ECU Ram 3500 Chassis Cab 2019 Owner's Guide

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL 145
Loss of the battery charge may indicate one or more of the
following conditions:
• The charging system cannot deliver enough electricalpower to the vehicle system because the electrical loads are
larger than the capability of charging system. The charging
system is still functioning properly.

• Turning on all possible vehicle electrical loads (e.g. HVAC to max settings, exterior and interior lights, overloaded power
outlets +12V, 115V AC, USB ports) during certain driving
conditions (city driving, towing, frequent stopping).

• Installing options like additional lights, upfitter electrical accessories, audio systems, alarms and similar devices.
• Unusual driving cycles (short trips separated by long parking periods).
• The vehicle was parked for an extended period of time (weeks, months).
• The battery was recently replaced and was not charged completely.
• The battery was discharged by an electrical load left on when the vehicle was parked.
• The battery was used for an extended period with the engine not running to supply radio, lights, chargers, +12V
portable appliances like vacuum cleaners, game consoles
and similar devices. What to do when an electrical load reduction action
message is present (“Battery Saver On” or “Battery Saver
Mode”)
During a trip:
• Reduce power to unnecessary loads if possible:
• Turn off redundant lights (interior or exterior).
• Check what may be plugged in to power outlets +12V,115V AC, USB ports.
• Check HVAC settings (blower, temperature).
• Check the audio settings (volume).
After a trip:
• Check if any aftermarket equipment was installed (addi -
tional lights, upfitter electrical accessories, audio systems,
alarms) and review specifications if any (load and Ignition
Off Draw currents).
• Evaluate the latest driving cycles (distance, driving time and parking time).
• The vehicle should have service performed if the message is still present during consecutive trips and the evaluation
of the vehicle and driving pattern did not help to identify
the cause.
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148 GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL
— Vehicle Security Warning Light — If Equipped
This light will flash at a fast rate for approximately 15
seconds when the vehicle security alarm is arming, and then
will flash slowly until the vehicle is disarmed.
— Engine Coolant Temperature Warning Light
This warning light warns of an overheated engine condition.
If the engine coolant temperature is too high, this indicator
will illuminate and a single chime will sound. If the tempera -
ture reaches the upper limit, a continuous chime will sound
for four minutes or until the engine is able to cool: whichever
comes first.
If the light turns on while driving, safely pull over and stop
the vehicle. If the A/C system is on, turn it off. Also, shift the
transmission into NEUTRAL and idle the vehicle. If the
temperature reading does not return to normal, turn the
engine off immediately and call for service.
Refer to “If Your Engine Overheats” in “In Case Of Emer -
gency” for further information. — Battery Charge Warning Light
This warning light will illuminate when the battery is not
charging properly. If it stays on while the engine is running,
there may be a malfunction with the charging system.
Contact an authorized dealer as soon as possible.
This indicates a possible problem with the electrical system
or a related component.
— Oil Pressure Warning Light
This warning light will illuminate to indicate low engine oil
pressure. If the light turns on while driving, stop the vehicle,
shut off the engine as soon as possible, and contact an autho -
rized dealer. A chime will sound when this light turns on.
Do not operate the vehicle until the cause is corrected. This
light does not indicate how much oil is in the engine. The
engine oil level must be checked under the hood.
— Oil Temperature Warning Light
This warning light will illuminate to indicate the engine oil
temperature is high. If the light turns on while driving, stop
the vehicle and shut off the engine as soon as possible. Wait
for oil temperature to return to normal levels.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL 159
Onboard Diagnostic System (OBD II) Cybersecurity
Your vehicle is required to have an Onboard Diagnostic
system (OBD II) and a connection port to allow access to
information related to the performance of your emissions
controls. Authorized service technicians may need to access
this information to assist with the diagnosis and service of
your vehicle and emissions system.
For further information, refer to “Cybersecurity” in “Multi-
media”.
EMISSIONS INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE
PROGRAMS
In some localities, it may be a legal requirement to pass an
inspection of your vehicle's emissions control system. Failure
to pass could prevent vehicle registration.
For states that require an Inspection and Mainte -
nance (I/M), this check verifies the “Malfunction
Indicator Light (MIL)” is functioning and is not on
when the engine is running, and that the OBD II system is
ready for testing.
Normally, the OBD II system will be ready. The OBD II
system may not be ready if your vehicle was recently
serviced, recently had a depleted battery or a battery replace -
ment. If the OBD II system should be determined not ready
for the I/M test, your vehicle may fail the test.
Your vehicle has a simple ignition actuated test, which you
can use prior to going to the test station. To check if your
vehicle's OBD II system is ready, you must do the following:
1. Cycle the ignition switch to the ON position, but do not crank or start the engine.
WARNING!
• ONLY an authorized service technician should connect equipment to the OBD II connection port in order to
read the VIN, diagnose, or service your vehicle.
• If unauthorized equipment is connected to the OBD II connection port, such as a driver-behavior tracking
device, it may:
• Be possible that vehicle systems, including safety related systems, could be impaired or a loss of
vehicle control could occur that may result in an
accident involving serious injury or death.

• Access, or allow others to access, information stored in your vehicle systems, including personal information.

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188 SAFETY
(Continued)
Important Safety Precautions
Please pay close attention to the information in this section.
It tells you how to use your restraint system properly, to
keep you and your passengers as safe as possible.
Here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the risk
of harm from a deploying air bag:
1. Children 12 years old and under should always ridebuckled up in the rear seat of a vehicle with a rear seat.
2. A child who is not big enough to wear the vehicle seat belt properly (Refer to “Child Restraints” in this section for
further information) must be secured in the appropriate
child restraint or belt-positioning booster seat in a rear
seating position.
3. If a child from 2 to 12 years old (not in a rear-facing child restraint) must ride in the front passenger seat, move the
seat as far back as possible and use the proper child
restraint (Refer to “Child Restraints” in this section for
further information).
4. Never allow children to slide the shoulder belt behind them or under their arm. 5. You should read the instructions provided with your
child restraint to make sure that you are using it properly.
6. All occupants should always wear their lap and shoulder belts properly.
7. The driver and front passenger seats should be moved back as far as practical to allow the front air bags room to
inflate.
8. Do not lean against the door or window. If your vehicle has side air bags, and deployment occurs, the side air
bags will inflate forcefully into the space between occu -
pants and the door and occupants could be injured.
9. If the air bag system in this vehicle needs to be modified to accommodate a disabled person, refer to the
“Customer Assistance” section for customer service
contact information.
WARNING!
• Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of an air bag. A deploying passenger front air bag can cause
death or serious injury to a child 12 years or younger,
including a child in a rear-facing child restraint.

190 SAFETY
BeltAlert Warning Sequence
The BeltAlert warning sequence is activated when the
vehicle is moving above a specified vehicle speed range and
the driver or outboard front seat passenger is unbuckled (if
equipped with outboard front passenger seat BeltAlert) (the
outboard front passenger seat BeltAlert is not active when
the outboard front passenger seat is unoccupied). The
BeltAlert warning sequence starts by blinking the Seat Belt
Reminder Light and sounding an intermittent chime. Once
the BeltAlert warning sequence has completed, the Seat Belt
Reminder Light will remain on until the seat belts are
buckled. The BeltAlert warning sequence may repeat based
on vehicle speed until the driver and occupied outboard
front seat passenger seat belts are buckled. The driver should
instruct all occupants to buckle their seat belts.
Change Of Status
If the driver or outboard front seat passenger (if equipped
with outboard front passenger seat BeltAlert) unbuckles
their seat belt while the vehicle is traveling, the BeltAlert
warning sequence will begin until the seat belts are buckled
again.The outboard front passenger seat BeltAlert is not active
when the outboard front passenger seat is unoccupied.
BeltAlert may be triggered when an animal or other items are
placed on the outboard front passenger seat or when the seat
is folded flat (if equipped). It is recommended that pets be
restrained in the rear seat (if equipped) in pet harnesses or
pet carriers that are secured by seat belts, and cargo is prop
-
erly stowed.
BeltAlert can be activated or deactivated by an authorized
dealer. FCA US LLC does not recommend deactivating
BeltAlert.
NOTE:
If BeltAlert has been deactivated and the driver or outboard
front seat passenger (if equipped with outboard front
passenger seat BeltAlert) is unbuckled the Seat Belt
Reminder Light will turn on and remain on until the driver
and outboard front seat passenger seat belts are buckled.

200 SAFETY
Energy Management Feature — If Equipped
3500 Models Only
The front outboard seat belt system may be equipped with
an Energy Management feature that may help further reduce
the risk of injury in the event of a collision. The seat belt
system has a retractor assembly that is designed to release
webbing in a controlled manner.
Switchable Automatic Locking Retractors (ALR) — If
Equipped
The seat belts in the passenger seating positions may be
equipped with a Switchable Automatic Locking Retractor
(ALR) which is used to secure a child restraint system. For
additional information, refer to “Installing Child Restraints
Using The Vehicle Seat Belt” under the “Child Restraints”
section of this manual. The figure below illustrates the
locking feature for each seating position.Regular Cab Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) Locations
ALR = Switchable Automatic Locking Retractor

214 SAFETY
for a short period of time, typically 30 seconds or less. The
EDR in this vehicle is designed to record such data as:
• How various systems in your vehicle were operating;
• Whether or not the driver and passenger safety belts werebuckled/fastened;
• How far (if at all) the driver was depressing the accelerator and/or brake pedal; and,
• How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can help provide a better understanding of the
circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur.
NOTE:
EDR data are recorded by your vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data are recorded by the EDR
under normal driving conditions and no personal data (e.g.,
name, gender, age, and crash location) are recorded.
However, other parties, such as law enforcement, could
combine the EDR data with the type of personally identi -
fying data routinely acquired during a crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR, special equipment is
required, and access to the vehicle or the EDR is needed. In
addition to the vehicle manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the special equipment, can read
the information if they have access to the vehicle or the EDR.Child Restraints
Everyone in your vehicle needs to be buckled up at all times,
including babies and children. Every state in the United
States, and every Canadian province, requires that small
children ride in proper restraint systems. This is the law, and
you can be prosecuted for ignoring it.
Children 12 years or younger should ride properly buckled
up in a rear seat, if available. According to crash statistics,
children are safer when properly restrained in the rear seats
rather than in the front.
There are different sizes and types of restraints for children
from newborn size to the child almost large enough for an
adult safety belt. Always check the child seat Owner’s
Manual to make sure you have the correct seat for your child.
WARNING!
In a collision, an unrestrained child can become a
projectile inside the vehicle. The force required to hold
even an infant on your lap could become so great that
you could not hold the child, no matter how strong you
are. The child and others could be badly injured or
killed. Any child riding in your vehicle should be in a
proper restraint for the child’s size.

SAFETY 217
Older Children And Child Restraints
Children who are two years old or who have outgrown their
rear-facing convertible child seat can ride forward-facing in
the vehicle. Forward-facing child seats and convertible child
seats used in the forward-facing direction are for children
who are over two years old or who have outgrown the
rear-facing weight or height limit of their rear-facing
convertible child seat. Children should remain in a
forward-facing child seat with a harness for as long as
possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by the
child seat.
All children whose weight or height is above the
forward-facing limit for the child seat should use a belt-posi-
tioning booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belts fit properly.
If the child cannot sit with knees bent over the vehicle’s seat
cushion while the child’s back is against the seatback, they
should use a belt-positioning booster seat. The child and
belt-positioning booster seat are held in the vehicle by the
seat belt.WARNING!
• Improper installation can lead to failure of an infant or child restraint. It could come loose in a collision. The
child could be badly injured or killed. Follow the child
restraint manufacturer’s directions exactly when
installing an infant or child restraint.
• After a child restraint is installed in the vehicle, do not move the vehicle seat forward or rearward because it
can loosen the child restraint attachments. Remove the
child restraint before adjusting the vehicle seat posi -
tion. When the vehicle seat has been adjusted, reinstall
the child restraint.
• When your child restraint is not in use, secure it in the vehicle with the seat belt or LATCH anchorages, or
remove it from the vehicle. Do not leave it loose in the
vehicle. In a sudden stop or accident, it could strike the
occupants or seatbacks and cause serious personal
injury.
4

SAFETY 227
(Continued)
2. Place the child seat between the lower anchorages for thatseating position. For some second row seats, you may
need to recline the seat and / or raise the head restraint (if
adjustable) to get a better fit. If the rear seat can be moved
forward and rearward in the vehicle, you may wish to
move it to its rear-most position to make room for the
child seat. You may also move the front seat forward to
allow more room for the child seat.
3. Attach the lower hooks or connectors of the child restraint to the lower anchorages in the selected seating position.
4. If the child restraint has a tether strap, connect it to the top tether anchorage. See the section “Installing Child
Restraints Using the Top Tether Anchorage” for direc -
tions to attach a tether anchor.
5. Tighten all of the straps as you push the child restraint rearward and downward into the seat. Remove slack in
the straps according to the child restraint manufacturer’s
instructions.
6. Test that the child restraint is installed tightly by pulling back and forth on the child seat at the belt path. It should
not move more than 1 inch (25.4 mm) in any direction. How To Stow An Unused Switchable-ALR (ALR) Seat
Belt:
When using the LATCH attaching system to install a child
restraint, stow all ALR seat belts that are not being used by
other occupants or being used to secure child restraints. An
unused belt could injure a child if they play with it and acci
-
dentally lock the seat belt retractor. Before installing a child
restraint using the LATCH system, buckle the seat belt
behind the child restraint and out of the child’s reach. If the
buckled seat belt interferes with the child restraint installa -
tion, instead of buckling it behind the child restraint, route
the seat belt through the child restraint belt path and then
buckle it. Do not lock the seat belt. Remind all children in the
vehicle that the seat belts are not toys and that they should
not play with them.
WARNING!
• Improper installation of a child restraint to the LATCH anchorages can lead to failure of the restraint. The child
could be badly injured or killed. Follow the child
restraint manufacturer’s directions exactly when
installing an infant or child restraint.
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228 SAFETY
Installing Child Restraints Using The Vehicle Seat Belt
Child restraint systems are designed to be secured in vehicle
seats by lap belts or the lap belt portion of a lap/shoulder
belt.The seat belts in the passenger seating positions are
equipped with either a Switchable Automatic Locking
Retractor (ALR) or a cinching latch plate or both. Both types
of seat belts are designed to keep the lap portion of the seat
belt tight around the child restraint so that it is not necessary
to use a locking clip. The ALR retractor can be “switched”
into a locked mode by pulling all of the webbing out of the
retractor and then letting the webbing retract back into the
retractor. If it is locked, the ALR will make a clicking noise
while the webbing is pulled back into the retractor. Refer to
the “Automatic Locking Mode” description in “Switchable
Automatic Locking Retractors (ALR)” under “Occupant
Restraint Systems” for additional information on ALR. The
cinching latch plate is designed to hold the lap portion of the
seat belt tight when webbing is pulled tight and straight
through a child restraint’s belt path.
Please see the table below and the following sections for
more information.
• Child restraint anchorages are designed to withstand
only those loads imposed by correctly-fitted child
restraints. Under no circumstances are they to be used
for adult seat belts, harnesses, or for attaching other
items or equipment to the vehicle.
WARNING!
• Improper installation or failure to properly secure a child restraint can lead to failure of the restraint. The
child could be badly injured or killed.
• Follow the child restraint manufacturer’s directions exactly when installing an infant or child restraint.
WARNING! (Continued)