Winnebago Solis Pocket - Ram Transmission Failure

[dbaronvt]

A tale of woe:
We bought a 2022 Winnebago Solis Pocket with 5k miles in February. We used it a few times before taking it on a big trip out west to Yellowstone and the Tetons. On our last night at the Tetons, the transmission fell out of the van (not an exaggeration)! It turned out the transmission had already been replaced once just before we bought it. Now we're waiting for another transmission - 3 months later. Turns out there are over 4,000 on back order and none are being made. So our van sits in the lot at the Ram dealer in Wyoming while we are at home in Vermont without a van. Arrghh!

[booster]

Originally Posted by dbaronvt

A tale of woe:
We bought a 2022 Winnebago Solis Pocket with 5k miles in February. We used it a few times before taking it on a big trip out west to Yellowstone and the Tetons. On our last night at the Tetons, the transmission fell out of the van (not an exaggeration)! It turned out the transmission had already been replaced once just before we bought it. Now we're waiting for another transmission - 3 months later. Turns out there are over 4,000 on back order and none are being made. So our van sits in the lot at the Ram dealer in Wyoming while we are at home in Vermont without a van. Arrghh!

lt appears that is a very common problem with them now. Debris in the transmission appears to be the biggest issue.

[jrobe]

What model years are involved with these defective Promaster transmissions? A google search on Promaster transmission problems is astonishing. I would assume that your van is still under warranty.

I would probably discuss this with an attorney and maybe pursue state lemon laws. It looks like there are some Class Action Lawsuits related to this. You and many other Promaster owners are screwed unless you stand up for your rights.

[MsNomer]

What probably happened to you was a faulty replacement job. Some mechanics don't know/care that some of the mounting bolts are one use only. If they are re-used, they will soon fail.

I know that there are aftermarket rebuilt engines that are considered good as new. There may also be such for transmissions. Your transmission is also common to several other vehicles. An independent mechanic might get you back on the road far sooner than a dealer.

If the 2022 Solis on a '21 or '22 chassis? There is a recall on, IIRC, 2019-21 for parking pawls that break down and introduce debris. Our 2014 has 258,250 miles on the same transmission. Fingers crossed.

[mumkin]

I don't understand why none are being made. As I understand, it is the same transmission as the Ram trucks... it is not a built-in-europe issue.

[booster]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I don't understand why none are being made. As I understand, it is the same transmission as the Ram trucks... it is not a built-in-europe issue.

I am no authority on Promaster, but it is basically a minivan transmission, maybe beefed up some, and maybe with different final drive ratio, but nothing major.


It appears the problem was either metal debris from the park pin wear major wear or possibly also bad cleaning during production.


The former would require a design or material change to fix and test which could take some time, the latter perhaps a major manufacturing process change to fix.


IMO, neither should take as long as this has gone on and is predicted to continue, so something else is probably going on with Stellantis, like lack of funds to cover all the new transmissions and installation or such.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by booster

IMO, neither should take as long as this has gone on and is predicted to continue, so something else is probably going on with Stellantis, like lack of funds to cover all the new transmissions and installation or such.

Severe financial problems with Stallantis. I suspect a breakup/sell off of the American venture sooner rather than later. Pure speculation on my part. I now have a little Promaster City. Different creature, but lots of issues. For years they had an issue with burning oil and on the FB page, it is shocking how many had their engines replaced in the last few years. A massive percentage of the early year models. They had to have lost their shirts on this model.

Interestingly, there have been few transmission replacements over on the RT Promaster RV owners page on FB. RVs are heavily loaded, but tend to have lower mileage if this trannie issue comes with higher mileage. We have one woman right now that had repair parts installed on her problem, the parts failed within a very short time. She managed to nurse it back home and she is waiting for a replacement.

[MsNomer]

Likewise on the Promaster forum, transmission replacements are rare.

[Roadfossil]

Coincidentally, one of the traveling nomad couples we follow on youtube are in Alaska waiting for a new or rebuilt tranny for their Promaster. They are hoping to get back to lower 48 before winter. I belive their Promaster is high mileage and maybe a 2021 model. Channel is called "One Advanture at a time".

[booster]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Severe financial problems with Stallantis. I suspect a breakup/sell off of the American venture sooner rather than later. Pure speculation on my part. I now have a little Promaster City. Different creature, but lots of issues. For years they had an issue with burning oil and on the FB page, it is shocking how many had their engines replaced in the last few years. A massive percentage of the early year models. They had to have lost their shirts on this model.

Interestingly, there have been few transmission replacements over on the RT Promaster RV owners page on FB. RVs are heavily loaded, but tend to have lower mileage if this trannie issue comes with higher mileage. We have one woman right now that had repair parts installed on her problem, the parts failed within a very short time. She managed to nurse it back home and she is waiting for a replacement.

If Stallantis is really in bad financial shape and heading for failure, breakup, or being taken over, it could get really ugly and time consuming for the impacted customers with transmission failures. In many of your potential possibilities, the Promaster could disappear from the US market completely and leave the customers and RV manufacturers holding the bag. We saw what happened, at least parts wise, for the orphaned Roadtrek models with the failure/selloff and a similar thing with Stellantis would be bigger by orders of magnitude when you look at how many cars, minivans, and vans they have out there.


I hope the aftermarket is busy getting things together for complete rebuild or even complete transmission replacement products as that has been done with other vehicle parts.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by booster

If Stallantis is really in bad financial shape and heading for failure, breakup, or being taken over, it could get really ugly and time consuming for the impacted customers with transmission failures.

Just as Mercedes lost their shirt buying Dodge, Fiat is heading the same direction. They quietly split off Ram (now trucks and vans) and Jeep, so that they could sell them separately.

Fiat merged with Peugeot/Opel/ect to create Stallantis and it seems to be having major issues these days.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/stel...heres-why.html

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Just as Mercedes lost their shirt buying Dodge, Fiat is heading the same direction. They quietly split off Ram (now trucks and vans) and Jeep, so that they could sell them separately.

Fiat merged with Peugeot/Opel/ect to create Stallantis and it seems to be having major issues these days.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/stel...heres-why.html

Not just Stellantis, EU has issues with automotive manufacturers due to cost of energy, red tape and too dramatic focus on EVs which is little too late (or too early). Linde, major chemical company is out of Germany, Volkswagen is contemplating to shut down some factories the first time in almost one hundred years.

I had two Wranglers in the past and purchase prices was just reasonable but today’s prices are just extreme, I am not surprised that Ram and Jeep have inventory issues.

[jrobe]

Stellantis stock is down 55% from March. That is telling.

I feel bad for the original poster. He got sold a lemon and probably paid a lot for a 2022 Winnebago/ 2021 Promaster with only 5000 miles on it and his warranty so far is meaningless. The take home lesson here is that anyone buying used vehicles needs to have them thoroughly inspected by a qualified mechanic. Imagine all the flood cars from the hurricane states that will soon be for sale across the US.

[booster]

Appropriate timing on Stellantis' future in the US.


https://www.nbcnews.com/business/aut...rts-rcna176126

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by booster

Appropriate timing on Stellantis' future in the US.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/aut...rts-rcna176126

This isn't their only testing facility in the US. And seems that rather than having a separate facility out west, they will use the Toyota's (?) which makes much more sense.