Ram recalls more than 100,000 diesel pickups for fire risk

More than 100,000 diesel-powered Ram pickups will be recalled for an increased risk of fire, the truckmaker announced last month.

Ram says it will recall 2014-2019 Ram 1500 trucks equipped with a 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine for an issue with the engine that could lead to a fire. Ram said 107,979 trucks may be affected and that it is aware of four minor injuries related to the defect.

At issue are exhaust gas recirculation coolers in the diesel-powered pickups that lower the temperature of some recycled, partially combusted gas and fuel, which is common among diesel-powered engines. The coolers may crack or leak, and preheated coolant may leak into the intake manifold, which may combust and start a fire in the engine.

Paperwork filed with federal regulators say that engineers opened an investigation into field reports about the issue in May and inspected several damaged trucks before announcing the recall in October.

Ram said it will notify affected owners in December to bring their trucks in for repair. Ram hasn't yet detailed what its fix will be but said it will be performed for free.

Affected truck owners may notice that their pickups are using an excessive amount of coolant or that their heaters don't properly work. Ram also said an engine malfunction light may be illuminated in the instrument cluster.