Ram Recalls Almost 67,000 Pickup Trucks
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that it will recall 66,819 Ram pickup trucks.
Trucks included in the recall are equipped with manual transmissions that could experience clutch problems officially linked to one death. The affected transmissions may be equipped with clutch interlock switches that have spring wire differing from previous switches. That wire could break and if it does, the vehicle won’t start and could, in rare cases, cause the vehicle to move unintentionally if the ignition key is turned. The recall includes certain Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500, and Mitsubishi Raider pickups from the 2007 and 2008 model years. The affected vehicles were built between July 2005 and June 2006.
Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) say that a young child was able to start a Ram 3500 pickup truck with out the clutch pedal depressed. The vehicle moved forward after the child started the truck, killing another child.
NHTSA opened an investigation into the defect in May. FCA plans to begin notifying affected owners of the recall on February 13. Until then it is asking owners to start their trucks with the parking brake engaged, the shift lever in the neutral position and with the clutch pedal depressed before turning the key.
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Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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