Been good! Till now..

[too.many.tacos]

Well the gremlins have been well hidden until recently.

2 weeks ago or so I noticed a squealing and a smell coming from my truck soon after I started it remotely. Sure enough, the A/C compressor had locked up. I’ve had enough cars to know this sort of thing happens even on new vehicles from time to time. Sure enough, I took it to the dealer and the service was completely warrantied. No problem what so ever.

Fast forward to yesterday.. Went to leave and noticed the truck started a little slower like the battery was a little low. I thought maybe it was my trailer that I had hooked up or the phone charger I have plugged in. No worries, I’ll just leave it running for a bit and all shall be fine.

On my way to where I am going, I get a CEL. I’m now thinking it’s a battery/charging issue but my voltmeter is ranging from 14.5 to 13.5 but never exceeds that range. That sounds normal to me with the way these ECM’s control everything nowadays. I return home about an hour later (truck running the whole time) and the truck will not restart. It clicks like a dead battery and makes a loud pop inside the cab like its coming through the speakers.

In my mind I’m still thinking a battery issue since the voltmeter seems to be throwing adequate volts at the battery, may have a dead cell or something. I put on a battery boost pack and the truck fires right up. CEL still on.

This morning was no different. Truck won’t start unless boosted. I drove about 35 mins and when I got back home it actually started (barely). But only once. Wouldn’t do it again.

I ran the codes and came up with a P1DF3 code. Google says something about the TCM but I’m unsure why that won’t let the truck start. Maybe it’s acting up because of a voltage issue I don’t know.

I made a trip to O’Reilly Auto and they load tested the battery, tested the Alternator and Starter and came back with no issues.

I’m stumped. I made an appointment at the dealer again for Monday to have it looked at but still curious on what this is. Any of you guys experience something similar?

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[too.many.tacos]

I will also add, truck was bought new in July of 2019 and has 34,500 miles on it.


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[PorBoy]

That’s wild as my buddy had contacted me yesterday because his Tam wouldn’t turn over. He had a B.D.S installed last week on his Laramie except he went 6” as opposed to my 4” one. Said ever since the lift he’s had difficulty starting his truck. I am in no way a tech but I wondered how adding a lift would affect starting these trucks ?

 

[too.many.tacos]

That’s wild as my buddy had contacted me yesterday because his Tam wouldn’t turn over. He had a B.D.S installed last week on his Laramie except he went 6” as opposed to my 4” one. Said ever since the lift he’s had difficulty starting his truck. I am in no way a tech but I wondered how adding a lift would affect starting these trucks ?

I’ve had my BDS on since Christmas and put quite a few miles on since then. Not sure if those would be related or not.

May be a ground issue, something got disconnected or loose.


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[PorBoy]

 

[Cease11]

I will also add, truck was bought new in July of 2019 and has 34,500 miles on it.


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Man I’m thinking of doing extended warranty with so many issues on these trucks. You’re almost at that 36k

 

[Rick3019]

Well the gremlins have been well hidden until recently.

2 weeks ago or so I noticed a squealing and a smell coming from my truck soon after I started it remotely. Sure enough, the A/C compressor had locked up. I’ve had enough cars to know this sort of thing happens even on new vehicles from time to time. Sure enough, I took it to the dealer and the service was completely warrantied. No problem what so ever.

Fast forward to yesterday.. Went to leave and noticed the truck started a little slower like the battery was a little low. I thought maybe it was my trailer that I had hooked up or the phone charger I have plugged in. No worries, I’ll just leave it running for a bit and all shall be fine.

On my way to where I am going, I get a CEL. I’m now thinking it’s a battery/charging issue but my voltmeter is ranging from 14.5 to 13.5 but never exceeds that range. That sounds normal to me with the way these ECM’s control everything nowadays. I return home about an hour later (truck running the whole time) and the truck will not restart. It clicks like a dead battery and makes a loud pop inside the cab like its coming through the speakers.

In my mind I’m still thinking a battery issue since the voltmeter seems to be throwing adequate volts at the battery, may have a dead cell or something. I put on a battery boost pack and the truck fires right up. CEL still on.

This morning was no different. Truck won’t start unless boosted. I drove about 35 mins and when I got back home it actually started (barely). But only once. Wouldn’t do it again.

I ran the codes and came up with a P1DF3 code. Google says something about the TCM but I’m unsure why that won’t let the truck start. Maybe it’s acting up because of a voltage issue I don’t know.

I made a trip to O’Reilly Auto and they load tested the battery, tested the Alternator and Starter and came back with no issues.

I’m stumped. I made an appointment at the dealer again for Monday to have it looked at but still curious on what this is. Any of you guys experience something similar?

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Go to advanced search and type in dead battery but first grab a couple of beers because you’ll be reading for a while This happened to me so I went and bought a new battery and it’s been fine for a month now but I know some people have been having problems with bad grounds

 

[Dusty1948]

Well the gremlins have been well hidden until recently.

2 weeks ago or so I noticed a squealing and a smell coming from my truck soon after I started it remotely. Sure enough, the A/C compressor had locked up. I’ve had enough cars to know this sort of thing happens even on new vehicles from time to time. Sure enough, I took it to the dealer and the service was completely warrantied. No problem what so ever.

Fast forward to yesterday.. Went to leave and noticed the truck started a little slower like the battery was a little low. I thought maybe it was my trailer that I had hooked up or the phone charger I have plugged in. No worries, I’ll just leave it running for a bit and all shall be fine.

On my way to where I am going, I get a CEL. I’m now thinking it’s a battery/charging issue but my voltmeter is ranging from 14.5 to 13.5 but never exceeds that range. That sounds normal to me with the way these ECM’s control everything nowadays. I return home about an hour later (truck running the whole time) and the truck will not restart. It clicks like a dead battery and makes a loud pop inside the cab like its coming through the speakers.

In my mind I’m still thinking a battery issue since the voltmeter seems to be throwing adequate volts at the battery, may have a dead cell or something. I put on a battery boost pack and the truck fires right up. CEL still on.

This morning was no different. Truck won’t start unless boosted. I drove about 35 mins and when I got back home it actually started (barely). But only once. Wouldn’t do it again.

I ran the codes and came up with a P1DF3 code. Google says something about the TCM but I’m unsure why that won’t let the truck start. Maybe it’s acting up because of a voltage issue I don’t know.

I made a trip to O’Reilly Auto and they load tested the battery, tested the Alternator and Starter and came back with no issues.

I’m stumped. I made an appointment at the dealer again for Monday to have it looked at but still curious on what this is. Any of you guys experience something similar?

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After it sits overnight, without the engine running, what is the voltage reading at the battery terminals with a good Volt/Ohm Meter?

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: 17 July 2018. Now at: 031839 miles.

 

[jgospoda]

I have a 2019 Laramie longhorn with a bunch of mods and it wound up dead a couple weeks ago, literally so dead nothing worked. Had to jump it, all was good then dead again. My uncle told me a story about an old Ford he had that the glove box light stayed on and it killed his Ford, no luck finding it for 3 dealer visits. I checked mine and that was the WHOLE problem. I stuck a small round adhesive furniture pad in front of the light button inside the glove box and problem solved. Dealer took it in to check everything and said my fix was better than the foam insert they are supposed to put it, he said it works great so leave it. I live in Wisconsin and don't want to risk the adhesive coming off or have the light stay on after a few bumpy roads, so I simply took the whole bulb assembly out. Simple fix. Good luck.

 

[jgospoda]

PS: I have 6,000 miles on mine and so far had the breaks replaced due to squeakiness, the sunroof drains behind the cab were never put in right and the floor got damp, so I had those fixed, along with a few other things.

 

[too.many.tacos]

Dropped it off this morning and waited around till the diagnosed the battery. They said it was fine, just had a large power draw and more than likely it’s my phone charger doing it. You know the one that has zero power when the key is off..

They are keeping it to make sure and find the drain. Crossing my fingers.


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[silver64]

Dropped it off this morning and waited around till the diagnosed the battery. They said it was fine, just had a large power draw and more than likely it’s my phone charger doing it. You know the one that has zero power when the key is off..

They are keeping it to make sure and find the drain. Crossing my fingers.


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I put a dash cam in my wifes SRX and if it sits for more than three or four days it will also drain down the battery

 

[Diamondback]

They complete the "Bad Ground" Recall yet?

It is near the battery - there was paint on it.
Don't see in your sig line when you purchased your rig, but it does sound like that ground from the few I've had to work on.

We have seen a rash of TCMs go bad lately as well (not just on RAMs). Maybe it also has an update too that they can accomplish.

 

[too.many.tacos]

No recall for that on this truck as far as a bad ground. I pulled them off yesterday and checked and there was no paint.


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[Aseras]

If you have a decent multimeter and some clamps its easy to find the source of the draw. Pop the hood, don't lock the doors.

You can either clamp the door sensor closed or roll down the window.

get you multimeter and move your red from volts to amps. You know the thrird hole you never use. Set the meter to amps now, it's suually outlined with a border going to amp.

Now take your key and put it on the other side of the house or in some foil > 60 ft away. Stuff wakes up when its close.

disconnect the negative terminal and put the a clamp holding the red lead on your multimeter to the negative terminal. Put a clamp on the black lead to the grounding cable.
Now watch your multimeter. Anything over 10, disconnect it right away. it should draw 6-8 for a few seconds, make some clicking drop to 2 ish for a minute then drop to .4 or less. Anymore than that and it's time to start pulling fuses and relays.

Pop the fuse box in front of the battery. First Press everything very firmly and make sure everything is well seated and nothing was loose. if anything was loose at all, give it a few minutes and come come back and check it. If it's still drawing more than 0.2-0.4 it's time to start pulling things one by one. watch the multimeter. wait. if no change, put it back and move on. If you find one that drops it to near zero, that's your culprit. Mark it somehow and now you need to trace it out and find out wth it is doing wasting so much power. If you dont find it under the hood, time to go under the steering wheel and do the same thing.

If you do find the leak but cant figure it out, mark it, tape it whatever. you just saved a diagnostic fee and take it to the dealer and tell them that circuit is farked.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Yeah and look into the extended warranty, you are too close to being done. Course the lift may affect some areas of coverage but not likely the electronics, motor and tranny.

Sure hope you/dealer find the source, doesn’t seem like a phone charger can kill a battery but they do go bad and can fritz out. Course like the one guy said, a freakin’ glove box light can...
I’d think all those little lights would be led’s by now.

 

[too.many.tacos]

My glove box light goes out with no problems. Just weird that I go from a fully charged battery to 9 ish volts in a matter of 2-3 minutes. It’s gotta be something big.


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[Willwork4truck]

My glove box light goes out with no problems. Just weird that I go from a fully charged battery to 9 ish volts in a matter of 2-3 minutes. It’s gotta be something big.


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Yea thats a huge draw. A short of some kind. Especially if your battery tested good. But I’m no mechanic, just an old fart.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Yea thats a huge draw. A short of some kind. Especially if your battery tested good. But I’m no mechanic, just an old fart.

Oh I see that you are on that other thread thats talking about bad ground wires. Then there’s that post that Aseras made: “Open the hood, open the fuse box beside the battery. Firmly press every single module, fuse and relay in there hard and make sure they are fully seated. My AC Clutch? , what it was labeled was loose and I was seeing a 2.5 amp drain with the truck off. Several others were also loose.‘

 

[Aseras]

Keep in mind that if the battery has been drained or low, it needs hours, days on a charger to fully charge. A jump and a drive won't cut it. If you pull out 1000 amps, you got to put 1000 amps back in.

You might get 12-14v for a few minutes, but that's just a surface charge and does dissipate quickly. The only way to know is either to stick it on a smart charger that will tell you the capacity or a tester that puts a load on it and measures the voltage drop.

A fully charged good battery has no drop. for every 10% you are low the drop gets significant. below about 40% you are at 10v and the car wont't start as it doesn't have enough power. Below that is it's "dead" no power at all or very dim lights and weird stuff on all the computerized crap these days.