Dodge Ram Truck Owners Sue Fiat Chrysler Over Engine Defect That Could Cause A Fire

A lawsuit filed against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU) by Dodge Ram 1500 truck owners claims that the automaker knowingly sold more than 100,000 trucks with a defect that could cause a fire.

The class-action lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, accused Fiat Chrysler of selling 2014 to 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 and 1500 Classic pickup trucks with a 3.0 L EcoDiesel engine with a potentially “grossly defective” exhaust gas recirculation cooler.

According to the suit, the EGR coolers are susceptible to “thermal fatigue,” which could cause the coolers to crack over time and leak coolant. The plaintiffs claim that this can cause combustion within the intake manifold and lead to a truck fire or a sudden loss of power.

Attorneys of the law firm Hagens Berman said that despite Fiat Chrysler issuing a recall over the potential defect, it has not made a fix for the issue “readily available.” The suit alleges that the company made additional misrepresentations in the recall that have compounded the danger that can occur in 100% of the affected vehicles.

“Owners of these trucks were already under threat of vehicle fire, and yet FCA added insult to potential injury by leaving Ram 1500 owners with no meaningful recourse,” Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, said in a statement.

“FCA told 1500 owners no remedy was available, leaving them waiting in the rafters for a fix that never came. In the meantime, FCA placed the burden on truck owners to monitor their coolant levels when the risk of not doing so sufficiently is a potentially deadly vehicle fire.

“FCA then led owners to believe a fix was available, but proceeded to put affected owners back on the road without a fix. FCA failed its customers at every juncture, both by hiding the defect and by botching the recall,” Berman added.

Class members in the suit also claim that Fiat Chrysler put them in “harrowing situations.”

One of the plaintiffs in the suit recalled a sudden loss of power with his 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 EcoDiesel after having three recall fixes. As the truck lost power, the plaintiff said the brakes became soft and unresponsive, but he was still able to park on the side of the road when he then saw smoke coming from the truck, which quickly was engulfed in flames, the complaint read.

An investigation into the incident by the company said there was no manufacturing defect. Fiat Chrysler said after inspecting the vehicle that “the information at hand would not permit us to associate the fire with a manufacturing or assembly error.” The company continued by saying that it was declining “any assistance associated with this matter” but “sincerely regret the unfortunate fire,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit accuses the automaker of fraudulent concealment and violation of federal warranty laws and other state consumer protection laws. Class members are seeking monetary relief for the affected vehicles as well as punitive damages for alleged fraud by the automaker.

The news of the lawsuit comes just days after Honda agreed to a $85 million settlement over defective Takata airbags that have the potential to rupture and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

Shares of of Fiat Chrysler were trading at $11.20 as of 11:51 a.m. EDT, up 2 cents or 0.19%.