My 2016 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman, which I purchased brand new, squeals at start up. It gets worse when I put it in gear. It will eventually go away, although not completely, when the vehicle reaches normal operating temperature. It sounds similar to a bad belt squeal or bad idler pulley squeal. It sounds like the truck has 100,000 miles on it and not like a new $40,000+ vehicle should!

I took it to the dealer and they replaced the water pump saying that they noticed some fluid on the belt. (I have not noticed a single drop on my driveway.) I picked it up and it sounds EXACTLY the same! The service manager took me to a new 2017 Ram 2500 with the 6.4L gas engine and started it. It sounds EXACTLY the same as mine!!! WTF?! The Service manager says that its just the way the 6.4's are and that since it "goes away" after warming up its not a big deal! It is to ME! I paid $40k+ on my first brand new truck in 16 years and this is what I get?! He said he checked through all of Chrysler's system and technical service bulletins and could not find anything on it. He said the Chrysler rep was coming to the dealership yesterday and that he would speak with him about it and call me. Yeah, never happened.

I have since checked several Ram forums and have found that this issue has been going on since 2014! Numerous complaints about the same issue and Chrysler's failure to support those customers affected by it. Some say they have been told by Chrysler that it is valve noise resonating through the down pipe of the exhaust system and that they have live with it. Several owners claim they have successfully invoked lemon law claims on Chrysler and Chrysler has had to buy their vehicles back.

I will continue taking it to dealer after dealer and file a formal complaint with Chrysler until someone can resolve this issue! I have never heard of another gas engine design having this problem! It is embarrassing to drive this vehicle! When I leave work, people around the vehicle turn to look at the brand new truck making the squealing noise when I start it. I will try to post a video and update this with a link. And will keep squealing until I get some satisfaction.