Dodge preliminary evaluation PE14019
Rear Differential Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the differential unit on 1 model year (2005). Opened Jun 24, 2014, closed Dec 23, 2014 after 6 months. It led to safety recall 14V796000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn December 16, 2014, Chrysler Group LLC submitted a Safety Recall Report to NHTSA describing a defect in the rear differential of approximately 256,956 model year (MY) 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks (NHTSA Recall No. 14V-796, Chrysler Recall No. P77).Chrysler's letter states that: 1) some of the recalled vehicles may have been built with an axle pinion nut that can loosen, due to an undersized spline on the pinion gear; and 2) a loose pinion may cause the rear axle to seize and/or the driveshaft to separate, resulting in the loss of vehicle control and/or a crash with little warning. The one crash and injury noted in Chrysler's Safety Recall Report is from a NHTSA complaint documented in Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) 10508200. This complaint describes an incident in which the rear end of the truck locked up and skidded into a culvert, resulting in a head injury to the driver (concussion).ODI's failure counts in this resume do not include vehicles with evidence of previous repair or maintenance work that required removal of the pinion. Chrysler's recall remedy procedure will add a retention feature to the pinion nut on all affected vehicles. This investigation is closed based on Chrysler's recall.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2005 Dodge RAM 1500.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE14019 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 14V796000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE14019 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 23, 2014 and led to recall 14V796000.
Which vehicles does PE14019 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2005 Dodge RAM 1500. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.