Dodge Sprinter 3500 Recalls

The Dodge Sprinter 3500 has 8 recalls spanning the 2003–2009 production run, with the most serious being a driver and front passenger airbag inflator defect on 2007–2009 models where the inflator can rupture during deployment and send metal fragments into the cabin, potentially causing serious injury or death.

The 2007–2009 model years carry both the driver-side and passenger-side frontal airbag inflator concern, and both involve the same rupture risk. On 2008 models, a separate issue involves the left rear axle shaft, which can fracture and cut drive power to the rear wheels, raising the risk of a crash depending on traffic and road conditions at the time. Also on 2008 models, vehicles equipped with the optional three-seat second-row bench may have seatbelts that were certified to European standards rather than Canadian requirements, with load limiters that cannot withstand the forces required in a crash.

The 2009 model year has an engine oil filler neck spring plate that can crack and allow oil to leak into the engine compartment, which can both starve the engine of lubrication and deposit oil on the road surface. The 2007 model year has two additional issues: a crankshaft sensor on 3.0L diesel-equipped vehicles that can fail and stall the engine without warning, and a brake fluid reservoir that may have been assembled from the smaller 2500-series part, which does not match the 3500's certification specifications.

Going back to the earliest production years, 2003–2006 models have an instrument cluster that fails to illuminate the brake warning lamp during the startup bulb-check sequence, meaning a driver would have no way to confirm the lamp is functional and could miss a genuine brake system warning.