Hemi eTorque - Dead as a doornail (Battery under warranty?)

[Sspearsau]

Hey guys,

I came home from a two night trip to a dead truck at the airport. Not fun after a four hour flight delay.

Anyway, I was always under the impression that if the 12v battery under the hood died, the 48v battery from the eTorque system would kick in and allow the car to start. That was clearly not the case for me. I couldn’t even unlock my car with the remote. Had to use the physical key.

My truck is 2.5 years old. 13,000 miles on it. Wondering if this indicates there could be an issue with one, or both batteries, as well as if anyone knows what the warranty is on the factory 12v?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jako]

Battery died at 2 years, fairly common, was covered under warranty.
There is a thread about batteries on the 5th Gen forum for more info.
My truck would not come out of first gear with the weak battery.

 

[vincentw56]

Hey guys,

I came home from a two night trip to a dead truck at the airport. Not fun after a four hour flight delay.

Anyway, I was always under the impression that if the 12v battery under the hood died, the 48v battery from the eTorque system would kick in and allow the car to start. That was clearly not the case for me. I couldn’t even unlock my car with the remote. Had to use the physical key.

My truck is 2.5 years old. 13,000 miles on it. Wondering if this indicates there could be an issue with one, or both batteries, as well as if anyone knows what the warranty is on the factory 12v?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

That is definitely not how the 48v battery and eTorque system work.

 

[Slutzk]

I was always under the impression that if the 12v battery under the hood died, the 48v battery from the eTorque system would kick in and allow the car to start.

100% false. Not sure where you heard that, but thats not even almost how that works.

 

[Slutzk]

Hey guys,

I came home from a two night trip to a dead truck at the airport. Not fun after a four hour flight delay.

Anyway, I was always under the impression that if the 12v battery under the hood died, the 48v battery from the eTorque system would kick in and allow the car to start. That was clearly not the case for me. I couldn’t even unlock my car with the remote. Had to use the physical key.

My truck is 2.5 years old. 13,000 miles on it. Wondering if this indicates there could be an issue with one, or both batteries, as well as if anyone knows what the warranty is on the factory 12v?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Batteries on these 5thgens seem to have a life span of about 2 years out the factory, pretty common. Ether get a new one from warranty and or gona have to go grab another yourself.

 

[Richard320]

The 48V system does charge the 12V system, but the 12V system is what controls it. So if the 12V battery is dead, so are all the various computers - engine, transmission, AC, eTorque, door locks, everything. 2½ years is a little premature for the battery to die, but not unheard of nor especially worrying by itself. If a replacement goes dead, then you have something to worry about.

As an aside, should you change the battery yourself, expect to have lost a bunch of radio stations and such, and have a bunch of warning lights on. They'll clear themselves up in under twenty four hours. Don't panic.

 

[dajogejr]

As others have said.. see if the warranty will cover it.
As far as the other..
The 12V battery starts the vehicle when it’s cold, or first startup.
The only time the 48V battery starts the truck is once it’s met all parameters for stop start (engine temp, cabin temp, etc.) then the 48v battery springs the EGU to start the truck.

I keep a Noco jump pack in my Ram box just incase…

 

[silver billet]

Batteries on these 5thgens seem to have a life span of about 2 years out the factory, pretty common. Ether get a new one from warranty and or gona have to go grab another yourself.

I'm on my original battery, 100,000 kms and 5 years to date.

 

[Jako]

I'm on my original battery, 100,000 kms and 5 years to date.

I'm 2 in 4 years and the Ram is the only vehicle that I carry a jump pack in my 50+ years of driving. The only vehicle that needs a motor at 40011 miles and will be 2 to 3 months to get it back.

 

[silver billet]

I'm 2 in 4 years and the Ram is the only vehicle that I carry a jump pack in my 50+ years of driving. The only vehicle that needs a motor at 40011 miles and will be 2 to 3 months to get it back.

Look at the bright side. At least you're not driving a Tundra with the bearing delete option installed.

 

[vincentw56]

I'm on my original battery, 100,000 kms and 5 years to date.

I'm on my original too and 4 years out.

 

[Slutzk]

I'm on my original battery, 100,000 kms and 5 years to date.

I'm on my original too and 4 years out.

Going to Vegas in a couple weeks, want to meet me there? Your guyses odds are clearly much better than mine

 

[Willwork4truck]

100% false. Not sure where you heard that, but thats not even almost how that works.

Agree but would be nice if they had engineered that. I have the voltmeter on my display and always see a 12.2 or 12.3 volt reading at first start…

 

[dajogejr]

Agree but would be nice if they had engineered that. I have the voltmeter on my display and always see a 12.2 or 12.3 volt reading at first start…

Somebody will reverse engineer it and possibly make that happen, but since we’re now in the age of 3.0 SO and HO, not gonna be RAM.
You’re going to see that voltage on first start. The gauge reads the battery, not the 48V pack as the power is stepped down to power the vehicles systems.
I got over obsessing looking at the gauges, with the exception of tire pressure. Our roads are crap, always under construction, and picked up plenty of nails/foreign objects over the past decade or so…

On my 23 Limited, from stop start to running, voltage fluctuates from mid 12s to typically high 13 to touching 14 V range.
Not once, in just under a year and 13K miles has it not started or given me issues. Even sitting for a week at a time at the airport parking, etc.

I worry about issues…but I don’t go looking for them.

 

[firecadet613]

I'm on my original too and 4 years out.

Same here, 5yrs and 60k or so miles. But here lately I've been keeping the battery tender on it as I'm only driving it once a week.

 

[Jako]

Look at the bright side. At least you're not driving a Tundra with the bearing delete option installed.

I'm not driving at all. Died on NY Truway 4 + weeks ago, needs motor as per Ramsey CDJR. ETA is 2 to 3 months and that was before CDK debacle.
$3000 Lifetime warranty is the good news?
Not sure where to go from here.

 

[silver billet]

I'm not driving at all. Died on NY Truway 4 + weeks ago, needs motor as per Ramsey CDJR. ETA is 2 to 3 months and that was before CDK debacle.
$3000 Lifetime warranty is the good news?
Not sure where to go from here.

Unfortunately it's the same story with every brand. Haven't heard much bad about the GM 3.0 diesel in case you're looking.

The hemi is a known quantity at this point, a few have bad luck but the vast majority will have no issues.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Somebody will reverse engineer it and possibly make that happen, but since we’re now in the age of 3.0 SO and HO, not gonna be RAM.
You’re going to see that voltage on first start. The gauge reads the battery, not the 48V pack as the power is stepped down to power the vehicles systems.
I got over obsessing looking at the gauges, with the exception of tire pressure. Our roads are crap, always under construction, and picked up plenty of nails/foreign objects over the past decade or so…

On my 23 Limited, from stop start to running, voltage fluctuates from mid 12s to typically high 13 to touching 14 V range.
Not once, in just under a year and 13K miles has it not started or given me issues. Even sitting for a week at a time at the airport parking, etc.

I worry about issues…but I don’t go looking for them.

I'm just a bit concerned with the 12.3 at starting, that’s too low for a healthy battery at rest. Then the voltmeter gauge remains at 13.6-13.8 for 10-15 minutes on a trip into town. When I start it back up to go home, same thing. It doesn't drop down to the 12’s on those trips.
Every Sat and Sun the truck gets a 30 minute one way drive at 55-60 mph, so 2 hours of highway driving each day. The gauge will drop to 12.7 then.
Seems like the 1.5 year old battery is aging out a bit quickly.
My 2019 1500 battery died at a little over a year with about the same usage.

 

[Sspearsau]

Thank you all for the replies and confirming how the 48v battery works (it’s a bummer it can’t be used for emergency starts). I did confirm the battery is covered under warranty. I have not had any issues with it, and I’m wondering if it’s another issue that caused this…

When I park in tight spots, I always raise my truck up to Off-road 2 and deploy the side rails so I don’t have people slamming my doors.

What I’m thinking is that my air suspension was engaging to keep the max height, which would have used considerable battery, therefore running it down.

Anyone run into this before?

 

[dajogejr]

Thank you all for the replies and confirming how the 48v battery works (it’s a bummer it can’t be used for emergency starts). I did confirm the battery is covered under warranty. I have not had any issues with it, and I’m wondering if it’s another issue that caused this…

When I park in tight spots, I always raise my truck up to Off-road 2 and deploy the side rails so I don’t have people slamming my doors.

What I’m thinking is that my air suspension was engaging to keep the max height, which would have used considerable battery, therefore running it down.

Anyone run into this before?

That’s not it.
I’ve left mine in OR2 in my driveway for a few days in a row without being driven (long story short, wife’s car behind mine, street is under construction, no need to move/swap cars) and it didn’t drain the battery.

ONLY if your system has a leak would it try to self level, then you’d get a service air ride message more than likely.
Once it’s set it’s set. Its a sealed system…