No power, no start, barely a click

[ja3118]

Good morning, 2019 Ram 1500 with 58k miles. All original parts. No issues ever before. Today I ran a couple errands, then came out to parking lot after lunch and no life in the truck. Odd dinging from dash and no display. The dash would then try to cycle the startup display but not for more than a second. Acted like it was trying to supply the juice but just wasn’t enough to start. The dash just kept flickering. No response from start button. Hooked up jumper cables and still did not have sufficient power. Start button though did elicit a response; the dreaded single click.
Truck behaved like a dead battery would, but I expected to be able to get it going with a jump. Had to get it towed to dealership. Now am waiting for an expensive phone call.
Do I have a battery problem, a starter problem, or a computer problem?
And why just out of the blue did it do this? No warnings and was fine just before.

 

[BlueHemi1500]

My W.A.G. - old battery has reached end of life. Try the cheaper route of a new battery and see what happens.
I just, last month, I replaced my battery as it just barely started the truck; it gave me a warning sign. Batteries these days sometimes they just drop dead. At 5 years, you got your money's worth, and the new battery as a rule out for potential problems.

I hope it is as simple as a new battery, just be warned that when the battery dies, a known problem of several warning lights/HVAC problems and some features/options will not function for about 24 hrs or so, your mileage may vary. So if the dealer calls and says something about the above, let the truck sit for about 24 hours to see if it self-heals.

BlueHemi1500

 

[kapinallinen2]

5 years on the battery, most likely just failed from old age.