RAM Service Video

[milkman55]

I took my Isata 5 to my local RAM dealer for a oil / fuel filter change as well as the engine recall and a few other quirks. As they were working on my RAM, they make a video of everything they are doing and send it to you so you can see what they are doing and why you may need other services. In my case they recommended a change of the rear differential fluid.

I have never taken a vehicle to any dealer where they used this video technology and I thought it was pretty cool.

https://app.truvideo.com/v/coHMYT?s=...SR&jwsource=em

[KyDan]

Neat but unless there is a factory bulletin or something I gotta wonder if they are churning business with that recommendation to change differential fluid.

[RobbieH]

Any dealership for any brand will try to sell additional services. On my last Ram, I had mud tires (they were on it when I got it) and they tried to tell me I had a wheel bearing going out because of the roughness and noise at low speeds.

[milkman55]

When I talked to the service advisor, he said due to the load on the rear axle and when they are new, you get a little wear on the gears which is why the magnetic plug had so many shavings. I am fine investing money to make sure I don’t have any major issues down the road.

[Delco Bobby]

I don’t know if it applies to this situation but I have been surprised that my Dodge dealer never tries to sell extra parts and work.

My Ford dealer is always pushing a bunch of stuff.

[Delco Bobby]

I watched that video after my first comment. I would appreciate videos like that. Seems to me that is good for the customer and for the dealer.

Imagine if RV dealer service departments offered videos.

[msusslin]

Originally Posted by milkman55

I took my Isata 5 to my local RAM dealer for a oil / fuel filter change as well as the engine recall and a few other quirks. As they were working on my RAM, they make a video of everything they are doing and send it to you so you can see what they are doing and why you may need other services. In my case they recommended a change of the rear differential fluid.

I have never taken a vehicle to any dealer where they used this video technology and I thought it was pretty cool.

https://app.truvideo.com/v/coHMYT?s=...SR&jwsource=em

Cool video.
How many miles do you have on your RV and what tires are you using?

[milkman55]

Those are the factory Continental tires and I have 11,300 miles so far.

[Jim34RL]

Per the owners manual for the 2008 Dodge/Ram Diesel Supplemental and all newer RAM trucks. The Manual calls for a differential fluid change every 15,000 miles or 12 months which every comes first. I know my Chevy 4X4 truck also called for differential fluid changes but I don't remember the interval.

I did my first fluid change after 30 days when I purchased my new truck. There was a lot of small casting (fin) debris in the fluid. Cleaned the differential housings and inspected the tooth pattern for even wear of the gears. I than installed Mag-Hytec differential covers front and rear, which adds extra fluid capacity to the differential. I now change my fluid every 40,000 miles using Amsoil synthetic extreme 75W-90 gear lube. I use 8 QRTS in the rear diff and 4 QRTS in the front. I do check the magnetic dipstick in the differential cover front and rear about every other month for debris, they tend to be clean.

[RCW]

Keep in mind that most of the manufacturers have been selling the point of maintenance cost versus the competition. So some of the maintenance has been pushed farther down the road. Most of the recommendations have a severe duty schedule. And most of our vehicles (especially those used for RVing) fall into that. I have been an Auto Technician for over 40 years and have seen this "cost of maintenance" competition cause a lot of issues. Back in the Torqueflite days Chrysler had no recommended fluid change interval. But almost all of the troubleshooting charts recommended A fluid change before doing anything else. I have worked for several manufactures where about a year or so after they spread out oil change intervals we seen a dramatic uptick of engine problems. I am not advocating spending more on needless maintenance, just saying sometimes it doesn't hurt to do a little more than what is in the book.

[milkman55]

My RAM was at 11,300 miles for this service and what the tech showed me was all the fines in the rear diff from the initial breaking in of the gears. Made sense to me to flush all that out and put in clean fluid. That was the only “up selling” they did as everything else was requested by me based on mfg service intervals.

One thing that is frequently forgotten is the chassis in these RVs is manufactured six months or more before the RV is built. In my case, the 2019 chassis had a mfg date of May 2019 and the RV was built on Jan-Feb 2020 and I picked it up in March. The fluids already had 10 months of age before the first miles were driven. I changed my oil shortly after I picked up the RV as it was over a year old even thought I only had 4,500 miles. The dealer is recommending 7,500 mile intervals which for me will work out to just about annually. The fuel filters I replaced on this service were the original May 2019, so about 18 months old.

I think preventative maintenance is the best policy as a breakdown on the road with and RV is a nightmare which can maybe be avoided.

[chroniekon]

Did they have a video of them tightening the oil plugs? It always makes me nervous when somebody screws a plug in and walks away with out tightening it. When I do that I always forget to go back and tighten it.

[Beachbourbon]

Originally Posted by milkman55

I took my Isata 5 to my local RAM dealer for a oil / fuel filter change as well as the engine recall and a few other quirks. As they were working on my RAM, they make a video of everything they are doing and send it to you so you can see what they are doing and why you may need other services. In my case they recommended a change of the rear differential fluid.

I have never taken a vehicle to any dealer where they used this video technology and I thought it was pretty cool.

https://app.truvideo.com/v/coHMYT?s=...SR&jwsource=em

Rear differential fluid on a new vehicle? What was the problem that caused that? I've never heard of differential fines at break in and would be cons=cerned about a differential problem that new fluid would not fix., but I guess anything is possible.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by Beachbourbon

Rear differential fluid on a new vehicle? What was the problem that caused that? I've never heard of differential fines at break in and would be cons=cerned about a differential problem that new fluid would not fix., but I guess anything is possible.

This is a normal issue with any castings and machining that is done. There is always some small particles that will not be removed from the wash process after the machining is dome. The small FINS can be come lodge in some place in the finished assembly after machining and will only be removed through use, as the fluid is circulated.

That is why I changed my diff fluid after 30 days and the 500 mile break in period for the differential gearing on my Dodge/Ram truck. If you go to any of the diesel truck forums, you will see several of us have changed the fluid early on our trucks. Since there is no filtering process, this is the only process to get the debris out of the compart and pro-long the life of that component.

[Swimmer]

Nice Video. The Tech is well spoken and provides a good overview.

[wildcatter]

Originally Posted by chroniekon

Did they have a video of them tightening the oil plugs? It always makes me nervous when somebody screws a plug in and walks away with out tightening it. When I do that I always forget to go back and tighten it.

I'm with you on this, if I have to take my truck (2014 RAM 3500) in for anything I tell them not to touch anything else, this has been my experience with several dealerships.


1. Took it to a dealer for warranty work, they call me and tell me my air filter needs to be replaced, I already had one and was getting ready to change it. I got the truck back and there were screws missing out of the air box.



2. Went in for a air box error message, the cheap 99 cent tube for the second air box under the right front fender collapsed, after I took it in I googled and found what the issue was, when I got the truck back I was missing screws out of the wheel well skirt.


3. Took it back in for a transmission fluid change, they called me and told me that my third brake light was out, the wanted 35.00 dollars to replace it I said no, several days went by and I went to go change the light and the screws were just started but not tightened down, good thing it didn't rain.


4. Took my truck in for another transmission fluid change, I told them not to touch or check anything else, next thing I am getting a call about my differential and transfer case fluid needing to be changed ( I already had the fluid on hand to change these. I let them know they were not supposed to check anything else and I was pissed that they did, I went to go change the fluid and the transfer case fill/check screw was not tightened back down. I am now doing all maintenance myself, even the transmission fluid change.

[Beachbourbon]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

This is a normal issue with any castings and machining that is done. There is always some small particles that will not be removed from the wash process after the machining is dome. The small FINS can be come lodge in some place in the finished assembly after machining and will only be removed through use, as the fluid is circulated.

That is why I changed my diff fluid after 30 days and the 500 mile break in period for the differential gearing on my Dodge/Ram truck. If you go to any of the diesel truck forums, you will see several of us have changed the fluid early on our trucks. Since there is no filtering process, this is the only process to get the debris out of the compart and pro-long the life of that component.

If this was a real issue, wouldn't every automaker would this to the scheduled maintenance, add a filter or some other fix?

[GPCruiser]

interesting video. I've got 6,500 miles on my 4x4 I-5 . Going to crawl under today and check that diff fluid. I also heard that your ESC light is on. I too have that problem now and just made an appointment. You know your speed control (cruise) stops working when that happens. This is the second time for mine. Last March as I was driving home from Arizona and last week driving to AZ. The first time it corrected it self after driving a day an a half. This time I was only a few hours away from my destination when light came on. Milkman, do you think he gave you the correct answer? Steering out of alignment? Mine goes down the road straight, it was not a windy day either. Maybe we should start a new post about this, Mark

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by Beachbourbon

If this was a real issue, wouldn't every automaker would this to the scheduled maintenance, add a filter or some other fix?

Have you checked your owners manual and maintenance schedule? All four of the Dodge/Ram trucks, that my family owns has had this requirement in the maintenance schedule. My older sons 1996 first gen truck, his 2006 third gen truck, my 2008 third gen truck and my younger son's 2013.5 fourth gen truck, require this. In fact the maintenance schedule calls for fluid changes every 15,000 miles.

Here is a link to what others have done on their Ram/Dodge trucks.
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/...hanges.268997/

[GPCruiser]

Jim, Yes I did check my owners manual. Page 208/209 for the 2019 chassis. They state ever 20,000 miles if towing or heavy use, which we all do. I only have 6,500 but I did check today and fluids look good, not like Milkman's but he had close to 12K. But I still have the appointment for the ESC light. Anyone have that problem?