My new to me Truck died yesterday!!!

[Rambilt]

My 2021 Ram Laramie 5.7 Hemi eTorque died on me yesterday. Wife and I took it for a short towing test run. I disabled the stop/start function, don't like that system while towing a trailer. Anyway, As we were driving down the road I tried tuning the radio to XM and it won't do anything, the touch screen is frozen. The truck doesn't show any other warning lights so we keep driving. We got home, backed the trailer in the driveway then park my truck. I turned the engine off open the door and noticed the side step did not deploy. I tried pushing the start button and nothing happens. the truck is completely dead without any power, the lights won't even come on. Checked the battery with my multimeter and it reads 11.56 volts. I tried jumping it with my Jeep and nothing.

I just bought this truck last Friday 4 Aug. It drives really good when we road tested it before the purchase. I feel in love with how it rides and having less than 8000 miles to me it's almost new. This was a very disappointing experience with a beautiful truck. I had it towed to the dealership I bought it from. They said they' ll call once they found out the issue.

Anyway, what do you guys think could have gone wrong? The only thing odd I noticed while we were driving was the frozen display screen. Other than that it towed my small trailer beautifully. Did some research and found out that 5.7 eTorque engine has this issue in particular. I should have done my research before I signed the dotted line. I still like this truck, hopefully there's a permanent cure for this issue.

 

[TBfshr]

My 2021 Ram Laramie 5.7 Hemi eTorque died on me yesterday. Wife and I took it for a short towing test run. I disabled the stop/start function, don't like that system while towing a trailer. Anyway, As we were driving down the road I tried tuning the radio to XM and it won't do anything, the touch screen is frozen. The truck doesn't show any other warning lights so we keep driving. We got home, backed the trailer in the driveway then park my truck. I turned the engine off open the door and noticed the side step did not deploy. I tried pushing the start button and nothing happens. the truck is completely dead without any power, the lights won't even come on. Checked the battery with my multimeter and it reads 11.56 volts. I tried jumping it with my Jeep and nothing.

I just bought this truck last Friday 4 Aug. It drives really good when we road tested it before the purchase. I feel in love with how it rides and having less than 8000 miles to me it's almost new. This was a very disappointing experience with a beautiful truck. I had it towed to the dealership I bought it from. They said they' ll call once they found out the issue.

Anyway, what do you guys think could have gone wrong? The only thing odd I noticed while we were driving was the frozen display screen. Other than that it towed my small trailer beautifully. Did some research and found out that 5.7 eTorque engine has this issue in particular. I should have done my research before I signed the dotted line. I still like this truck, hopefully there's a permanent cure for this issue.

Voltage too low on that battery.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[mynameisante]

Was the truck sitting on the lot for a while before you bought it? If so, could be dead battery or the truck had a mouse family visiting town for a bit

 

[JF19Longhorn]

Battery might be toast.

 

[c3k]

^^^
I vote "Battery", like those above.

 

[Rambilt]

Shouldn't at least the lights come on even when the battery is low. I took a reading of the battery voltage with my multimeter and it reads a little below 12 volts. It's not completely dead but there's no juice going to the instrument panel lightings or headlights. Also I jumped it before I had it towed and nothing either.

The service advisor that I talked to yesterday was not very helpful. Even when I told him that I bought the truck just the other day at the dealership he worked for. I guess that didn't matter. If I didn't hear anything from him today I'll get with the service manager or the the sales manager to give me an assistance.

Thanks guys for the response.

 

[ZZZ]

"The voltage of a car battery should be between 12.2 to 12.6 volts when the engine is turned off. A fully charged car battery voltage falls between 13.7 and 14.7 volts with the engine running. With the battery charge at 75%, the voltage can drop to 12.4 volts. At 25% charge, the voltage will measure around 12 volts."

• By Magnus Sellén
• Updated: April 23, 2023

mechanicbase.com

 

[Anchor Down]

Happened to me, replaced the battery. Mechanic told me to replace the battery at the third year. The start/stop feature is draining batteries left and right. I never use that feature anymore.

 

[JF19Longhorn]

Happened to me, replaced the battery. Mechanic told me to replace the battery at the third year. The start/stop feature is draining batteries left and right. I never use that feature anymore.

The Etrq throws a wrench in that theory since the 48v Lithium battery in the Cab is charging the standard 12v battery.. also, it is not using the starter to restart the truck for A-S-S restarts, it uses the Etrq motor & 48v battery.

 

[Scram1500]

Modern cars with all the associated computers hate low voltage and "shut down" for lack of a better phrase. In the old analog mechanical days you'd have dim lights, lazy starter, etc. to let you know the battery is dead.

Also, in the old days a battery would last 6 years so replacing them every 3 is an adjustment. They must be eco friendly or something, less heavy to save fuel.

 

[Rambilt]

I got my truck this morning. The service advisor told me it was a loose connections. I said okay, where was the connection loose at show me. Also they weren't going to give any paperwork for the repair because it's all in the warranty. I said no way I want a documentation that you guys made the repair under warranty so OI can document the history of this truck. I have to get the service director involve to come to show me where the loose connections is located. It was in the fuse box where the additional equipment like the side step was hook up to. Anyway, hopefully everything is good to go.

Thanks guys for the response.


v/r

Rick

 

[O'Town Ram]

Glad it was something simple.

 

[Rambilt]

I am also glad that it was something simple as a loose connection. Its kind of hard to believe that a loose connection rendered the truck completely dead!!!

Anyway, hopefully whatever they did permanently fixed the problem. I will try towing my trailer again. I have to make sure that it is not because I have a trailer hooked up behind me that killed this truck temporarily. My wife and I have a plan of visiting Grand Canyon and Grand Teton with this truck towing my trailer.

 

[frisby5]

I got my truck this morning. The service advisor told me it was a loose connections. I said okay, where was the connection loose at show me. Also they weren't going to give any paperwork for the repair because it's all in the warranty. I said no way I want a documentation that you guys made the repair under warranty so OI can document the history of this truck. I have to get the service director involve to come to show me where the loose connections is located. It was in the fuse box where the additional equipment like the side step was hook up to. Anyway, hopefully everything is good to go.

Thanks guys for the response.


v/r

Rick

Can you take a pic of the connection where it was loose so for future reference for us owners who have E-torque Good info !

 

[Rambilt]

Can you take a pic of the connection where it was loose so for future reference for us owners who have E-torque Good info !

Here's the picture you asked for. He said one of the terminals in the picture was loose. I think he pointed at the seconed one from the right. I think the terminal is for the passenger seat.

 

[frisby5]

Awesome ! Thx this is a good reference for the future when another member has a issue ,something they can check.
Appreciate the pic.

 

[silverWS6]

I'd still keep an eye on that battery, is it the OEM battery?

If you read up a little on the forum, you'll find that a low battery will make these trucks be completely dead. Same thing happened to me, couldn't even get the emergency brake to disengage. Thank god a good tow truck driver was able to get it out of my garage with no issues. The dealer said my battery was good after they tested it. However, I had Autozone test it after the issue happened again and the battery was toast. Got a new one from them and all has been good.

My truck was a little less than 2 years old when the issue happened.

 

[Rambilt]

I'd still keep an eye on that battery, is it the OEM battery?

If you read up a little on the forum, you'll find that a low battery will make these trucks be completely dead. Same thing happened to me, couldn't even get the emergency brake to disengage. Thank god a good tow truck driver was able to get it out of my garage with no issues. The dealer said my battery was good after they tested it. However, I had Autozone test it after the issue happened again and the battery was toast. Got a new one from them and all has been good.

My truck was a little less than 2 years old when the issue happened.

SilverWSG, thank for your response this is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. You just gave me back some kind of confidence on towing with this truck. This truck will have to earn my trust in towing I'm pretty she'll earn it pretty quickly because I just love the way this truck rides.

I am going to the closest autozone/Advance auto parts this morning and have them test my battery and maybe just replace it with an AGM type battery. This truck was seating in the dealer's lot for a while before I bought. Maybe it's just time to replace the battery.

BTW< what did you replaced your battery with. I'm thinking of maybe getting an Optima Yellow top battery. What do you think?



v/r


Rick

 

[beetlespin]

Luckily the dealer may have found the issue.

Maybe this is why the previous owner traded it in?

 

[Rambilt]

Luckily the dealer may have found the issue.

Maybe this is why the previous owner traded it in?

We'll soon find out if the issue was really fixed. I'm leaning towards replacing the battery.


v/r

Rick