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My reluctor wheel failure story

11888 Views 64 Replies 19 Participants Last post by  biodiesel
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So I've been running the pre EPA GDE hot tune and trans tune since July 2019 and have driven around 35000 miles with it. Not having the EGR active was a big comfort to me and I had the mindset that since it's closed off I likely won't ever have the EGR cooler failure due to thermal fatigue.

Well this winter I had begun smelling unfiltered diesel exhaust in the cab when remote starting the truck to warm up but it would go away after the engine warmed. One cold morning in March this year I smelled coolant so I popped the hood and with a flashlight I spotted a couple drips of coolant coming off the EGR cooler.

I had been hoping to avoid the recall but I had a week long camping trip coming up and I'd be pulling a travel trailer so decided I'll get dealership to perform the EGR recall. I opted to not keep my original ECU so I knew this meant I'd either need to upgrade to the EPA complaint GDE Tunes or try buying a used ECU and programming to my truck. I chose to just get the EPA tune and move on.

I first used my GDE trans flash tool to return the truck trans back to stock tune so that my tool could be used for the EPA compliant tune I would be purchasing.

My service department at the dealership where I factory ordered the truck was great. They ordered the EGR parts under the recall, performed the repair and of course flashed my truck to their newest software. The whole process took only one week.

The newest software as you all know included the "band-aid" fix to allow the engine to continue to operate if the reluctor/tone wheel fails.

Well spring break arrives and we hit the road starting the 8 hr drive to our destination. The wife and I decided on traveling at night so our 8 month old daughter would sleep thru most of it. 3 hours from home @12:15am we were pulling into a small town in the middle of nowhere, the highway came to a stop light, when it turned green I began to take off and the truck lurched forward and stumbled dramatically then the dash lit up with warnings and went to limp mode. We were fortunate enough to be close to a gas station and I was able to limp into the parking lot. 12mph was as fast as I could go.

I checked the codes with my reader and it was crank sensor error. I immediately knew it was the reluctor wheel that failed and our trip was over. Ended up having to tow the truck and the travel trailer 170 miles back home.

Long story short if I hadn't just had the recall done I would have been stuck in the middle of an intersection with a trailer.

My dealership was quick to order the $42 reluctor wheel for me, only took a week. Unfortunately it was $1350 in labor to replace it due to having to drop the transmission to access the part. If you're curious what a failed reluctor wheel looks like here are some pics. The magnetic tape around the wheel had fractures all throughout and a couple chunks finally let loose just under 118000 miles.
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What is your dealer name and number?
My dealer isn't going to tell you anything over the phone. They need the vehicle in the shop so they can scan for this code. If your dealer is inept, then go to a different dealer.




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I had a reluctor wheel failure on May 1 this year on my 2014 EcoDiesel. It cost $1361.37 to have it replaced. While the truck was in the shop waiting for the part I did some reading here and was convinced it would be covered by the extended warranty. I have the letter from FCA regarding the extended warranty on the part with my VIN indicated.

HOWEVER, they extended the warranty to 8 years / Unlimited miles, and the truck is 8.5 years old (purchased in late November 2014). I feel a bit robbed since it was a known defect, and my VIN was on the list.
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I had a reluctor wheel failure on May 1 this year on my 2014 EcoDiesel.
How many miles were on your truck at the time of failure?
How many miles were on your truck at the time of failure?
~106,500
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90,000 - 130,000 miles seem to be a very common mileage range for the tone wheel failure. Sorry to hear that you fell outside of the 8-year warranty. For sure, you got robbed. FCA should have honored the warranty for at least 10 years/200,000 miles instead of 8 years/unlimited miles.
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