2013 Ram 1500 Complaint Log

Backing out of the driveway, the power steering light came on and the power steering completely stopped working. I checked the fuses and they were all functional. This morning, I read an article (published 6 days ago) that other 2013 RAM 1500s have experienced the same issue and that NHTSA is investigating. Please add my truck to the list of those experiencing this issue.

Steering completely went out while making a right turn onto highway. Had vehicle towed and repairs totaled over a thousand dollars.

My 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 suddenly lost all power steering on Saturday 8/12/23. There were no warning lights beforehand but in the moment it said "service power steering" on the dash. Luckily I was in a parking lot and able to go in reverse back into my spot. I then had my truck towed to my mechanic who said that everything was working perfectly when he arrived on Monday morning. Upon further inspection he said that there is an error with the electronic steering gear and that it would take approximately 10-12 weeks and upwards of $5,000 to fix. At this point, I took the truck back home because they said that it was working fine and it did work fine for one day until I tried to go to work this morning (8/16/23)and the same thing happened. Again, I was luckily still in the parking lot of my apartment complex so I was able to pull straight forward into another parking spot. Upon request, I would be happy to allow for inspection on my vehicle. It is certainly scary to think that the power steering could go out at any point while on the road. This is not like a typical power steering problem, I cannot turn the wheel at all even with high amount of force. I am hoping that this report helps others before someone gets hurt involving this problem. Thank you!

Loss of power steering, service power steering warning came on simultaneously. Warning went off and power steering was restored before being lost at a later date. At this time have not had a chance for mechanical evaluation.

Broken exaust manifold bolts bringing exaust fumes into cab

Power steering light came on and power steering became inoperable.

The evic cluster that shows speed and other stuff blinks on and off constantly . I heard many people having this problem . It is very distracting to drive the truck with this blinking non stop it is a safety concern .

On 08/09/2023 1:15pm while driving 2013 Ram 1500 during heavy rains, power steering indicator light came on and steering wheel locked up. Was able to keep control of the truck enough to safely stop. The EPS (electronic power steering) rack and pinion failed. Will cost over $2k to repair. Parts are scarce.

The electric power steering failed. The warning light and message to "service the steering unit" did not come on until the unit completely failed. At that point, the truck was impossible to control. I am lucky that I was not on a high speed highway when it happened.

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the power steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

My steering column locked up while leaving my driveway. And has not come unlocked since as of August 9th 2023. This had happened once before on the road. It was about three weeks prior I was driving in a 55 mph zone and was on a very gentle right curve and my steering wheel didn't want to turn I pulled a little harder on it and it popped loose and I didn't have any problems with it until the ninth.

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the "Loss of Steering" message displayed. The contact shutoff and restarted the vehicle to correct the failure; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the steering gear was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 13,600.

Driving on interstate steering just abruptly got very hard to turn there was no power steering

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH and ascending a hill, the engine misfired with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that occasionally the front end of the vehicle was shaking and vibrating while the vehicle lost motive power. The contact arrived at his destination and used an ODB scanner to retrieve DTC codes: P0303 (Cylinder #3 misfire), P0300 (Random misfire), and P219A (Engine Unbalanced). The contact stated that the failure had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the cam shaft needed to be replaced on the right side of the engine. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 128,000.

Driving on interstate on vacation, we stop for gas and started engine no power steering. Cut off and restarted engine now I have power steering. Stop again to get gas start engine no power steering. Tried cutting off and restarted engine no power steering and still 2 weeks later no power steering and you can't drive this truck without power steering. Checked on getting it replaced and was told the part is on Nation wide backorder. So how is this going to be drivable? Called Ram dealer and they say no recall on this. So many ram trucks are having this issue. Ram should fix this deadly problem they created.

About 9 month ago parked the truck then the next morning pulled out of my driveway and power steering went out completely. Truck had under 100k mile on it? Dealer kept saying part was on backorder for months and now they say the part has been discontinued? Even aftermarket remanufactured units are no longer being made available due to the high failure rate from speaking to 3 suppliers. Given the high failure rate, a used electronic steering rack and pinion would be a ticking time bomb and was not suggested. I doubt you'll do anything about (lobbyists), but I'd at least make you aware.

Steering wheel failed to unlock when engine started. Warning lamp appeared, showing locked steering wheel. Transmission would go into gear, however steering wheel was very difficult to turn. I managed to get it to unlock by shutting the engine off and turning the wheel in both directions and starting the engine back on a few times. Dave's service center inspected my truck and stated the power steering unit was bad. They quoted that the replacement unit from the dealership cost $4072, however iy was out of stock with no timeline of when they would get one in. I spoke with Travis, at Travis auto repair and he stated they could get an after market unit for $1400.00. I have an appointment with them August 21st to get my truck repair. I was instructed not to drive it as the unit could fail at any time. This first happened on August 2nd and the 6th. The steering wheel currently will not unlock.

Issues with pcm, emc, tps. After 98,000 miles everything started not reading correct and giving false check engine light. I bought truck two years ago and it’s hard to believe dealership didn’t no. 2013 ram trucks need to be pulled off market. Nobody can tell you what’s wrong. The truck starts when it wants to. Hits the gas when it wants to. Them machines say no code no problem. If the code that originally popped up said computer not receiving info. Then of course you can’t read problems.

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became firm. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and restarted; however, the failure recurred after five minutes. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 118,000.

electronic power steering stopped working while driving very difficult to get to side of road. the service power steering warning light came on when it happened but nothing prior. have to bring it to dealership to have it diagnosed but see on ram forums and within the NHTSA site that this seems to be happeneing to others however Only certain years have been recalled.

Electric power steering loss leading to loosing control of steering while driving. Steering wheel tightened up and unable to drive safely on the road. Vehicle is currently sitting and unable to drive due to safety hazard. Unable to retrieve parts to fix the problem due to the parts being unavailable/ out of stock

ABS brake Module was diagnosed by the dealership as having a short. I have random brake failure (no accidents to date), speedometer gauge does not work, odometer does not work, cruise control does not work, parking sensors do not work. Dealership told me that a replacement is not available until March of 2024.

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40–45 MPH, the steering wheel became inoperable. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. The VIN was not available.

Power steering just stopped working

Steering wheel locked up while driving without warning. The Electric power steering consists of the entire rack and pinion. Called every Ram dealer within 100 miles and no service or shop foreman’s have even heard of this. If you look at any ram forums, this is a common accurance with the same year and model.

Power steering failed while driving

Power steering went out thankfully I was pulling in my driveway during a heavy rain and it just went out completely

My 2013 Dodge Ram 1500, going down the road and the power steering stopped working, almost got in an accident due to the fact I could barely get the truck turned off the highway. It has been parked now for over a month. Mechanic states it needs a rack and pinion, out of stock everywhere, sounds like a multitude of people are having the same problem......so Dodge are you going do a recall and stand by your product?????

On 26 July 2023 I was driving on the feeder road on west 610 south in Houston Texas. While making a left turn onto MLK Blvd my power steering quit in the middle of the turn. The service power steering light illuminated and the steering was very difficult. I was able to manhandle it back to the house but upon arrival it was almost impossible to get the truck into the driveway due to the steering being so hard. After finally getting into the driveway I turned the truck off and then on again and the steering seemed normal. I haven’t driven the truck sense. My current mileage is 70368. Luckily I wasn’t on the freeway when this occurred as this was during rush hour traffic. It was already bad enough that the he issue occurred at a traffic light with a dual left turn into three lanes. This is a major safety issue that CDJR should issue a recall for. I have read that there are thousands of other similar complaints for the same issue and was told by the dealer that the parts are on back order. The issue with the steering commands an immediate safety bulletin and a recall as it puts not only the driver and passengers at risk of serious injury or death, it also places the risks on the general public.

Brake pedal will randomly have NO resistance and no brake activation, a quick second stroke usually gives full normal brakes with no fade or problems. Occasionally second and third stroke may not have brakes, but eventually come firm. I believe it's a power assist issue, several posts online referr to same issue.

While driving the truck the power steering intermittently stops working. Sometimes by turning the truck off and back on it resets to start working again. When the power steering goes out it is nearly impossible to make a turn onto a road, etc. Turning a corner I nearly hit another vehicle head on when the power steering went out. Prior to failure there was no indication or notice it was going to stop working. Mechanic currently has the truck and just called to say it is a $3200 repair due to the module, pin, etc being bad. Parts are on back order, I’m assuming because it has been occurring with several of the RAM trucks. I reached out to the dealership and they informed me that there was currently no power steering recall.

Power steering would turn on and off while driving then after 1 day of this there was no power steering at all, no light on the dash until it fully went out, I can see recalls in the past over similar problems and when I called they said it was brought in for a software update and that's it, brought to my own shop and the repair will be a whole new rack, costly and dangerous. When the power steering would turn off and on while driving it would snap the steering wheel back to the center

My family and I were on vacation last month then suddenly we did not have any control of the sterring wheel was very hard to turn the steering wheel. There was a lot of traffic on interstate hwy 35 at this time had no power steering took to a shop later that week code was C2217-00 Electrical Power Steering Module Internal Failure. This would have been catastrophic if an accident was to happen contacted Dodge they said no recall on this year for that specific code so I just found out that this is an ongoing failure with this item on this vehicle dose someone have to get injured before they do something about this.

EPS light is on electric power steering know as electric rack & pinion steering Code C2217-00 hard steering left & right in a parking lot

I was driving and slowing down to 45 mph going through Corrigan, TX on 59. The truck all the sudden accelerated pulling to the left, then all of a sudden slammed to the right and went over a curb. I had no steering control and my foot was all the way down on the brakes to try and stop. I'm lucky it didn't happen 20 min before when 75mph was speed limit. The a frame broke, Ball joints, broke rack and pinion, cracked the weld that holds the a frame to the truck, and I'm not sure what else is broken yet. My rim and tire both need to be replaced. The aluminum broke straight across. This should not have happened and could have gotten me and others killed. I am getting the truck taken to dodge to find out what all broke and how much it is going to cost. I should not have to pay for this. This should never happen and it put me and everyone around me in danger. I am still a nervous wreck from this.

Was driving my 2013 ram 1500 hemi truck to work when all of a sudden my wheel locked up and I lost all powersteering. This is a huge safety concern as there was no warning at all and come to find out after reading this is a very common problem on these trucks and it should not be. It’s extremely dangerous and puts the driver as well as other drivers on the road at extreme risk.

Electronic power steering system completely went out leaving my vehicle unable to turn the wheel an inch to the left or the right. Luckily this happened in my driveway and not while I was on the roads. Had to have the truck towed to my local dealer and it ended up taking over 2 weeks to fix and cost $4k.

The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated driving 75 MPH and making a turn, the vehicle lost power steering functionality inadvertently and veered into another lane, nearly causing a crash. The message "Service Power Steering" was displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the message disappeared. Additionally, the power steering became operable, and the contact was able to continue driving. However, the contact stated that the failure had been recurring daily. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: RQ23003 (Steering). The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 185,000.

On July 9, 2023 the steering failed as I was driving, resulting in loss of control. With great difficulty I was able to return the vehicle to my house. The vehicle stayed there untill it was repaired on August 8, 2023. Repairs required an expense of $3,251.36.

Power Steering went out on my teenager’s truck in July 2023. When the power steering went out it caused the truck to have about 40 errors pop up on the dash. I (his mom) had to drive his truck (he drove my car) till we were able to get it fixed 3 weeks later for $3,237.87 at the dealer. I am not strong. Driving a vehicle with no power steering is not safe for anyone. Turning is hard. You need more space to turn. These are things you don't normally have to teach teens to do when learning to drive.

The electronic power steering suddenly stopped working while I was turning and I almost got in an accident, then the power steering suddenly came back again while I was turning and since it wasnt working I was having to use a lot of force to turn it so when it came back on the steering wheel turned very quickly and I ended up in the ditch. Luckily no one was hurt this could have been very bad. Yes it is available for inspection. The safety of a lot of people were at risk. This is a recall on other 2013-2015 Dodge Ram 1500's, ours however doesnt match the serial numbers of the recalled ones even though it is obviously affected by the same issue. The recall number is VB9/NHTSA 19E-077. The parts have been looked at by a mechanic and they are bad, and very expensive to replace. The electronic dash also stopped working before this so I dont know if there were any warning lights or anything before this happened.

While driving the pickup the electronic power steering quit working leaving me with very hard steering. Luckily I was just driving around town and no one was around. As of now I have not taken it to be looked at. The service power steering indicator lamp is on and flashes every 10-20 seconds.

Steering froze while driving

While driving local hiway at about 45mph, just as I was making a right turn the steering wheel locked up and had to strong arm the truck out of oncoming traffic. Got to the side of road, and noticed a "Service Steering" message on dash. Shut the vehicle off, rested 10 minutes and restarted without the concern. Continued on errands, and again without warning, the steering locked up and caused me to hit a curb with right front wheel. Had to drive this truck with manual steering back to my driveway. Dealer tech stated this is common, will cost approx. $3000 and the electronic rack is on back order!! WTF ????

The steering wheel and exclamation warning lights came on and the truck was extremely hard to steer. It was a scary situation being 30 minutes from home when this happened. Luckily we didn’t get in an accident but very well could have. This happened June 30th 2023. We have since had it diagnosed by a local and trusted auto shop since the wait time the first time we inquired it being checked by the dealership was weeks and then the wait time for the dealership was a month. They confirmed that it’s the rack and pinion and eps module. Now we have to contact the dealership again to see about bringing it to them to be repaired if the part is even available no telling how long all of this will take not to mention the several thousands of dollars to be repaired. In my research this seems to be a well known problem and is being investigated. The truck in this condition is a danger to be on the road. And the current mileage on this truck is less than 20,000 miles.

Power steering service light came on one day out of no where. I thought it was a regular power steering pump did some research and it was electric saw where they could be a recall on it. Haven’t been able to drive it absolutely no power steering I was driving down the road and it kicked on about caused me to wreck at a intersection.

Total loss of power steering while driving. Impossible to steer truck when it happened almost causing collision. Costing thousands of dollars to repair with a rebuilt rack. Now the truck will not turn as far as it should resulting in failed steering alignments.

Vehicle engine shuts off while driving especially on the freeway. There is some kind of problem with the lifters on this type of motor. Several people are having this problem.

While driving in traffic and started to make a left turn, steering locked up and at same time warning message "service esc" illuminated. Steering became rock hard and gently touched another vehicle as I was attempting to forcefully steer this truck to side of road. Shut off engine, and restarted and problem went away. Attempted to drive last four miles to residence and again steering locked up(NO powersteering assist) Causing me to temporaily lose control. I contacted FCA who offered no financial assistance since vehicle is a one owner 2013. Not even goodwill. Further diagnosis determined electronic steering rack was at fault internally and would have to be replaced. Very scarce part, found one in florida @ $2200. Bought the rack and had a CJDR tech replace it, realign and reprogram. I noticed Ram had a similiar recall on later model Rams, but absolutely NO GOODWILL from Ram.

EPS (Power Steering Rack and Pinion) Driving on the interstate when my whole EPS (Power Steering System) failed at 75MPH. Never had had prior issues, No warning lights until after the system failed