Dead battery would have left me stranded...

[killerformula]

Hi guys,

22 Laramie like in my signature. I am approaching 15/16 months of ownership, about 20k miles on it. Been decent the whole time I have owned it. I have no aftermarket electronics anywhere in the vehicle.

Went on a trip with the family and parked the car in a budget airport lot. Locked it up and left. Came back 6 days later on a red eye. It's 630 in the morning, cold (maybe 40 degrees), dark and we're all beat. Had a couple of my friends kid with me, 6 of us in total (luckily I have 6 passenger seating).

First indication there as a problem is the tailgate wouldn't open. I knew right there I was dealing with a (very) dead battery. I have a jump pack and I hooked it up. Figured I was carrying it for somebody ELSES car!

It was an absolute pain in the A$$ to get it started. The stupid thing kept turning on the headlights despite me having them forced off. Finally after flickering, and failing a ton of times, the truck starts and runs like crap. Christmas tree of lights. I get it moving and it seems to improve as revs increase. Of course I'm stuck in a parking lot and the attendant wants to ask 400 questions about my check out. Truck dies again. Another pain in the A to get it started. I limp it home finally getting it up to speed it seems to stop having issues. Check engine light is on.

I have read the battery poll thread, but I really don't come away with the fix. Is this just a terrible batch of batteries and/or is there some parasitic drain that needs to be addressed by the dealer?

I have an appointment this week but I really would like to come away with a fix. 6 days of sitting in somewhat cold weather should not be even close to a situation where I deal with a dead battery. 60k for a truck I need to be able to start the thing, this is ridiculous!

 

[bigdodge]

Hi guys,

22 Laramie like in my signature. I am approaching 15/16 months of ownership, about 20k miles on it. Been decent the whole time I have owned it. I have no aftermarket electronics anywhere in the vehicle.

Went on a trip with the family and parked the car in a budget airport lot. Locked it up and left. Came back 6 days later on a red eye. It's 630 in the morning, cold (maybe 40 degrees), dark and we're all beat. Had a couple of my friends kid with me, 6 of us in total (luckily I have 6 passenger seating).

First indication there as a problem is the tailgate wouldn't open. I knew right there I was dealing with a (very) dead battery. I have a jump pack and I hooked it up. Figured I was carrying it for somebody ELSES car!

It was an absolute pain in the A$$ to get it started. The stupid thing kept turning on the headlights despite me having them forced off. Finally after flickering, and failing a ton of times, the truck starts and runs like crap. Christmas tree of lights. I get it moving and it seems to improve as revs increase. Of course I'm stuck in a parking lot and the attendant wants to ask 400 questions about my check out. Truck dies again. Another pain in the A to get it started. I limp it home finally getting it up to speed it seems to stop having issues. Check engine light is on.

I have read the battery poll thread, but I really don't come away with the fix. Is this just a terrible batch of batteries and/or is there some parasitic drain that needs to be addressed by the dealer?

I have an appointment this week but I really would like to come away with a fix. 6 days of sitting in somewhat cold weather should not be even close to a situation where I deal with a dead battery. 60k for a truck I need to be able to start the thing, this is ridiculous!

IMO it's the battery

 

[kapinallinen2]

Hi guys,

22 Laramie like in my signature. I am approaching 15/16 months of ownership, about 20k miles on it. Been decent the whole time I have owned it. I have no aftermarket electronics anywhere in the vehicle.

Went on a trip with the family and parked the car in a budget airport lot. Locked it up and left. Came back 6 days later on a red eye. It's 630 in the morning, cold (maybe 40 degrees), dark and we're all beat. Had a couple of my friends kid with me, 6 of us in total (luckily I have 6 passenger seating).

First indication there as a problem is the tailgate wouldn't open. I knew right there I was dealing with a (very) dead battery. I have a jump pack and I hooked it up. Figured I was carrying it for somebody ELSES car!

It was an absolute pain in the A$$ to get it started. The stupid thing kept turning on the headlights despite me having them forced off. Finally after flickering, and failing a ton of times, the truck starts and runs like crap. Christmas tree of lights. I get it moving and it seems to improve as revs increase. Of course I'm stuck in a parking lot and the attendant wants to ask 400 questions about my check out. Truck dies again. Another pain in the A to get it started. I limp it home finally getting it up to speed it seems to stop having issues. Check engine light is on.

I have read the battery poll thread, but I really don't come away with the fix. Is this just a terrible batch of batteries and/or is there some parasitic drain that needs to be addressed by the dealer?

I have an appointment this week but I really would like to come away with a fix. 6 days of sitting in somewhat cold weather should not be even close to a situation where I deal with a dead battery. 60k for a truck I need to be able to start the thing, this is ridiculous!

IMO, it is not the battery but a bad ground.

 

[Darksteel165]

I have an appointment this week but I really would like to come away with a fix. 6 days of sitting in somewhat cold weather should not be even close to a situation where I deal with a dead battery. 60k for a truck I need to be able to start the thing, this is ridiculous!

Your fix is a new battery. It is overly abundant that Ram uses a poor quality battery just like starter ink cartridges in $20 printer to charge you more later.
Let them replace it under warranty and when that one dies in 2 years get an aftermarket battery.

Batteries die. The price of your truck has nothing to do about the quality of the battery you get. There area ton of electronics in these trucks. Ones that even run when the truck is completely off like your cell tracking for fca to monitor where your truck is 24/7.
You have a 2022 so that feature is actually included for free for 10 years at least (make sure you get your insurance discount for LoJack and use that money on another battery)

 

[Dewey]

Bad battery already on a 2022? What a bunch of crap.

There’s no damn excuse for this and add it to the list of other problems RAM has known about for years and never did anything to correct the problem. Somehow justifying this because these vehicles have so many electronics just doesn’t fly with me. My wife’s car (a Gm product) has just as much and I finally had to replace that battery at 6 1/2 years. This is the norm…..or at least it used to be.

I haven’t ever had to replace a battery in any of my trucks over the past 30+ years and owned many up to 5 years without any issues. It’s just not something that never had to be a concern but now thinking I better keep a booster in the truck just in case. I’m in some pretty remote spots hunting often so that would really suck to come back to a dead junk battery. Every time I see these dead battery threads I just cringe. It’s not something that we should ever have to worry about nor ever happen with a newer vehicle.

 

[6of36]

Bad battery already on a 2022? What a bunch of crap.

There’s no damn excuse for this and add it to the list of other problems RAM has known about for years and never did anything to correct the problem. Somehow justifying this because these vehicles have so many electronics just doesn’t fly with me. My wife’s car (a Gm product) has just as much and I finally had to replace that battery at 6 1/2 years. This is the norm…..or at least it used to be.

I haven’t ever had to replace a battery in any of my trucks over the past 30+ years and owned many up to 5 years without any issues. It’s just not something that never had to be a concern but now thinking I better keep a booster in the truck just in case. I’m in some pretty remote spots hunting often so that would really suck to come back to a dead junk battery. Every time I see these dead battery threads I just cringe. It’s not something that we should ever have to worry about nor ever happen with a newer vehicle.

It is ridiculous that these batteries are dying this fast. There is a couple reasons though. Ram is just putting in barely sufficient batteries. But, your wife's 6 1/2 year old car, probably has 50 % less electronics than today's vehicles. You may not see the differences, but everything is computer controlled now. No batteries are made like they used to be. 40 years ago, you could buy a Montgomery Ward battery, that was better than a Die Hard, and use it in your next 3 cars. They lasted 8 to ten years easy. Now the average battery life is about 3 to 4 years. I bought a brand new Motorcraft battery, right from a Ford dealer, that lasted just over a year.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Bad battery already on a 2022? What a bunch of crap.

There’s no damn excuse for this and add it to the list of other problems RAM has known about for years and never did anything to correct the problem. Somehow justifying this because these vehicles have so many electronics just doesn’t fly with me. My wife’s car (a Gm product) has just as much and I finally had to replace that battery at 6 1/2 years. This is the norm…..or at least it used to be.

I haven’t ever had to replace a battery in any of my trucks over the past 30+ years and owned many up to 5 years without any issues. It’s just not something that never had to be a concern but now thinking I better keep a booster in the truck just in case. I’m in some pretty remote spots hunting often so that would really suck to come back to a dead junk battery. Every time I see these dead battery threads I just cringe. It’s not something that we should ever have to worry about nor ever happen with a newer vehicle.

Batteries die. Has nothing to do with the vehicle manufacturer, or price of your vehicle. Average lifespan of current batteries, factory installed, or aftermarket is 3-4 years as mentioned. Some last longer some don't. I had a 99 Dakota that the battery developed a bad cell and would barely take a jump from a running vehicle with jumper csbles, let alone trying to use a jump starter pack. Was less than two years old, and 20k miles. Bought a new one and called it a day. Didn't even worry about going to dealer.

Have had Optima batteries die on me in less than a year. Eventually figured out Optima quality is **** anymore so stopped buying them after going through two red tops and a blue top in three years. All were replaced under warranty, but wasn't worth the hassle.

As far as GM products. My wife has a 2020 Traverse RS. Cost more than my Ram. One year old, and 150 miles into a family vacation trip the low voltage and battery light popped on driving down the interstate. Cruise kicked off and couldn't be used. One by one, non-essential features states shutting down. Brought up the battery voltage screen and watched the battery voltage going down. RPM didn't matter. Pulled over, shut it off, and restarted thinking maybe it just needed reset. Still had same issue. Luckily there was a small town Chevy dealer less than 5 miles away. Limped it there, battery was displaying less than 12v when we shut it off in service drive. Talked to service advisor, said they were a man short and no guarantee they could even look at it that day. Started making phone calls to family, had an aunt and cousin that lived close. Had a loaner vehicle lined up, but wouldn't be able to get it until after my cousin got off work that evening. Thankfully the dealer pulled it in, diagnosed a bad alternator. Located a replacement at another dealer 20 miles away, sent a runner, and had us back on the road in under three hours. But I shouldn't have had to worry about that on a one year old 55k vehicle based on your comments.

 

[Dewey]

Batteries die. Has nothing to do with the vehicle manufacturer, or price of your vehicle. Average lifespan of current batteries, factory installed, or aftermarket is 3-4 years as mentioned. Some last longer some don't. I had a 99 Dakota that the battery developed a bad cell and would barely take a jump from a running vehicle with jumper csbles, let alone trying to use a jump starter pack. Was less than two years old, and 20k miles. Bought a new one and called it a day. Didn't even worry about going to dealer.

Have had Optima batteries die on me in less than a year. Eventually figured out Optima quality is **** anymore so stopped buying them after going through two red tops and a blue top in three years. All were replaced under warranty, but wasn't worth the hassle.

As far as GM products. My wife has a 2020 Traverse RS. Cost more than my Ram. One year old, and 150 miles into a family vacation trip the low voltage and battery light popped on driving down the interstate. Cruise kicked off and couldn't be used. One by one, non-essential features states shutting down. Brought up the battery voltage screen and watched the battery voltage going down. RPM didn't matter. Pulled over, shut it off, and restarted thinking maybe it just needed reset. Still had same issue. Luckily there was a small town Chevy dealer less than 5 miles away. Limped it there, battery was displaying less than 12v when we shut it off in service drive. Talked to service advisor, said they were a man short and no guarantee they could even look at it that day. Started making phone calls to family, had an aunt and cousin that lived close. Had a loaner vehicle lined up, but wouldn't be able to get it until after my cousin got off work that evening. Thankfully the dealer pulled it in, diagnosed a bad alternator. Located a replacement at another dealer 20 miles away, sent a runner, and had us back on the road in under three hours. But I shouldn't have had to worry about that on a one year old 55k vehicle based on your comments.

I must be the luckiest person alive. Haven’t had a battery issue with any vehicle since I drove old junkers back in the 80’s. Even my starting and deep cycle batteries in multiple boats.
Guess it’s pretty easy to accept this happening if your accustomed to them crapping out on regular basis. Maybe I’ll get lucky and not have any issues with my 2022 battery as well. Both my 4th Gen RAM batteries were still just fine at 5 years. No issues starting even in -10 or lower temps.
I realize stuff happens but it just gets a bit concerning when stuff like this seems to occur much more often than it ever should.

 

[6of36]

I must be the luckiest person alive. Haven’t had a battery issue with any vehicle since I drove old junkers back in the 80’s. Even my starting and deep cycle batteries in multiple boats.
Guess it’s pretty easy to accept this happening if your accustomed to them crapping out on regular basis. Maybe I’ll get lucky and not have any issues with my 2022 battery as well. Both my 4th Gen RAM batteries were still just fine at 5 years. No issues starting even in -10 or lower temps.
I realize stuff happens but it just gets a bit concerning when stuff like this seems to occur much more often than it ever should.

You could probably take your 22 bad battery, and put it in a gen4 and it would work. These newer trucks are just way more sensitive to voltage. The starter will work at 12v, the computer won't.

 

[Dewey]

You could probably take your 22 bad battery, and put it in a gen4 and it would work. These newer trucks are just way more sensitive to voltage. The starter will work at 12v, the computer won't.

Good thing we have that huge extra battery pack in the back seat.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I must be the luckiest person alive. Haven’t had a battery issue with any vehicle since I drove old junkers back in the 80’s. Even my starting and deep cycle batteries in multiple boats.
Guess it’s pretty easy to accept this happening if your accustomed to them crapping out on regular basis. Maybe I’ll get lucky and not have any issues with my 2022 battery as well. Both my 4th Gen RAM batteries were still just fine at 5 years. No issues starting even in -10 or lower temps.
I realize stuff happens but it just gets a bit concerning when stuff like this seems to occur much more often than it ever should.

Batterbin my 2020 Ram has been okay. It died once, and hooking up a battery chargers the battery charger said it was bad and wouldn't charge it. Got it jump startd and took it to dealer. They tested it and said it was good. Haven't had any issues since, and that was over two years ago. Still on factory battery. My work van is a 2018 ProMaster City. Had to get factory battery replaced two years ago. It would still start the little 4cyl, but it struggled on cold days. Was just outside the factory warranty. Took battery to parts store and they said it was bad. Got a new battery for it. Luckily I didnt have to pay for it. Had I not noticed the signs of it going bad, it was only a matter of time before it wouldn't have started one day.

 

[VectorZ]

I once ran my battery dead by inadvertently turning on the bed cargo light.

 

[Darksteel165]

I once ran my battery dead by inadvertently turning on the bed cargo light.

They made it turn off after a bit now.
I only know because I was using it and after a while it turned off on me.

One time I was waiting in my 06 Mustang with the music playing for only 30 minutes and the battery died and I had to get it jump started.
I guess those Kicker 500s were just too much for the poor thing.

 

[killerformula]

Well, I will probably let the dealer look at it and if they replace the battery, fine. I guess it could be the ground but I think that would have been an issue from the start, not sure why it would show up just now. Probably worth cleaning it anyway. If they replace the battery I may ask them to do that too.

All that said I will probably replace the battery with something decent. I disagree that all batteries are the same, I have used hundreds of batteries in my day and had a lot more cheap Walmart batteries take dump in me than good interstate or the old school die hard.

 

[6of36]

Well, I will probably let the dealer look at it and if they replace the battery, fine. I guess it could be the ground but I think that would have been an issue from the start, not sure why it would show up just now. Probably worth cleaning it anyway. If they replace the battery I may ask them to do that too.

All that said I will probably replace the battery with something decent. I disagree that all batteries are the same, I have used hundreds of batteries in my day and had a lot more cheap Walmart batteries take dump in me than good interstate or the old school die hard.

Bad grounds usually don't show up for a while. Unless the connection is very loose, it still makes the connection, until corrosion starts.

 

[RamCares]

Hi guys,

22 Laramie like in my signature. I am approaching 15/16 months of ownership, about 20k miles on it. Been decent the whole time I have owned it. I have no aftermarket electronics anywhere in the vehicle.

Went on a trip with the family and parked the car in a budget airport lot. Locked it up and left. Came back 6 days later on a red eye. It's 630 in the morning, cold (maybe 40 degrees), dark and we're all beat. Had a couple of my friends kid with me, 6 of us in total (luckily I have 6 passenger seating).

First indication there as a problem is the tailgate wouldn't open. I knew right there I was dealing with a (very) dead battery. I have a jump pack and I hooked it up. Figured I was carrying it for somebody ELSES car!

It was an absolute pain in the A$$ to get it started. The stupid thing kept turning on the headlights despite me having them forced off. Finally after flickering, and failing a ton of times, the truck starts and runs like crap. Christmas tree of lights. I get it moving and it seems to improve as revs increase. Of course I'm stuck in a parking lot and the attendant wants to ask 400 questions about my check out. Truck dies again. Another pain in the A to get it started. I limp it home finally getting it up to speed it seems to stop having issues. Check engine light is on.

I have read the battery poll thread, but I really don't come away with the fix. Is this just a terrible batch of batteries and/or is there some parasitic drain that needs to be addressed by the dealer?

I have an appointment this week but I really would like to come away with a fix. 6 days of sitting in somewhat cold weather should not be even close to a situation where I deal with a dead battery. 60k for a truck I need to be able to start the thing, this is ridiculous!

Hey there,

If you'd like some assistance with your battery while your vehicle is at the dealership, please reach out to us. We're available via direct messaging.

Callie
Ram Cares

 

[Rick3478]

Let me just toss this into the mix. A couple years ago, I took a flight to visit family and parked in the budget lot, like you. So at this particular airport, the budget lot happens to be right beside the end of one of the main runways. As I was gathering myself to head for the shuttle bus, one of the big jets throttled up beside me and headed for the sky. There were horns going off all over the parking lot from vehicle alarm systems being rocked by the exhaust blast. I thought to myself, with a jet going out every few minutes, there's going to be some dead batteries by the time the owners get back. Don't know if it's relevant to you, but there it is.

 

[killerformula]

Let me just toss this into the mix. A couple years ago, I took a flight to visit family and parked in the budget lot, like you. So at this particular airport, the budget lot happens to be right beside the end of one of the main runways. As I was gathering myself to head for the shuttle bus, one of the big jets throttled up beside me and headed for the sky. There were horns going off all over the parking lot from vehicle alarm systems being rocked by the exhaust blast. I thought to myself, with a jet going out every few minutes, there's going to be some dead batteries by the time the owners get back. Don't know if it's relevant to you, but there it is.

Oh wow that’s horrible. Nah mine was a short shuttle ride away, not near the runway or noise of that level.

 

[Cbty2050]

I left my truck for 12 days in Northern Michigan last month. 10-20 degrees everyday, no issues. Weird.

 

[JimO]

My 2022's battery was running down quickly while parked. Problem was my car cam being plugged into the cig lighter plug on the top of the dash. That plug on my truck came wired to get power directly from the battery so the cam depleted the battery over 4-5 days. The fix is to set that receptacle to be powered through the ignition switch by moving it's fuse to an alternate spot as shown in the user's manual.