Federal regulators are looking into a transmission issue affecting certain Ram HD trucks to determine if a large-scale recall is necessary.

This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a document opening its investigation into FCA US LLC (the American arm of Stellantis) for reported transmission issues affecting certain 2022-model Ram heavy-duty trucks.

After receiving no fewer than 82 complaints at time of writing, the agency is specifically looking into a problem with the K1 snap ring found within Aisin’s 6-speed AS69RC automatic transmissions fitted to certain 2022 Ram 3500 pickups, as well as 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs. Since we are also talking about the chassis cabs, this problem may impact upfitted vehicles such as ambulances and other emergency response vehicles, in addition to consumer pickups that are used for heavy towing.

The automaker is already aware of the issue, as FCA told regulators about a technical service bulletin related to the alleged defect. In addition to the bulletin (TSB-21-002-23), the company says it has conducted dynamometer and field testing to diagnose the condition.

According to 16 owners, affected trucks completely lost motive power at speeds above 25 mph, and they could not resume normal operation. If the snap ring fails, it may become dislodged, rendering first through fourth gears entirely inoperable. FCA says fifth and reverse gears remain unaffected, though owners have stated that fact does not help much, as the truck is still virtually unusable after the failure occurs.

At the NHTSA investigation is in its preliminary stages, there is no wide-reaching recall campaign to address the issue just yet. If the agency does conclude a recall is necessary, or if FCA launches one on its own, the snap ring issue in certain transmissions could affect up to 188,320 trucks.