14,107 trouble free miles and then...

[silverWS6]

Before I start let me say, I still love my truck and I have high hopes that this issue(s) will be fixed and I'll be able to enjoy my truck again.

So yesterday, I go to use my truck. I usually remote start it from inaide the house then go out to the garage. I tired to start it and got no start, so I thought my kid left the door slightly opened again, no biggie.

I load up my kid and go to start it and it acts as if the battery is dead. Dash lights up, and a loud click. Seemed like the starter was trying to engage. Again, no biggie. I thought, oh well I'll jump it and go to the dealer when I get a chance.

Well, it got really weird!

I tried to start it again and then the dash said "vehicle not in park" and the shifter knob started to make noise as if it was trying to find the gear.

The push to start button stayed in the run position and the dash went off.

I disconnected the battery, waited a couple minutes then connected the battery again.

Tried to start it again... this time the dash again said "vehicle not in park" and then it gave "autopark disabled", then "service ABS", then "service electronic stability control", then "power steering unavailable service required". And then boom, dash dies out again.

I checked the voltage on the battery using the dash and it read 9.0 volts.

Well, I tried to jump it and I got the same reaction.

But wait, there's more!

Underneath the hood the electric vaccum pump (Integrated Control Unit, black cylinder looking thing at the driver side front of the engine block) was doing a constant buzzing sound. It would stop for maybe a minute then start again and it would continue to do so until I would disconnect the battery.

So needless to say, I contacted my dealer and got a wrecker to take it in.

Well, that was not fun either. I could not disable the e-brake. I was able to get the truck into neutral but not disengage the e-brake.

Lastly, when the wrecker guy was loading it on his truck. The truck was stuck in 4wd, the front tires were locking up and not rolling freely!! I am 110% sure the truck was in 2wd when I last parked it.

I'm absolutely stumped as to what could be going on. I tried checking the grounds and they all seemed fine. The last time I used the truck, it ran just fine. We had just taken a small roadtrip about 1.5 hours away from home and it ran perfect, even got my best mpg ever lol

Mainly looking to see if anybody has had something similar or any guesses? I know long read but I'd appreciate any input!

 

[GoMango16]

Battery....BTDT.

 

[Shadow14]

The battery went out recently on our 2019 at 2 years and 11k miles. No warning and everything dead just as you describe. Battery checked at 9V like yours too. I charged it overnight and it only got to 10V. Probably a dead cell. Luckily I had a spare battery to put in it until we could get it in the dealer. Dealer replaced the battery under warranty but technician threw away the pad that went around the battery. Make sure they reinstall the pad.

 

[silverWS6]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

The battery being dead will really cause all the issues described?

 

[Amazing93]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

The battery being dead will really cause all the issues described?

Absolutely. What you have going on is a dead battery. There not a thing on these trucks that don't have a wire going to them. You'll get a new battery and be good to go. I'd be more worried about the potential damage the wrecker did to your truck. They should have put your wheels on rollers if the tires wouldn't roll. Also there's a procedure for disabling the ebreak in the owners manual in the event of a dead battery.

 

[silverWS6]

Absolutely. What you have going on is a dead battery. There not a thing on these trucks that don't have a wire going to them. You'll get a new battery and be good to go. I'd be more worried about the potential damage the wrecker did to your truck. They should have put your wheels on rollers if the tires wouldn't roll. Also there's a procedure for disabling the ebreak in the owners manual in the event of a dead battery.

Since the truck was inside the garage, he couldn't use rollers because the roof would hit on my house. He did use "skates" to essentially slide the truck out. He didn't just drag it out. So hopefully no damage was done there.

I looked and searched online everywhere, all O found was how to put the truck in neutral in the event of a dead battery but nothing on the e-brake. If you have time, could you point me in the right direction?

 

[stronbl]

My bet would be on the battery too. Hopefully that's all it is. My wife's 2008 3 series BMW had the battery go out last year and everything went crazy - and I mean everything, steering errors, engine faults, wipers fault, pretty much anything that needed electrical power was either flashing or dead. Put in a new battery - not a cheap or easy process in the BMW - and presto, everything back to normal with no lingering issues. Fingers are crossed for you!

 

[silver64]

FYI- your battery at a full charge should meter about 13.8 volts. If its at 9 or 10 volts its usually toasted. This whole scenario of yours concerns me. The last thing anyone wants is a dead truck. The high energy ignition system and all the other electrical drains can take a toll on the battery if the alternator isn't fully charging the battery.

 

[Finn5033]

Agree with the others, a bad battery will cause issues with everything. Years ago my wife and I drove 5 minutes from our house for breakfast. Truck started normal everything was fine on the way there. When we went to leave, turned the key and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. Every single light that there was came on. I was thinking oh man the PCM is fried. Ended up just being a bad battery

 

[silverWS6]

You guys might just be right

Checked in with the dealer, they're also thinking battery.

 

[yankeefan31569]

battery is toast

 

[silverWS6]

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.

 

[Dusty1948]

Of the three new Honda owners that I know, all three had pretty much the same scenario that ended up being a battery failure. This follows a pattern of recent battery failures, with one minute operating fine, the next instant dead.

Like others have commented, I think the battery is defective unless there is a charging issue.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 042963 miles.

 

[silverWS6]

Of the three new Honda owners that I know, all three had pretty much the same scenario that ended up being a battery failure. This follows a pattern of recent battery failures, with one minute operating fine, the next instant dead.

Like others have commented, I think the battery is defective unless there is a charging issue.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 042963 miles.

Hopefully it isn't a charging issue.

Truck will be sitting for the next two days, so we'll find out how she does Friday morning!

 

[vegaskeith]

When you shut the engine off, firmly press the brake, push off button, WAIT 5+ seconds, you are good. If the cluster beeps, re start the n shut off. Or else the electronics stay on and battery goes dead. Been there.

 

[Maconi]

Since the truck was inside the garage, he couldn't use rollers because the roof would hit on my house. He did use "skates" to essentially slide the truck out. He didn't just drag it out. So hopefully no damage was done there.

I looked and searched online everywhere, all O found was how to put the truck in neutral in the event of a dead battery but nothing on the e-brake. If you have time, could you point me in the right direction?

All I see in the manual is the page about the Manual Park Release.

 

[silverWS6]

All I see in the manual is the page about the Manual Park Release.

That's all I was able to find too.

 

[HAL9001]

This is an issue with a lot of new vehicles including my current 2019 SUV. Something intermittently causes the battery to drain and since these vehicles are heavily electronic controlled, when the battery goes below a certain voltage all kinds of erratic things appear to happen, not the least of which is the inability to start the car. My car even fired off a maintenance fault to the dealer via the on-board SOS satellite communication system. I also received a fault notice on my smartphone.

The cure? Recharge the battery and hope it doesn't happen again. Now, this can be tricky because with a lot of the new microprocessor-controlled battery chargers, a very low voltage (<10 VDC) usually locks out the charging circuit. You'll need to use a manual charger to bring back a heavily discharged battery and those can be a bit hard to find these days.

So far in the nearly two years that I've owned my 2019 SUV, I've had to do this four times. It's been to the dealer several times but they can't find the problem which is fairly common with this model. So, I had to buy a backup battery for it which I quickly swap out whenever it happens. I'm glad I'll soon be trading in this car for a RAM and yet here it's being reported on the RAM forum.

 

[Dusty1948]

This is an issue with a lot of new vehicles including my current 2019 SUV. Something intermittently causes the battery to drain and since these vehicles are heavily electronic controlled, when the battery goes below a certain voltage all kinds of erratic things appear to happen, not the least of which is the inability to start the car. My car even fired off a maintenance fault to the dealer via the on-board SOS satellite communication system. I also received a fault notice on my smartphone.

The cure? Recharge the battery and hope it doesn't happen again. Now, this can be tricky because with a lot of the new microprocessor-controlled battery chargers, a very low voltage (<10 VDC) usually locks out the charging circuit. You'll need to use a manual charger to bring back a heavily discharged battery and those can be a bit hard to find these days.

So far in the nearly two years that I've owned my 2019 SUV, I've had to do this four times. It's been to the dealer several times but they can't find the problem which is fairly common with this model. So, I had to buy a backup battery for it which I quickly swap out whenever it happens. I'm glad I'll soon be trading in this car for a RAM and yet here it's being reported on the RAM forum.

I know several people that work in auto repair and/or auto parts and tell me this is a real common problem. There are, as usual, different theories on this, but there may be a prominent link to the OEM supplier. In any event, I'm not sure I'd trust a battery that needed to be charged that often, unless there's a pattern of severe battery drain (ie: short trips at night, heavy use of electrical systems, etc.).

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 042965 miles.

 

[RamCares]

Before I start let me say, I still love my truck and I have high hopes that this issue(s) will be fixed and I'll be able to enjoy my truck again.

So yesterday, I go to use my truck. I usually remote start it from inaide the house then go out to the garage. I tired to start it and got no start, so I thought my kid left the door slightly opened again, no biggie.

I load up my kid and go to start it and it acts as if the battery is dead. Dash lights up, and a loud click. Seemed like the starter was trying to engage. Again, no biggie. I thought, oh well I'll jump it and go to the dealer when I get a chance.

Well, it got really weird!

I tried to start it again and then the dash said "vehicle not in park" and the shifter knob started to make noise as if it was trying to find the gear.

The push to start button stayed in the run position and the dash went off.

I disconnected the battery, waited a couple minutes then connected the battery again.

Tried to start it again... this time the dash again said "vehicle not in park" and then it gave "autopark disabled", then "service ABS", then "service electronic stability control", then "power steering unavailable service required". And then boom, dash dies out again.

I checked the voltage on the battery using the dash and it read 9.0 volts.

Well, I tried to jump it and I got the same reaction.

But wait, there's more!

Underneath the hood the electric vaccum pump (Integrated Control Unit, black cylinder looking thing at the driver side front of the engine block) was doing a constant buzzing sound. It would stop for maybe a minute then start again and it would continue to do so until I would disconnect the battery.

So needless to say, I contacted my dealer and got a wrecker to take it in.

Well, that was not fun either. I could not disable the e-brake. I was able to get the truck into neutral but not disengage the e-brake.

Lastly, when the wrecker guy was loading it on his truck. The truck was stuck in 4wd, the front tires were locking up and not rolling freely!! I am 110% sure the truck was in 2wd when I last parked it.

I'm absolutely stumped as to what could be going on. I tried checking the grounds and they all seemed fine. The last time I used the truck, it ran just fine. We had just taken a small roadtrip about 1.5 hours away from home and it ran perfect, even got my best mpg ever lol

Mainly looking to see if anybody has had something similar or any guesses? I know long read but I'd appreciate any input!

Hello @silverWS6
We certainly are sorry to hear about this experience! Please be sure to keep us posted on your dealer visit. We would be more than willing to escalate a case on your behalf to a specialist for further support through that process. Please do not hesitate to follow up via private message with any questions you may have.

Kathryn
RamCares