Dead Battery Poll

[PNW_Big_Horn driver]

My 2019 Ram 1500 Big Horn 3.6L OEM Battery went 7 years before failure. When it failed, the vehicle made an angry clicking noise when start was selected. The battery showed 11.5v with a voltmeter. I put a charger on it and was able to bring the voltage up to 12.5v and then it would start OK but showed a nonspecific check engine light. I put in a new Wallymart Everstart Platinum H7 and cleared the fault and it's good to go. Writing mainly to let people know that the new battery also instantly fixed a "Start/Stop not Ready" message that has been popping up the last 6 months or so especially when the vehicle wasn't driven for 7-10 days.

 

[vtcats]

2024 Limited, 21 months just under 15,000 miles. No indications of battery about to die, drive it 6 days or so a week. Drove it 3-4 miles early this morning, was in a parking lot a few hours. After starting it,noticed voltage was low (around 11 volts) , as indicator had also gone off for low.battery. Decided to drive directly to the dealer about 4 miles away. Was at 10 volts when I got there, it dropped to 9.7, then died as they tried to get into the bay, so they jumped it. Obviously all the systems went down as well. Hopefully just the battery and not anything related to the etorque, generator or that unit that sits behind the rear seat in the truck.
I think my truck hates December in the cold. Last December a few days before Christmas cylinder 7 broke out of the blue with about 7200 miles.

To follow up. The dealer put it on a load test for a period of time. It came back with a code as a bad battery, so they will replace it. BUT, they also detected a draw off the battery causing it to keep waking up. So they are spending time today to try and find what’s causing it. It’s funny, when I had a broken cylinder last year, I was semi okay with it because they KNEW what and how to fix. Electronics, who knows??

 

[Deserted]

To follow up. The dealer put it on a load test for a period of time. It came back with a code as a bad battery, so they will replace it. BUT, they also detected a draw off the battery causing it to keep waking up. So they are spending time today to try and find what’s causing it. It’s funny, when I had a broken cylinder last year, I was semi okay with it because they KNEW what and how to fix. Electronics, who knows??

Thanks for the update. Similar situation with draw here. My truck is now at an independent shop to confirm the battery drain, as the dealer couldn’t find any (battery then died after 3 days, just like it did before having the dealer look at it).

 

[vtcats]

Thanks for the update. Similar situation with draw here. My truck is now at an independent shop to confirm the battery drain, as the dealer couldn’t find any (battery then died after 3 days, just like it did before having the dealer look at it).

Well after having it a day, they came back and said it’s nothing unusual and just put in a new battery and gave it back to me. Got it last night. We will see how this goes ……