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Air Suspension Killed My Battery

RamInNola

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I've got a '19 1500 with about 67k miles on it. Five days ago, after sitting for a few weeks while I was traveling, it gave me the "Air Suspension Cooling Down Please Wait" message as soon as I got into the truck and started moving. I'd noticed that the compressor seemed to run a bit longer than usual leveling it that morning, but the temps had dropped about 25 degrees since it ran last so I figured it was balancing tanks or something.

Today, my wife looked outside and said "the back of your truck is really high." For her to notice something like that I figured it had to be pretty damn high and, sure enough, it looks like the rear is at Offroad 2 and the front is at aero or entry height. I went out to check it out and the battery was totally dead. My deductive power tells me the compressor must have just run all night elevating the rear (or maybe it went up and down all night... who knows) and killed the battery. No codes when I turn on accessory mode, but I haven't gotten it charged enough to start the engine yet.

Called both dealerships in town, the soonest they can even look at it is December. Don't get me started. I've read the threads I can find on here about issues relating to the cooling message, which seemed to point to a leak. I suppose it's possible that if there's a leak the compressor spent all night trying to build pressure and wasn't able to, but that seems like a terribly designed system. It also doesn't explain why the rear would be higher than the front, although admittedly I'm fairly ignorant about air suspensions.

Anybody ever encountered this or have any suggestions? I'm reasonably capable mechanically and can fix about anything that doesn't involve welding or gears, but I'm a follow-the-steps guy, not a take it apart and see how it works guy. Any help would be appreciated.
 
I've got a '19 1500 with about 67k miles on it. Five days ago, after sitting for a few weeks while I was traveling, it gave me the "Air Suspension Cooling Down Please Wait" message as soon as I got into the truck and started moving. I'd noticed that the compressor seemed to run a bit longer than usual leveling it that morning, but the temps had dropped about 25 degrees since it ran last so I figured it was balancing tanks or something.

Today, my wife looked outside and said "the back of your truck is really high." For her to notice something like that I figured it had to be pretty damn high and, sure enough, it looks like the rear is at Offroad 2 and the front is at aero or entry height. I went out to check it out and the battery was totally dead. My deductive power tells me the compressor must have just run all night elevating the rear (or maybe it went up and down all night... who knows) and killed the battery. No codes when I turn on accessory mode, but I haven't gotten it charged enough to start the engine yet.

Called both dealerships in town, the soonest they can even look at it is December. Don't get me started. I've read the threads I can find on here about issues relating to the cooling message, which seemed to point to a leak. I suppose it's possible that if there's a leak the compressor spent all night trying to build pressure and wasn't able to, but that seems like a terribly designed system. It also doesn't explain why the rear would be higher than the front, although admittedly I'm fairly ignorant about air suspensions.

Anybody ever encountered this or have any suggestions? I'm reasonably capable mechanically and can fix about anything that doesn't involve welding or gears, but I'm a follow-the-steps guy, not a take it apart and see how it works guy. Any help would be appreciated.
I pretty much could have written that to a letter my self.
What took care of me finding my truck in the morning with a dead battery, assend up and nose down, was thoroughly cleaning and applying silver crease to
the inner fender stud that the battery negative cable connects to.
Not saying this will correct your situation but worth a shot IMO.
 
I pretty much could have written that to a letter my self.
What took care of me finding my truck in the morning with a dead battery, assend up and nose down, was thoroughly cleaning and applying silver crease to
the inner fender stud that the battery negative cable connects to.
Not saying this will correct your situation but worth a shot IMO.
I appreciate the reply. I checked the ground and it looks and tests good as new. When I finally got the battery charged up enough and started it I had a dash full of lights and error messages, so I have determined this is more than a suspension issue. It's at the dealership now (found one that could take it today rather than waiting a few months) and they're baffled so far. I'm gonna post a new thread in one of the other forums because it looks like the suspension issue is a symptom, not a cause. If/when I get it solved though I'll try to remember to update this thread in case anybody down the line has a similar issue. Thanks again--
 
I probably would have started with a brand new battery, and then gone from there. Weak batteries cause all sorts of electronic issues
 

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