Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
2008 RAM 1500 4 door p/up truck. Factory radio/ . Noise coming from CD player when radio was playing . Saturday morning , radio off . Radio screen lights up like the inside of a bread toaster . Orange Lines appear on the screen. and get hot to the touch . looks like melting wires . I Pulled over and disconnected the battery negative . looked for a Radio fuse in the fuse panel . but was unsuccessful . There was a Burning smell coming from the radio or dashboard still hot to the touch after unsuccessfully locating a Radio Fuse Anywhere . I reconnect the battery negative and noticed the same problem is occurring and then disconnected the negative and Call for assistance . Please help.
My truck has randomly been malfuctioning for almost 2 years, while driving the posted speeds 45-75mph the tuck has stalled out causing me to lose all power with my infant daughter I have run into a ditched, nearly escaped other passenger collisons I have had the interior lights and dash lights shut off while driving at night time on non-lit roads forcing me off the road thankfully no imjuries have occuried, it is all due to a faulty TIPM that Dodge refuses to acknowledge and wont file a recall your company claims that there is no safety defect to warrant a recall from the TIPM, but how many people will have to die families and children for Dodge to fix the issue, it is a huge safety issue I wont put my child back in the truck and I wont drive it by myself, its almost impossible to to steer my vehicle when I lose all power without warning doing 65mph hours on a freeway, it is by the …
Tl* the contact owned a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 40 MPH, smoke was visible from the floor and vents. The contact pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and exited the vehicle. The fire was visible from the front driver side wheel area. There were no injuries reported and a police and a fire report were filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 158,000.
Vehicle caught fire in drive way while raining seems as though the ac blower resistor caught fire
My wife and 2 kids (4yr and 6yr) were driving over railroad tracks at about 25 miles per hour when suddenly the car turned off. Power steering and brakes were suddenly no longer available and my wife steered in the middle of an intersection before she came to a halt. Luckily nothing happened. She switched the transmission into p, the car started flawlessly and she parked it to call her mom to pick her up. I then got to the car and wondering what might have happened. Reading about ignition locks causing this symptom, I lightly tugged on the ignition key while idling. The car turned off easily. Knowing my wife puts whichever car key she needs on her key chain, I suspected that this May have been the problem. I tried it out and -sure enough- repeated the event. She normally drives her 2013 Jeep wrangler which has the identical type of ignition switch. …
My truck has quit functioning 3 different times (days). All dash lights come on and there is no communication between the accelerator pedal and engine. Most times it is still running but I cannot make the vehicle move. The last time the engine died completely and I could not restart the vehicle. I have had it towed 3 times to the dealership, they have made repairs based on what they thought was wrong, only to have it stop exactly the same 4 or 5 days later. The first repair was condenser, oil pressure regulator and battery cable, the second repair was the brain. This third time they have had the truck for 3 days and yesterday they called and said they do not know what is wrong, it doesn't give them codes when on computer. I do not feel confident nor safe to drive a truck that just stops when I'm driving. …
I just purchased this vehicle and within a week the key wouldn't go into the ignition and once in wouldn't come back out. The vehicle shuts off randomly locking the power steering and brakes. My right turn signal now doesn't go off and when I try to put it off my self the left turn signal activates! This went on back and forth a good eight times before both shut off. My front headlights (mostly right but cannot really see the left while driving) the lights shakes and bounces when I go over anything uneven. Upon coming to a sudden stop the truck pulled hard to the right causing me to swerve into the grass. This vehicle just doesn't drive right. The whole front end seems loose. I cannot drive over 50 or the rear end comes off the ground when I brake to make my turn. I'm taking it to the dealer this evening. My dealer 30 day warranty expires tomorrow. …
This vehicle has given me many problems and most recently very dangerous ones. A few months ago on my way to work around 4 am the drive shaft broke off and flew out at 75 MPH. Luckily there wasn't much traffic during that time and the back part of the drive shaft is the one that broke off not the front so the truck didn't flip over. The truck has been repaired since then. Now a few days ago my pregnant wife was driving the truck and it turned off on her in the middle of an intersection while I was working out of town. On my return I found the electric throttle control light on at the dashboard. In doing some research I found that this is typically in relation to a bad fuel pump relay. I found this to be more than common on many Dodge vehicles and obviously a very dangerous problem to have. The fuel pump relay on my vehicle seems to be integrated into the TIPM and not serviceable. …
Discovered manufacturing defect at electrical plug that sits above left bank where the exhaust manifold meets the exhaust pipe. Furthermore, the connector sits right between the block and the firewall. The connector and it's wiring have an extreme turn off of the plug and created such tension that the plastic convoluted tubing was pulled back from the wiring. All of the wiring to approximately 6' back from the connector is bare and the wires are touching one another. I feel that if the route of the wiring had less of an extreme bend and there was something to secure the wiring was in place, there wouldn't be this concerning issue. I have contacted my local dealership and the FCA and they refuse to look at it without charging me money. I am an electrician by trade and I fear that this could affect a multitude of vehicles. …
After I refuel, whether it's 10 gal. Or top it off, the truck will stall everytime as I drive just the first several miles(maybe as soon as 100 yards or up to 10-12 miles or so). It only happens when I come to a stop, like at a red light or at low speed making a turn. It always starts back up, not always easily though. Of course when this happens, power brakes and power steering is lost. This has put me in a couple of dangerous situations while making a turn and suddenly lose power steering. After it's stalled several (4-5) times, it seems to recover until I refuel again and we start all over. This is definitely a major safety issue and a recall needs to happen to finally fix this recurring problem that has been happening for some time now. I purchased this vehicle new and didn't have a problem for the first 40,000 or so miles. …
Electrical complaints in other Ram 1500 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2008 Dodge Ram 1500?
NHTSA has 52 complaints about the electrical system of the 2008 Dodge Ram 1500, 9% of the model year's 554 complaints. The component named most often is horn (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2008 Dodge Ram 1500, though it has 5 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 45,000 miles, and 25% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 5 fires and 1 injury to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.