Electronic Throttle Control Warning Light… could be a problem…. no one knows for sure

Sitting in our front yard (for this week) tonight listening to the Gallatin River churn over boulders, there was a parade of Americana passing by.  Across the way, there was a gentleman grilling dinner while talking to his wife and other friends next to their Class A rig.  A 5^th wheel drives by searching for a site with two dogs, Weimaraner’s I think, perched in the picture window happily watching the world go by.  A few minutes later a new father walks by with his young son in a stroller. Behind me, on the west side of the river, there are young children playing in the picnic area.  At another time I would be annoyed with all the activity around me. Tonight, I am just enjoying a Manhattan with the Princess after a somewhat stressful day that had followed a very stressful day.

When we hitched the ORV to the truck a couple of days ago, the backup camera went out. No idea what caused it but it was a pain.  I figured when I recycled the truck, as the handy manual suggested, everything would be back to normal. Not the case.  As we were driving down I-90 I noticed a red warning light.  The handy manual, now read by The Princess, said this could be very serious and to have the truck checked out immediately.  The red light indicates that there is a problem with the Electronic Throttle Control which controls the speed of the engine. Problems like uncontrolled acceleration or no acceleration.  Both scenarios were a little troubling to think about since we were crossing a mountain pass. The Princess, who can also be the Princess of Doomsday Scenarios, immediately wanted to pull over. I, on the other hand, looked around to see we were in the middle of nowhere and the truck was still running. I figured this would be like my ’77 AMC Hornet, once you turned it off it was always a question if it would start again.  We did have cell coverage so we called the RAM dealer in Boseman.  The service guy agreed with the Princess and said this was serious, don’t drive, and he could get us in the shop in about four weeks to check it out.  Well, that was not the right answer.  All the while I was wondering about potential damage to the brand-new truck. The Princess was getting very worried, I, on the other hand, was a rock. 

The Princess immediately went to work thinking about all of the problems we could encounter.  She envisioned leaving the camper by the side of the road.  While waiting for a tow, she saw herself packing up all of our belongings into trash bags and checking into a cheap hotel.  Trying to find a rental car in a town where available rentals are non-existent.  Finding an Uber, buying plane tickets home-you get the idea. (This is the watered-down version of her anxiety. Again, I was not worried at all.)

The Princess called the service guy back where we purchased the RAM last November. He said it was serious but as long as it was running OK there will not be any damage to the engine. A much better option but I was still worried about turning off the truck and not being able to start it again.  As it turns out the Princess was able to find a mechanic shop in Bozeman that would at least check the diagnostic codes to get a better understanding as to what the problem might be. After about an hour, and consultations with RAM, (whoever that was) all that they could find wrong with the truck was that the backup camera didn’t work.  If I wanted to make an appointment to repair, he could schedule me in three weeks. No charge, thank you very much.  Feeling relieved that we could continue on our trip, the Princess found the last external backup camera at Walmart, which we managed to install ourselves.  It works, sort of.

As you may recall earlier in this long ramble, we are now sitting in a Forest Service campground along the Gallatin River.  The river sounds wonderful, The Princess is relaxed, and the truck still starts.  We will keep you posted.

Dennis

PS: The backup camera only worked when I didn’t need it. After a call to product support, they suggested returning it. We did.