2 Week old Truck is Dead on Driveway - Running Boards Draining Battery?

[2019 PB]

I parked my truck yesterday afternoon, went out to start it after it sat for less than 18 hrs, and the battery was completely drained. I checked it with a multimeter and it was less than 6V. No lights were left on that I'm aware of and even if there were I thought new vehicles were smart enough to turn lights and accessories off a short while after the vehicle is shut off. I put an amp meter on the battery cable after charging the battery and there was no longer any draw on it so whatever drained the battery had reset itself.

It's sat longer than this since I bought it and has been fine. The only thing that I can think of that's different this time is that I deployed the running boards and left them deployed overnight. I don't know why they'd draw power when fully deployed? Anybody experienced this?

Anybody regularly leave their running boards deployed for extended periods of time?

I gave it a charge and went for a drive and all seems fine. I parked it without deploying the running boards this time so we'll see how things go in the morning. I'm reluctant to take it to the dealership because I know I'll get the "we couldn't replicate the problem" and they'll send me away without any resolution.

 

[barr0208]

interesting I have deployable steps as well let us know your results.

 

[kapinallinen2]

Do a search on "dead battery" Pretty sure you are not the first one that this has happened to.

 

[Edwards]

I parked my truck yesterday afternoon, went out to start it after it sat for less than 18 hrs, and the battery was completely drained. I checked it with a multimeter and it was less than 6V. No lights were left on that I'm aware of and even if there were I thought new vehicles were smart enough to turn lights and accessories off a short while after the vehicle is shut off. I put an amp meter on the battery cable after charging the battery and there was no longer any draw on it so whatever drained the battery had reset itself.

It's sat longer than this since I bought it and has been fine. The only thing that I can think of that's different this time is that I deployed the running boards and left them deployed overnight. I don't know why they'd draw power when fully deployed? Anybody experienced this?

Anybody regularly leave their running boards deployed for extended periods of time?

I gave it a charge and went for a drive and all seems fine. I parked it without deploying the running boards this time so we'll see how things go in the morning. I'm reluctant to take it to the dealership because I know I'll get the "we couldn't replicate the problem" and they'll send me away without any resolution.

I've done it and no issues. I don't believe the running boards draw any power except when opening or closing.

You don't list enough truck details in your sig. Do you have the air suspension? It's auto leveling is live for extended periods and changes in temp can cause it to add air repeatedly running your battery down. Just spitballing though.

 

[Richard320]

The hardest "battery dead after sitting" diagnosis I ever had turned out to be caused by the power seat. They put a seatcover on and it caught on the switch and the passenger seat was as far rear as it would go. And so eventually, the thermal overload tripped. And then after a while, reset itself. It was only by luck that I caught the ammeter needle flickering during its once-every-two-minutes cycle. So look for things like that.

Another obscure drain is a bad alternator diode. It'll still charge when running, but drain when not running.

 

[kapinallinen2]

Knock on wood but my auto leveling has not caused a dead battery in little over a year of owning the truck.

 

[2019 PB]

I've done it and no issues. I don't believe the running boards draw any power except when opening or closing.

You don't list enough truck details in your sig. Do you have the air suspension? It's auto leveling is live for extended periods and changes in temp can cause it to add air repeatedly running your battery down. Just spitballing though.

Thx for running board comments. Looks like that was a bad assumption on my part which is unfortunate as it would have been an easy fix.
I'll update my profile as well to include the fact that I don't have air ride.

I've been reading posts regarding Uconnect and other modules not turning off. I haven't seen evidence of that tonight other than the USB port lights staying on for a while after leaving the truck (some posts say an hour is normal). I'm going to keep researching and watching the truck but these intermittent issues suck to diagnose.

Looks like I need to confirm that there are no TSB's on my truck. I'll chase that when the dealerships open in the morning.

Appreciate the comments. Keep them coming and hopefully it'll help me and others in th future.

 

[RJS]

Have the battery load tested, might as well start with the basics. It wouldn't be the first new battery to develop a bad cell. There's always a load on it as the computers and other equipment never rest.

 

[2019 PB]

Thanks to this forum I was able to pinpoint the issue. If the running boards are set to stay deployed and a passenger exits the vehicle, the instrument cluster never goes to sleep. Strangely, if only the driver exits the truck it goes to sleep like normal.

Big thanks to South Texas Aggie for sharing his experiences which saved me a few hours of troubleshooting and likely a few wasted trips to the dealership.

Dash won’t turn off

I had my fiirst serious issue with my Longhorn. The dash would not turn off last night. The center LED display was lit with “Press Brake and Push Button to Start” and the 12” Uconnect was blank but lit even though car was off and locked.. I drove the vehicle again and shut off but the dash...

5thgenrams.com

It'a scheduled for a dealership visit on Monday.

RamCares, you have a recurring issue that needs to be addressed. Looks like a prgramming flaw affecting a few of your trucks.

 

[MJP]

I parked my truck yesterday afternoon, went out to start it after it sat for less than 18 hrs, and the battery was completely drained. I checked it with a multimeter and it was less than 6V. No lights were left on that I'm aware of and even if there were I thought new vehicles were smart enough to turn lights and accessories off a short while after the vehicle is shut off. I put an amp meter on the battery cable after charging the battery and there was no longer any draw on it so whatever drained the battery had reset itself.

It's sat longer than this since I bought it and has been fine. The only thing that I can think of that's different this time is that I deployed the running boards and left them deployed overnight. I don't know why they'd draw power when fully deployed? Anybody experienced this?

Anybody regularly leave their running boards deployed for extended periods of time?

I gave it a charge and went for a drive and all seems fine. I parked it without deploying the running boards this time so we'll see how things go in the morning. I'm reluctant to take it to the dealership because I know I'll get the "we couldn't replicate the problem" and they'll send me away without any resolution.

I leave my boards out every time I park which includes overnight. I have left them deployed for two weeks without issue. It’s not the boards.

 

[MJP]

Btw,

I leave my boards out every time I park which includes overnight. I have left them deployed for two weeks without issue. It’s not the boards.

I just noticed the post mentioning the passenger exiting with the boards deployed. This has occurred many times as well with no issue.

 

[cotonymopar]

I have had the amp research power steps on my old, 2003, 2012, and 2019 rams, never had a problem.. now, I installed them myself. I would check the wiring if you think there might be something with them, but never had a battery problems, matter of fact, I traded my 12 for my 19, and never replaced the battery, and I was the original owner.

 

[2019 PB]

Btw,

I just noticed the post mentioning the passenger exiting with the boards deployed. This has occurred many times as well with no issue.

I’ve repeated the process a few times and the cluster always stays on when the running boards are deployed from the uconnect screen and the passenger door is exited. The cluster will then stay on until the truck is started, shifted to drive and then turned off. Just starting and turning off the truck doesn’t put the cluster to sleep once it’s been frozen on with this sequence of events.

All of the other sequences of starting, stopping, and exiting the truck that I’ve done over the past couple weeks of ownership apparently haven’t caused a problem since I haven’t had a dead battery. I’ve tried other sequences while troubleshooting over the past day and the cluster always seems to go to sleep. Strange.....

My truck is an 06/19 build. It will be interesting to see what the fix is. I’ll leave the rest of the diagnosis and repair up to the dealership.

 

[Edwards]

Thanks to this forum I was able to pinpoint the issue. If the running boards are set to stay deployed and a passenger exits the vehicle, the instrument cluster never goes to sleep. Strangely, if only the driver exits the truck it goes to sleep like normal.

Big thanks to South Texas Aggie for sharing his experiences which saved me a few hours of troubleshooting and likely a few wasted trips to the dealership.

Dash won’t turn off

I had my fiirst serious issue with my Longhorn. The dash would not turn off last night. The center LED display was lit with “Press Brake and Push Button to Start” and the 12” Uconnect was blank but lit even though car was off and locked.. I drove the vehicle again and shut off but the dash...

5thgenrams.com

It'a scheduled for a dealership visit on Monday.

RamCares, you have a recurring issue that needs to be addressed. Looks like a prgramming flaw affecting a few of your trucks.

That's interesting as I've done this several times, including the passenger door (basically a defensive parking situation with AS set to OR) and never had noticeable battery drain. I do have eTorque and supposedly the ET battery will keep you from needing a 12V jump so maybe that's what has kept me from seeing any drain?

 

[MJP]

G

I’ve repeated the process a few times and the cluster always stays on when the running boards are deployed from the uconnect screen and the passenger door is exited. The cluster will then stay on until the truck is started, shifted to drive and then turned off. Just starting and turning off the truck doesn’t put the cluster to sleep once it’s been frozen on with this sequence of events.

All of the other sequences of starting, stopping, and exiting the truck that I’ve done over the past couple weeks of ownership apparently haven’t caused a problem since I haven’t had a dead battery. I’ve tried other sequences while troubleshooting over the past day and the cluster always seems to go to sleep. Strange.....

My truck is an 06/19 build. It will be interesting to see what the fix is. I’ll leave the rest of the diagnosis and repair up to the dealership.

Good luck. My screen stayed on once and I started and drove it to turn it off. Hasn’t happened since (knock on wood).

 

[RamCares]

Thanks to this forum I was able to pinpoint the issue. If the running boards are set to stay deployed and a passenger exits the vehicle, the instrument cluster never goes to sleep. Strangely, if only the driver exits the truck it goes to sleep like normal.

Big thanks to South Texas Aggie for sharing his experiences which saved me a few hours of troubleshooting and likely a few wasted trips to the dealership.

Dash won’t turn off

I had my fiirst serious issue with my Longhorn. The dash would not turn off last night. The center LED display was lit with “Press Brake and Push Button to Start” and the 12” Uconnect was blank but lit even though car was off and locked.. I drove the vehicle again and shut off but the dash...

5thgenrams.com

It'a scheduled for a dealership visit on Monday.

RamCares, you have a recurring issue that needs to be addressed. Looks like a prgramming flaw affecting a few of your trucks.

Hi 2019 PB,
We are certainly sorry to hear about your recent concern. If additional assistance is needed while working alongside your dealer, please reach out to us privately.
Laura
Ram Cares

 

[2019 PB]

Hi 2019 PB,
We are certainly sorry to hear about your recent concern. If additional assistance is needed while working alongside your dealer, please reach out to us privately.
Laura
Ram Cares

PM sent.

 

[2019 PB]

Update for those who are following. The instrument cluster did not power down a couple more times over the past weekend when the running boards were deployed.

A dealership visit today didn’t solve the issue. They confirmed that the battery drain while the truck is off is above the accepted levels but couldn’t pinpoint the cause and didn’t fix anything. Their recommendation was to not deploy the steps and to bring it back next time it dies which is not an acceptable answer.

I hope someone in FCA or on this forum find a solution.

This is my fifth consecutive ram so I’m definitely a loyal customer but I’m starting to regret this purchase.

 

[2019 PB]

Hi 2019 PB,
We are certainly sorry to hear about your recent concern. If additional assistance is needed while working alongside your dealer, please reach out to us privately.
Laura
Ram Cares
[/QUOTE]

Another short update...RamCares only cares if you’re south of the 49th. Otherwise you’re out of luck and referred to another useless FCA phone number in Canada.

This is ******** that a brand new defective vehicle can’t be fixed and FCA thinks it’s acceptable

 

[2019 PB]

FCA Canada contacted me and backed up the Dealership’s suggestion that if I don’t deploy the running boards I shouldn’t have an issue. They closed my case file so I can’t even discuss it with them. Wow. So if a part on your truck isn’t working don’t use it and it‘s considered fixed.

Not sure what to do next?