Nat'l backorder on Dodge Ram power steering pumps?

[mrsilv04]

A friend of mine's 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 Mega Cab has been sitting at the dealer for almost a week now, waiting for a power steering pump to come in.

He took it in for a fluid leak, they diagnosed it as a bad power steering pump... and then things came to a screeching halt.

Is there some sort of deep backorder on these from Dodge?

 

[2oldtommy]

Can you say Fiat? Problems with service part availability are one of the nasties of bankruptcies. FWIW Oldtommy

 

[Dieseldoctor]

yap they just recently started a new pump supplier same as many of there car parts. I work there i'd assume to say they've shut down production and shifted to a service line and havent been able keep up with demand.

 

[oilboy123]

My dad waited several months for his clock spring.

 

[OilNerd]

My local stealership wanted me to wait months for a Caravan fuel filler neck and charge me a fortune for the privilege.

Ordered an aftermarket one and it came within a few days via UPS ground.

 

[mrsilv04]

Here's what I can't understand...

I have a GM product, thank God it was built back in the "good old days". In just *one day*, my dealer obtained the parts AND replaced the power steering pump, the power steering rack, the intermediate shaft... AND aligned it.

All in ONE DAY. And this is in a town of 70,000 people... no where near Chicago.

And the Dodge dealer in the same town can't even get their hands on just a new *power steering pump*? What is GM doing right, and Dodge stumbling all over here?

It's a good thing that it's him and not me. I'd be driving that dealer crazy by now.

I'm not sure why he didn't take it back to the dealer that he bought it from. It seems to me that the dealer that you buy a vehicle from tends to give you better service than one that you didn't buy from.

 

[SteveSRT8]

parts availability will be changing dramatically as everyone tries to run with zero or low inventory to save $$$$.

Better get used to it.

 

[bdcardinal]

Ford and GM have authorized distributers that stock Motorcraft and ACDelco parts and deliver to dealers a few times a day. Usually if I know before 130pm i can get a Motorcraft part same day. I can actually order ACDelco from this place too. Generally they will not sell to the public, just dealers and shops. If its blue box Ford, then I have to order from Ford. I haven't seen any MOPAR parts sold at either of my FADs.

 

[L_Sludger]

This is why I buy used,
and my used parts from RockAuto.

 

[mrsilv04]

Andrew is being told now to not expect his truck to be repaired any sooner than mid-May. That's when Dodge expects the part to be available.

His father in law knows the owner of the dealership. He's going in there to see what can be done.

The truck has been off the road for 10 days at this point, and at this point, it is looking like it'll be off the road for another 2-3 weeks.

I think I'd be buying one out of pocket somewhere that offers a lifetime warranty on it, and asking the dealer to install it for free. I think that would (unfortunately) be a "win-win" at this point.

 

[Stu_Rock]

These pumps are available in the aftermarket. ACDelco offers one, and the dealership likely has a purchasing arrangement with an ACDelco distributor.

I would think Chrysler would at least do warranty reimbursement on the labor for an aftermarket pump. Part cost? Well, if they know how to "do the right thing," they would cover that too.

I have seen GM TSBs directing dealerships to use aftermarket parts if SPO is backordered on something, so there's precedent in the industry.

 

[mrsilv04]

I just got an email from his father-in-law. It is called a "steering gear", and the part number is 52121986AG. It appears to be the steering gear box and not the pump.

The expected date for it is May 15th (which is a Saturday...?).

I asked Andrew's father-in-law, and the dealer has flatly refused to provide any sort of transportation for him until the truck is repaired.

This is a 2007, and it is still under factory warranty.

Does Chrysler not provide for a rental/loaner car on factory warranty issues when the vehicle cannot be repaired within a reasonable amount of time?

 

[Stu_Rock]

I ran the part number--it looks like it was superseded by 52121986AF. Lots of revisions on that part.

It also looks like A1 Cardone and ACDelco have something, but you'd have to double-check the application (they x-ref the Mopar number for 2500/3500 models only).

Edit: Chrysler has the warranty for this truck online. It looks like they reserve the right to lolligag for 30 days, with no loaner cars. After 30 days, it becomes an "emergency repair" that may be performed with non-OE parts at any mechanic.

It's a garbage warranty when it comes to this situation.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
Chrysler has the warranty for this truck online. It looks like they reserve the right to lolligag for 30 days, with no loaner cars. After 30 days, it becomes an "emergency repair" that may be performed with non-OE parts at any mechanic.


So... where's any motivation for the dealer to repair the vehicle quickly and keep the customer hap.....py..........

Oh, wait... there is none.

Never mind.

 

[Dave Hess]

Install an aftermarket pump

 

[doitmyself]

This problem (parts back order) has plagued Chrysler even before the financial melt down.

My daughter has an '04 Sebring, which was in a very huge group of vehicles that had catastrophic disintregration of the aluminum upper rear strut mounts. Many people had their cars unusable for months.

I scoured the country and found a place 100 miles away that had A set and I drove there to buy it. There was no aftermarket parts.

I was very p.o.'ed. Reminds me of when Honda could not keep up with transmission replacements for the Odyssies.

My sympathies to you. I know your frustration. Hang in there.

 

[mrsilv04]

Andrew's 2007 Ram is still sitting behind the Dodge dealership, waiting for a steering gearbox.

The expected date for the gearbox from Dodge is still 10 days off, and there's little hope that it will show up early.

Andrew continues to drive his father-in-law's 2009 Silverado, as Dodge refuses to give him a rental or a loaner.

They'll probably have to jump start the truck to get it back into the shop once the gearbox finally shows up.

Good job, Dodge....

 

[UNC017]

This is why I NEVER use dealers for repair, and I never bother with any sort of warranty beyond the most basic default that comes with a vehicle (or anything, for that matter). Its like Vegas- if the house didn't almost always make money on warranties, they wouldn't offer them. If something I own breaks and I have to pay for it out of pocket because I declined an extended warranty, I just smile to myself about all the OTHER times I saved by not wasting money on a warranty. In this case, even with the factory warranty I'd have told them where to shove it and pulled the truck out of there after a couple of days. An independent garage would have been done in a day.

 

[EricF]

I had to call A-1 Cardone direct, and 2 weeks ago they said there were zero p/s pumps available for the dodge cummins motor across the country.
They are send and repair only right now.
my AC Delco suppliers had nothing, and the dealership was on backorder.

 

[ekpolk]

Time to start looking into your state (IL?) Lemon Law. Most of them have, in some form or another, provisions for relief (buy back or other) if the vehicle is off the road for certain periods of time. Clashes with vehicle maker wty? Too bad for the car company.