped filling the tank past 3/4 and have not had the issue since. Kind of disappointed that other hemi models gas tanks were recalled, but not the truck even though it has the same issue.

- Spencerport, NY, USA

problem #46

Jul 172010

Ram 1500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 60,000 miles
I don't remember the exact date or mileage as the first failure's were low in frequency. The truck dies after filling up with fuel. You can be up to speed but normally happens shortly after fill up and entering traffic. No trouble lights are showing on the dash and truck normally starts back up fairly easily, although sounds flooded. Now the truck does this at almost every fill up. No code diagnostics are showing. I have replaced the egr and spark plugs, no change.

- Medford, OR, USA

problem #45

Apr 152015

Ram 1500

  • 47,500 miles
Driving down the road at about 35 mph and all of a sudden I had no power to my brakes or steering and the engine stopped. I managed to pull over placed it in park and it started right up. All electrical components remained working at the time of the incident. This scenario has happened multiple times and is a major safety issue. On a different occasion I was sitting at stop light and it turned green took my foot off of the brake and pushed the accelerator the and the truck rolled backwards and almost hit the vehicle behind me since there was a slight decline towards the rear of the truck. Again all electrical was fine, but the engine quit. For all scenarios I did not even know the engine stopped besides the brakes and steering had no power. The engine just simply stopped running,

- Moscow Mills, MO, USA

problem #44

Jun 112014

Ram 1500

  • 99,000 miles
My truck over heated because of that my motor broke into many pieces I had it towed to a Dodge dealership. I was told that, that doesn't happen often but it most had be a default with my motor...could you please get back in contact with me. Thank you

- Victorville, CA, USA

problem #43

Apr 232015

Ram 1500 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 234,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 10 mph, the vehicle stalled and the temperature gauge and check engine warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle restarted after the brake pedal was depressed several times; however, the failure recurred approximately every 15 miles. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 234,000. Updated 09/03/15 updated 10/26/2017

- Blackwell, OK, USA

problem #42

Mar 182015

Ram 1500

  • 177,000 miles
Driving on the road went to stop light truck died when came to complete stop. Started up and then went to stop sign down road and it started to idle down to 250rpms the engine caught and idle back to about 500rpms. Went to gym next day while backing in to parking spot going idle speed the truck idled low and died. Now it idles about 250rpms and some times truck shakes had license mechanic change plugs and wires for the hemmi motor and still does it today (04-27-20015). The only difference is that in park it stays at idle some times about 500rpms but does tend to go to 250rpms.

- Warsaw, IN, USA

problem #41

Apr 042015

Ram 1500 8-cyl

  • miles
I was going 60 miles per hour down the freeway and engine stalled in the middle of the road, completely turned off, had to pull over on the shoulder and put it in park, restart it in order for it to turn on.this has occurred several times now.even when turning or coming to a stop, truck has been doing this more often.checked recalls but nothing, I know there are several complaints like mine.it has even occurred while turning, coming to a stop and driving at low speeds as well.

- Conroe, TX, USA

problem #40

Apr 012015

Ram 1500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 172,000 miles
As I was driving on the freeway at 70 mph, I heard a loud "smack!" before the engine stalled and I lost power steering and power brakes. Luckily, I'm pretty strong and was able to pull off to the shoulder. The engine would start but not turn over with 4 or 5 attempts. It started on the fifth or sixth try but would not idle. I was finally able to get it to start and on my way to the mechanic, I could tell something was broken in the engine. After inspecting the engine and looking into it, it's been determined that a valve spring broke and sent the valve through the piston and into the cylinder, effectively ceasing the engine while the vehicle traveled at freeway speeds.

- Cottonwood Heights, UT, USA

problem #39

Mar 032014

Ram 1500

  • 73,000 miles
Since March of 2013 I've made several panic stops to avoid running a red light. I de accelerated from 30 to 0 and the truck stalled when it came to a stop. Additional complaint is every now and then the truck won't start. The engine turns over, but doesn't start. I have to turn the key to the off position and then it starts on the re try.

- Chatsworth, CA, USA

problem #38

Mar 252015

Ram 1500

  • miles
I was driving my truck down a back country road on the sway to work when I noticed a whistling sound coming from the truck. I began to slow down from 55mph and then I heard a loud bang underneath the truck. I got out to find the transfer case blown apart and the rear end was locked. This could have been a serious matter if I was driving on the highway or had not begun to slow down. Upon further investigation I have found many recalls on my truck. I also found out that this is going to run me around 3 grand, if the transmission isn't messed up.

- Nashville, NC, USA

problem #37

Aug 092014

Ram 1500

  • 100,000 miles
During idles or stopping for intersections or traffic the engine stalls and dies making it impossible to steer or stop. I have nearly wrecked several time when it happened on hills. The mechanics I when to can't find anything, one of which was the Dodge dealership. The problem started once after re fueling and now every time I get gas it does it several times then runs alright but the problem is getting worse. There in no warning when I dies and one of these times I am afraid I won't be able to stop it. I have seen multiple complaints on the issue with no decisive solution.

- Beckley, WV, USA

problem #36

Mar 132015

Ram 1500

  • 33,000 miles
Vehicle stalled while driving down the road. I took it to the local mechanic and they did compression test on it they said no compression on the #7 cylinder, he told me it is an internal engine failure. My vehicle only has 33,000 miles on it. I found out it is a known issue, Chrysler fixed it in the 05 models but did nothing for the 2003 and 2004 vehicles.

- New Brighton, MN, USA

problem #35

Feb 242015

Ram 1500

  • 160,000 miles
Vehicle stalls under deceleration, cutting power to power brakes and steering. First two times it happened I was in traffic approaching busy intersection to a red light. Very nearly ended in crash except I got the emergency brake on. No warning or warning lights, no loss of electrical power.

- Jacksonville , FL, USA

problem #34

Dec 122014

Ram 1500 8-cyl

  • 33,850 miles
Vehicle stalls after a gas fill-up. Dealer had filled the vehicle up and it stalled repeatedly for about 10 miles and then was fine. The next time I filled it up it stalled repeatedly again. I returned it to dealer for repair. They replaced the charcoal canisters and purge valve solenoid. After the next fill up it did not stall. However, after the second fill-up it started missing at highway speeds and then stalled on an exit/entry ramp of short curvature and had to be hurriedly restarted while turning at high speed. This is a definite safety issue and should be a recall. Social media is rampant with this issue with Dodge. Not filling the tank with gas is not a solution to this problem as some would suggest. This needs to be rectified!!!

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

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