Ram preliminary evaluation PE24009
2022 RAM Transmission Snap Ring Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the automatic transmission on 3 model years (2022). Opened Mar 27, 2024 and still open — 2.6 years so far, against NHTSA’s goal of eight months for a preliminary evaluation. open
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) has received 82 complaints alleging loss of motive power due to an internal transmission failure of the K1 snap ring in model year 2022 Ram 3500, 4500, and 5500 vehicles. Of these complaints, 16 describe a complete loss of motive power at speeds greater than 25 miles per hour, without the ability for the vehicle to resume normal operation. The subject vehicles can be up-fit as an ambulance and other emergency response vehicle or may be heavily loaded when used for towing. During the failure event, the snap ring becomes dislodged and forward gears 1-4 are no longer functional, potentially leaving the vehicle disabled in or near the roadway and/or negatively affect the emergency mission. ODI contacted the manufacturer, FCA US, LLC d/b/a Stellantis North America (FCA), and learned that technical service bulletin (TSB) TSB-21-002-23 is related to the alleged defect condition. Additionally, FCA has conducted dynamometer and field testing and has explained to ODI that during the event a warning message will display to the operator, and gear 5 and reverse will remain available. ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to evaluate the severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related problems. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
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 resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2024 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2024 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2024 | 38 files 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738 |
40 of 63 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Mar 27, 2024, owners had filed 166 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 101 named the power train NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal, and more can be filed while an action is open.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
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 is open. Nothing is owed on the vehicle today; if it becomes a recall, owners are written to and the repair is free. The moment to know is the day the campaign number appears — Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, or take a free one-line alert by model year.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named on model years this site has no page for: 2022 Ram 4500; 2022 Ram 5500.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
An investigation is not a recall. Yet.
If NHTSA’s questions become a recall, the campaign lands in the federal file first. Recall Watch checks your VINs against every new campaign the night it is filed.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE24009 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one has not produced one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE24009 still open?
Yes, as of NHTSA’s latest file: opened Mar 27, 2024, 2.6 years ago.
Which vehicles does PE24009 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 3 model years: 2022 Ram 3500, 2022 Ram 4500, 2022 Ram 5500. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.