2020 Ram 1500 manual transmission

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR VEHICLE 35
(Continued)
DOORS
Manual Door Locks
Front and rear doors may be locked by moving the lock knob
down. The lock knobs will unlock when the interior handle
is used to open the doors.Door Lock Knob
Front doors may be opened with the inside door handle
without lifting the lock knob. Doors locked before closing will remain locked when closed.
The emergency key will unlock the driver door lock on your
vehicle.
WARNING!
• Do not leave children or animals inside parked vehicles in hot weather. Interior heat build-up may cause
serious injury or death.
• For personal security and safety in the event of a colli -
sion, lock the vehicle doors as you drive as well as
when you park and leave the vehicle.
• Before exiting a vehicle, always shift the automatic transmission into PARK, apply the parking brake, turn
the vehicle OFF, remove the key fobs from vehicle, and
lock the vehicle.
• Never leave children alone in a vehicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle. Leaving children in a vehicle
unattended is dangerous for a number of reasons. A
child or others could be seriously or fatally injured.
Children should be warned not to touch the parking
brake, brake pedal or the gear selector.2
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208 SAFETY
The following conditions must be met in order for HSA to
activate:
• The feature must be enabled.
• The vehicle must be stopped.
• The park brake must be off.
• The driver door must be closed.
• The vehicle must be on a sufficient grade.
• The gear selection must match vehicle uphill direction (i.e.,vehicle facing uphill is in forward gear; vehicle backing
uphill is in REVERSE (R) gear).
• HSA will work in REVERSE (R) gear and all forward gears. The system will not activate if the transmission is in PARK
(P) or NEUTRAL (N). For vehicles equipped with a
manual transmission, if the clutch is pressed, HSA will
remain active.WARNING!
There may be situations where the Hill Start Assist
(HSA) will not activate and slight rolling may occur,
such as on minor hills or with a loaded vehicle, or while
pulling a trailer. HSA is not a substitute for active
driving involvement. It is always the driver’s
responsibility to be attentive to distance to other
vehicles, people, and objects, and most importantly
brake operation to ensure safe operation of the vehicle
under all road conditions. Your complete attention is
always required while driving to maintain safe control of
your vehicle. Failure to follow these warnings can result
in a collision or serious personal injury.
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SAFETY 209
Towing With HSA
Hill Start Assist (HSA) will also provide assistance to miti-
gate roll back while towing a trailer. Disabling And Enabling HSA
This feature can be turned on or turned off. To change the
current setting, proceed as follows:
• If disabling HSA using your instrument cluster display,
refer to “Instrument Cluster Display” in “Getting To Know
Your Instrument Panel” for further information.
• If disabling HSA using Uconnect Settings, refer to “Ucon -
nect Settings” in “Multimedia” for further information.
For vehicles not equipped with an instrument cluster
display, perform the following steps:
1. Center the steering wheel (front wheels pointing straight forward).
2. Shift the transmission into PARK (P).
3. Apply the park brake.
4. Start the engine.
5. Rotate the steering wheel slightly more than one-half turn to the left.
WARNING!
• If you use a trailer brake controller with your trailer, the trailer brakes may be activated and deactivated with
the brake switch. If so, there may not be enough brake
pressure to hold both the vehicle and the trailer on a
hill when the brake pedal is released. In order to avoid
rolling down an incline while resuming acceleration,
manually activate the trailer brake or apply more
vehicle brake pressure prior to releasing the brake
pedal.
• HSA is not a parking brake. Always apply the parking brake fully when exiting your vehicle. Also, be certain
to place the transmission in PARK.
• Failure to follow these warnings can result in a colli -
sion or serious personal injury.
4
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STARTING AND OPERATING 291
Automatic Transmission
Start the engine with the transmission in PARK position.
Apply the brake before shifting into any driving range.
NOTE:
• This vehicle is equipped with a transmission shift inter-
locking system. The brake pedal must be pressed to shift
out of PARK.
• If equipped with an 8-speed transmission, starting the vehicle in NEUTRAL is not possible unless the Manual
Park Release has been activated. For the Manual Park
Release operation refer to Manual Park Release in “In Case
Of Emergency”.
Tip Start Feature
Do not press the accelerator. Cycle the ignition switch briefly
to the START position and release it. The starter motor will
continue to run and will automatically disengage when the
engine is running.
Keyless Enter-N-Go — Ignition
Keyless Push Button Ignition
This feature allows the driver to operate the ignition switch
with the push of a button, as long as the Remote Start/
Keyless Enter-N-Go key fob is in the passenger compart -
ment.
5
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STARTING AND OPERATING 297
ENGINE BREAK-IN RECOMMENDATIONS
A long break-in period is not required for the engine and
drivetrain (transmission and axle) in your vehicle.
Drive moderately during the first 300 miles (500 km). After
the initial 60 miles (100 km), speeds up to 50 or 55 mph (80 or
90 km/h) are desirable.
While cruising, brief full-throttle acceleration within the
limits of local traffic laws contributes to a good break-in.
Wide-open throttle acceleration in low gear can be detri-
mental and should be avoided.
The engine oil installed in the engine at the factory is a
high-quality energy conserving type lubricant. Oil changes
should be consistent with anticipated climate conditions
under which vehicle operations will occur. For the recom -
mended viscosity and quality grades, refer to “Fluids And
Lubricants” in “Technical Specifications”. NOTE:
A new engine may consume some oil during its first few
thousand miles (kilometers) of operation. This should be
considered a normal part of the break-in and not interpreted
as a problem. Please check your oil level with the engine oil
indicator often during the break in period. Add oil as
required.
PARKING BRAKE
Electric Park Brake (EPB)
Your vehicle is equipped with an Electric Park Brake System
(EPB) that offers simple operation, and some additional
features that make the parking brake more convenient and
useful.
The parking brake is primarily intended to prevent the
vehicle from rolling while parked. Before leaving the vehicle,
make sure that the park brake is applied. Also, be certain to
leave the transmission in PARK.
You can engage the park brake in two ways:
• Manually, by applying the park brake switch.
• Automatically, by enabling the Auto Park Brake feature in
the customer programmable features section of the Ucon -
nect settings.
CAUTION!
Never use Non-Detergent Oil or Straight Mineral Oil in
the engine or damage may result.5
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298 STARTING AND OPERATING
The park brake switch is located on the instrument panel to
the left of the steering wheel (below the headlamp switch).Electric Park Brake Switch
To apply the park brake manually, pull up on the switch
momentarily. You may hear a slight whirring sound from
the back of the vehicle while the park brake engages. Once
the park brake is fully engaged, the BRAKE telltale light in
the instrument cluster and an indicator on the switch will
illuminate. If your foot is on the brake pedal while you apply
the park brake, you may notice a small amount of brake
pedal movement. The park brake can be applied even when
the ignition switch is OFF but the BRAKE telltale light will
not illuminate, however, it can only be released when the
ignition is in the ON/RUN mode. NOTE:
The EPB fault light will illuminate if the EPB switch is held
for longer than 20 seconds in either the released or applied
position. The light will extinguish upon releasing the switch.
If the Auto Park Brake feature is enabled, the parking brake
will automatically engage whenever the transmission is
placed into PARK. If your foot is on the brake pedal, you may
notice a small amount of brake pedal movement while the
park brake is engaging.
The park brake will release automatically when the ignition
is ON, the transmission is in DRIVE or REVERSE, the driver
seat belt is buckled, and an attempt is made to drive away.
To release the park brake manually, the ignition switch must
be in the ON/RUN mode. Put your foot on the brake pedal,
then push the park brake switch down momentarily. You
may hear a slight whirring sound from the back of the
vehicle while the parking brake disengages. You may also
notice a small amount of movement in the brake pedal. Once
the park brake is fully disengaged, The BRAKE telltale light
in the instrument cluster and the LED indicator on the switch
will extinguish.
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STARTING AND OPERATING 301
In the unlikely event of a malfunction of the Electric Park
Brake system, a yellow EPB fault light will illuminate. This
may be accompanied by the BRAKE telltale light flashing. In
this event, urgent service of the electric park brake system is
required. Do not rely on the parking brake to hold the vehicle
stationary.
Auto Park Brake
The electric park brake can be programmed to be applied
automatically whenever the vehicle is at a standstill and the
automatic transmission is placed in PARK. Auto Park Brake
is enabled and disabled by customer selection through the
customer programmable features section of the Uconnect
Settings.
Any single auto park brake application can be bypassed by
pushing the EPB switch to the release position while the
transmission is placed in PARK.
SafeHold
SafeHold is a safety feature of the Electric Park Brake System
that will engage the park brake automatically if the vehicle is
left unsecured while the ignition is in ON/RUN.For automatic transmissions, the park brake will automati
-
cally engage if all of the following conditions are met:
• The vehicle is at a standstill.
• There is no attempt to depress the brake pedal or acceler -
ator pedal.
• The seat belt is unbuckled.
• The driver door is open.
SafeHold can be temporarily bypassed by pushing the Elec -
tric Park Brake Switch while the driver door is open. Once
manually bypassed, SafeHold will be enabled again once the
vehicle reaches 12 mph (20 km/h) or the ignition is turned to the OFF position and back to ON again.
Brake Service Mode
We recommend having your brakes serviced by your autho -
rized dealer. You should only make repairs for which you
have the knowledge and the right equipment. You should
only enter Brake Service Mode during brake service.
When servicing your rear brakes, it may be necessary for you
or your technician to push the rear piston into the rear caliper
bore. With the electric park brake system, this can only be
done after retracting the Electric Park Brake actuator. Fortu-
nately, actuator retraction can be done easily by entering the
5
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304 STARTING AND OPERATING
Brake/Transmission Shift Interlock System
This vehicle is equipped with a Brake Transmission Shift
Interlock System (BTSI) that holds the transmission gear
selector in PARK unless the brakes are applied. To shift the
transmission out of PARK, the engine must be running and
the brake pedal must be pressed.
The brake pedal must also be pressed to shift from
NEUTRAL into DRIVE or REVERSE when the vehicle is
stopped or moving at low speeds.
Eight-Speed Automatic Transmission
The transmission is controlled using a rotary electronic gear
selector located on the instrument panel. The transmission
gear range (PRND) is displayed both above the gear selector
and in the instrument cluster. To select a gear range, simply
rotate the gear selector. You must press the brake pedal to
shift the transmission out of PARK (or NEUTRAL, when the
vehicle is stopped or moving at low speeds). To shift past
multiple gear ranges at once (such as PARK to DRIVE),
simply rotate the gear selector to the appropriate detent.
Select the DRIVE range for normal driving.NOTE:
In the event of a mismatch between the gear selector position
and the actual transmission gear (for example, driver selects
PARK while driving), the position indicator will blink
continuously until the selector is returned to the proper posi
-
tion, or the requested shift can be completed.
The electronically-controlled transmission adapts its shift
schedule based on driver inputs, along with environmental
and road conditions. The transmission electronics are
self-calibrating; therefore, the first few shifts on a new
vehicle may be somewhat abrupt. This is a normal condition,
and precision shifts will develop within a few hundred miles
(kilometers).
Only shift from DRIVE to PARK or REVERSE when the
accelerator pedal is released and the vehicle is stopped. Be
sure to keep your foot on the brake pedal when shifting
between these gears.
The transmission gear selector has only PARK, REVERSE,
NEUTRAL, and DRIVE positions. Manual downshifts can be
made using the Electronic Range Select (ERS) shift control.
Pressing the GEAR-/GEAR+ switches (on the steering
wheel) while in the DRIVE position will select the highest
available transmission gear, and will display that gear limit
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