Ram has announced a recall that affects more than 142,000 pickup trucks due to problems with their turn signals. If you’ve spent much time on the road with Ram owners, it would be understandable if you assumed this means the turn signals don’t turn on. In this case, though, it’s actually the opposite. The turn signals won’t automatically turn off, Cars.com reports.
In a recall letter sent to dealers, Ram explained that the trucks affected by the recall may have been built with a steering column control module that has an out-of-spec turn signal self-canceling anti-jam component or an SCCM with a circuit board that has a short. According to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard regulations, “The turn signal operating unit must be self-canceling by steering wheel rotation and capable of cancellation by a manually operated control,” so that’s clearly a problem.
More frustrating for other drivers, however, is the fact that the faulty SCCM can also cause the affected trucks to turn on their high beams when drivers use the turn signal, potentially blinding oncoming traffic. It also works the other way around, with the turn signals activating when the driver turns on their high beams. In addition to the risk to drivers who unexpectedly get hit by a truck’s high beams, turn signals that won’t turn off or turn on unexpectedly could confuse people and result in crashes.
The recall affects the 2023 Ram 1500, as well as some 2023-2024 2500, 3500, 4500 and 5500 models. Owners of the affected trucks will be contacted by corporate, but you can also head over to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall site and enter your vehicle identification number to check to see if your truck is affected by this or any other recalls. If it is, the dealer will inspect the SCCM and replace it if necessary.