14,107 trouble free miles and then...

[Neurobit]

Oh and that experience burned me for good. I now carry a charged battery jump pack under the rear seat just in case. Never leave home without it. How’s that for confidence in your vehicle?

 

[silver64]

Oh and that experience burned me for good. I now carry a charged battery jump pack under the rear seat just in case. Never leave home without it. How’s that for confidence in your vehicle?

I would say if your battery has not had a problem in over a year at this point its time to regain your confidence in the truck now!

 

[turkeybird56]

Just picked her up from the dealer.

They apparently recharged the battery and it held charge all day. I'm not holding my breath that it won't happen again. I don't trust that battery anymore but there was no way the dealer was going to let me walk away with a new battery but thats a battle for another day.

Truck is back to running normal and voltage is holding at 14.2v.

I would make a HUGE complaint and insist on a new battery, even elevate to FCA and RAM CARES and maybe see another dealer. When U toast a battery that bad, with all the electronic drain on them, I personally would not chance it. ME PERSONALLY, if I could not get any satisfaction regardless I would spend the money and replace the battery, but that is me, and I live in a rural area.

 

[JimD007]

I also have a 2009 BMW convertible. When the alternator went out, it freaked out something like you describe. I drove it about 10 miles and it shut itself down. I guess it's all the electronics cars have these days. I park it for a week or more fairly often and never use a trickle charger. The first battery lasted more than 10 years.

I agree with the others who say you have a bad battery. But if somebody doesn't figure out what is killing the battery the next one will fail too. I do not understand your reference to "ACC". Are you saying the air conditioner? Is it the large load killing the battery? Dropping the voltage to under 11 volts with the engine running is a really large load.

I had a parasitic load issue on a different vehicle years ago. I got a relatively cheap multimeter at Walmart that would read current - but low levels of current. I was able to see the current draw even with everything off and then pull fuses until it went away. It was the radio circuit, however, and my daughter wanted her radio to work. So I replaced her battery and the car ran as long as she needed.

 

[OldMarine]

I also have a 2009 BMW convertible. When the alternator went out, it freaked out something like you describe. I drove it about 10 miles and it shut itself down. I guess it's all the electronics cars have these days. I park it for a week or more fairly often and never use a trickle charger. The first battery lasted more than 10 years.

I agree with the others who say you have a bad battery. But if somebody doesn't figure out what is killing the battery the next one will fail too. I do not understand your reference to "ACC". Are you saying the air conditioner? Is it the large load killing the battery? Dropping the voltage to under 11 volts with the engine running is a really large load.

I had a parasitic load issue on a different vehicle years ago. I got a relatively cheap multimeter at Walmart that would read current - but low levels of current. I was able to see the current draw even with everything off and then pull fuses until it went away. It was the radio circuit, however, and my daughter wanted her radio to work. So I replaced her battery and the car ran as long as she needed.

ACC is the position on the ignition button...ACC stands for "Accessories"...there are 3 positions,(not counting off position)...1.ACC 2. RUN 3.Start

 

[silverWS6]

Thank you for the replies fellas! I ended up buying a battery at AutoZone yesterday and guess what? Truck is running perfect!

I'll be making a trip to the dealer and I'll be dammed if I don't get a new battery.

 

[jdmartin]

Funny story: back when I was in the USN I had a 79 Olds Delta 88 with a 403 V8. It leaked and burned oil so bad I had to carry a case in the trunk. Eventually when I got sick of paying a buck a quart (yes, this was a long time ago) I started carrying used oil from the gas stations. It smoked like a mosquito fogger. But the relevant and funny part to this story is that it had a massive short/draw somewhere in the vehicle that would kill a fully charged battery in 20 minutes. So if I was shutting the car off for longer than 10 minutes I had to pull the battery cable. I got really good and quick at pulling that terminal. When I was getting transferred, I left it in long term parking with the cable off, a gallon of used oil in the trunk and keys in the ignition hoping someone would steal it. On my first cruise back to Norfolk 3 months later, I walked out there and it was still sitting in the same spot. I filled it up with the used oil ( took all of it), stuck the battery cable on and it started right up and me and my buddies had something to cruise in for the weekend

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Thank you for the replies fellas! I ended up buying a battery at AutoZone yesterday and guess what? Truck is running perfect!

I'll be making a trip to the dealer and I'll be dammed if I don't get a new battery.

You still need to make sure there's not a drain on the battery from something not shutting down.

 

[EugeneYYZ]

all symptoms > dead battery

 

[vegaskeith]

I had somewhat of a simular issue, for some crazy reason they will spend hours on RAM warranty money on electrical and refuse to replace a stupid $100 battery. I just do not get it when it is common sense it IS the battery.

 

[silver64]

I had somewhat of a simular issue, for some crazy reason they will spend hours on RAM warranty money on electrical and refuse to replace a stupid $100 battery. I just do not get it when it is common sense it IS the battery.

Sometimes they do this because if there is a bad parasitic drain on the battery and they dont find it, it will just keep killing batteries until they find the cause.