2019 Limited 1500 Battery Good, truck Dead

[Drnodegree]

A month ago I went out to the truck to go to work and the truck was dead... No running boards deployed, no lights on the dash, not a peep or a pop.
I tried boosting it...nothing...completely dead.
I put a charger on it without checking the battery with a multimeter and went to work. Came home at lunch and it still didn't light up. Dealership said tow it in...
I didn't have time to arrange a tow truck and figured I would be able to sort it out myself.
After work I put my hand in the door handle and the truck came alive....
it was like it woke up...back up camera was a blue screen...some other memory settings weren't there anymore (gauge cluster configuration) but it ran.
all functions were working 100% about 2 hours later.

This happened again this morning.
this time i checked the battery....fully charged 13V.
I put a trickle charger on it anyway...thinking it was tempermental...maybe a 0.5V difference caused it to puke and fail.....didn't do anything.

I called a tow truck and he tried boosting it...nothing...totally dead truck with a good battery.

at the dealership they tried to get a reading off the OBD port, but because it was DEAD they couldnt get anything..

They checked the battery....fully charged..."not the battery".

They figure some connector somewhere must be disconnected because there is NOTHING on at all and everything under the hood looks normal.

Stay Tuned.
(i have read all (most) other forum posts and couldn't find anything related to battery being fine but truck dead).

 

[evanxrs]

Wild. With all the electronics on trucks these i cant see it taking to much (programmig error) to destroy the electronics. Let us know what they say.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

[vegaskeith]

I had something like this but it did jump, they towed it anyway. I believe the issue was caused by shutting off the ignition too fast. I noticed the system does not shut down immediately if you do a quick tap and exit. To solve this and prevent all systems from remaining on, put foot on brake, push button off, wait 3 seconds to exit.

 

[HeliPilot]

Sounds like...put your left foot in, pull your left foot out, put your left foot in and shake it all about, do the hokie pokie, turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about...and maybe your truck will start

 

[Sascwatch]

I had similar issues when my truck was new, turned out to be a couple of loose ground wires. There was a star case for this on the new ecodiesel motors.

 

[Billy James]

A battery with a bad cell can read a good voltage with a multi-meter; then go haywire under a load. Chryslers have always been sensitive to bad batteries. You should have a battery load tested if its in question.

 

[Drnodegree]

it wasn't the battery. I also load tested it at home and it was fine...even a dead battery with a booster on it should light up the dash at the very least....

The tech said that there is a wire from the battery to the distribution terminal that went through a fuse... He said the fuse was OK, but that the fuse holder was likely loose (loose nut/connection) from the factory...so it worked most of the time but this time it didn't.

I am SO THANKFUL the truck didn't jiggle itself enough on the tow ride to the dealership that the connection was remade.....

he said they saw lots of evidence of arcing that they ordered a new fuse unit, installed it tight and all is good.

Cant imagine the grief it it was (Murphy's law) working fine again when i took it in....

i will dig around and see if i can locate what part they were talking about....

 

[Drewster]

Sounds like a bad power distribution module - hopefully that's the end of your problems

 

[Aseras]

There's also the connector under the windshield that if it get so much as a sprinkle of water in it bricks the truck too.

 

[vegaskeith]

My limited quit three times in the first 40 days. Dealership could not locate the issue, useless. We found it, many fuses/circuit breakers/relays were loose and not pushed in firmly. All from factory. RAM CARE, please note this!!!

 

[RamCares]

My limited quit three times in the first 40 days. Dealership could not locate the issue, useless. We found it, many fuses/circuit breakers/relays were loose and not pushed in firmly. All from factory. RAM CARE, please note this!!!

I apologize for the frustration with the dealer! If you need to work with a Ram dealer again at any point down the road, please be sure to follow up with us via PM so that we can escalate a case on your behalf to a specialist for further support.

Mark
RamCares

 

[dmodem]

I apologize for the frustration with the dealer! If you need to work with a Ram dealer again at any point down the road, please be sure to follow up with us via PM so that we can escalate a case on your behalf to a specialist for further support.

Mark
RamCares

So, today is the 2nd time my Limited has been completely dead. The 1st time I charged it for 6 hours and it started, but the dealer could find no problem. Today, it's completely dead again and back on the charger. Ridiculous.

 

[vegaskeith]

On Limited's when you shut off the ignition IF you hear a beeping sound, the slow software FAILED to put the truck systems to sleep and the battery will go dead. Re start the truck briefly and stop again with foot on the brake for 5 seconds. This will do the trick.

 

[Buz]

On Limited's when you shut off the ignition IF you hear a beeping sound, the slow software FAILED to put the truck systems to sleep and the battery will go dead. Re start the truck briefly and stop again with foot on the brake for 5 seconds. This will do the trick.

Interesting. How do you know this?
The fuses that aren’t seated all the way sounded like a pretty plausible explanation. I know a lot of my fuses weren’t fully seated. I pushed on them and some ‘clicked’ into place.

 

[RamCares]

So, today is the 2nd time my Limited has been completely dead. The 1st time I charged it for 6 hours and it started, but the dealer could find no problem. Today, it's completely dead again and back on the charger. Ridiculous.

Sorry for the trouble, please do not hesitate to send us a private message if you address this with your dealer and need support for that process!

Mark
RamCares

 

[dmodem]

Sorry for the trouble, please do not hesitate to send us a private message if you address this with your dealer and need support for that process!

Mark
RamCares

The dealer told me it shouldn't sit in my garage for 4-5 days, and I should start it every other day to ensure it stays charged. My response was "Will someone swing by and start it if I'm on vacation?". After they stated nothing could be done with the battery under warranty, I asked "What would completely drain a battery after sitting for 4-5 days to the point overhead lights wouldn't even come on with the door open?". I've had many, many vehicles over the years and to tell me a battery will completely die after a few days is COMPLETE nonsense.

 

[RamCares]

The dealer told me it shouldn't sit in my garage for 4-5 days, and I should start it every other day to ensure it stays charged. My response was "Will someone swing by and start it if I'm on vacation?". After they stated nothing could be done with the battery under warranty, I asked "What would completely drain a battery after sitting for 4-5 days to the point overhead lights wouldn't even come on with the door open?". I've had many, many vehicles over the years and to tell me a battery will completely die after a few days is COMPLETE nonsense.

I certainly apologize for the frustration, thank you for taking the time to provide this update @dmodem. Please feel free to follow up with us via private message, as I am more than willing to escalate a case on your behalf at this point.

Mark
RamCares

 

[Sascwatch]

The dealer told me it shouldn't sit in my garage for 4-5 days, and I should start it every other day to ensure it stays charged. My response was "Will someone swing by and start it if I'm on vacation?". After they stated nothing could be done with the battery under warranty, I asked "What would completely drain a battery after sitting for 4-5 days to the point overhead lights wouldn't even come on with the door open?". I've had many, many vehicles over the years and to tell me a battery will completely die after a few days is COMPLETE nonsense.

Ive left my old truck for weeks on end in the remote northern Ontario wilderness 20+ miles from the nearest cell signal and it always fired right up no dead battery ever.

After my battery was dead twice in the first two weeks of owning this new truck I bought a good booster pack because I no longer trusted the battery/charging system to be in remote areas.

I am now having issues with remote start not working when it is below freezing and it is looking like the battery voltage is preventing the remote start from working. Completely draining an automotive 12v battery is very bad for it.

 

[taz2016]

The dealer told me it shouldn't sit in my garage for 4-5 days, and I should start it every other day to ensure it stays charged. My response was "Will someone swing by and start it if I'm on vacation?". After they stated nothing could be done with the battery under warranty, I asked "What would completely drain a battery after sitting for 4-5 days to the point overhead lights wouldn't even come on with the door open?". I've had many, many vehicles over the years and to tell me a battery will completely die after a few days is COMPLETE nonsense.

That's a ridiculous response from the dealer. Find a dealer that knows what they are doing as the one you are going to is clueless.

 

[dmodem]

That's a ridiculous response from the dealer. Find a dealer that knows what they are doing as the one you are going to is clueless.

Lo and behold, today was the 3rd time it sat dead in the garage after 3 days. I was able to jump it, but after driving for 10-15 mins, the screen, backup camera, nor climate controls wouldn't work. I called the same dealer and asked if I could drop it off and get a loaner to get back home. He stated they didn't have anything for me to borow, but mentioned something could be waking up a module such as a "microwave in the house". After I inquired whether I should get rid of my microwave, he asked if I had a battery charger and stated the tech said I should disconnect the battery from the truck and charge it with my charger. Once charged, reinstall and see if things wake up. I guess I'm doing Ram's warranty work now on a '19 with 13,700 miles. OK. Got it.