Ram completely dead! Keys don’t work can’t do anything.

[SMS Limited]

2019 limited with 12,800 miles on it. Parked the truck one night and then the next morning the keys wouldn’t unlock the truck. Nothing worked at all, the manual key opens the door then the alarm goes off.
Tried to disconnect the battery, then even disconnected the ECU hoping things would reset but nothing. Had it towed to the dealer and waiting to hear back anyone else heard of an issue where the keys stop working?

 

[rws1944]

For what it's worth I had the exact same issue last week. Truck completely dead. Opened with the key in the fob and alarm went off. Had to jump to get it started. Started looking around and noticed the nut on the bolt securing the cable to the positive battery post was almost off making for no connection. Tightened the cable bolt and recharged the battery. The only issue was that the check engine light was steady on so I had to take it to the dealer to reset. They checked the condition of the battery and said all was good. I've had no problems since.

 

[SMS Limited]

For what it's worth I had the exact same issue last week. Truck completely dead. Opened with the key in the fob and alarm went off. Had to jump to get it started. Started looking around and noticed the nut on the bolt securing the cable to the positive battery post was almost off making for no connection. Tightened the cable bolt and recharged the battery. The only issue was that the check engine light was steady on so I had to take it to the dealer to reset. They checked the condition of the battery and said all was good. I've had no problems since.

Checked the battery and even with a jump it won’t do anything. Not sure what the deal is

 

[Aseras]

99% your grounds are painted and the main lug is 1/4 the size of the others and makes incredibly poor contact. All kinds of weird stuff happens then.

 

[Aseras]

Checked the battery and even with a jump it won’t do anything. Not sure what the deal is

mine wouldn't jump either, it was nearly completely discharged. Dash would light got a sec, get a pop over speakers and all would die.

took slaving a 1000 amp jump pack and conecting a dumb 200 amp napa charger to that for a few minutes to get the battery to take a charge. then a couple hours on a smart charger before I could jump it.

took a day and a half to fully charge the battery and I'm sure it is permanently damaged.

I wire wheeled all the grounds, put ox-gard on them and reconnected. There needs to be a recall to replaces the main ground as there is no surface area at all. The little grounds are 5 times as large.

After all that all seems well and I no longer see any voltage drops at all with Torpque pro data logging. It was dropping into the 11's and even down to 10.7 a few times. That's dead battery material right there.

 

[Scram1500]

I wire wheeled all the grounds, put ox-gard on them and reconnected. There needs to be a recall to replaces the main ground as there is no surface area at all. The little grounds are 5 times as large.

After all that all seems well and I no longer see any voltage drops at all with Torpque pro data logging. It was dropping into the 11's and even down to 10.7 a few times. That's dead battery material right there.

How many grounds are there? I took a look and they're all over the place it seems

 

[steveved]

Hmm... Sounds like a worthy weekend project for me. I might check all of my ground connections as well. Have not had any of the above problems with mine. But this sounds like cheap insurance against having them...

So, I too am curious as to where they all are...

 

[RamCares]

2019 limited with 12,800 miles on it. Parked the truck one night and then the next morning the keys wouldn’t unlock the truck. Nothing worked at all, the manual key opens the door then the alarm goes off.
Tried to disconnect the battery, then even disconnected the ECU hoping things would reset but nothing. Had it towed to the dealer and waiting to hear back anyone else heard of an issue where the keys stop working?

Please be sure to keep us updated on the findings of your dealer, @SMS Limited. If you are in need of any additional support while working with them, please do not hesitate to follow up with us via private message.

Mark
RamCares

 

[Ramster]

Let's see a build date in your info. Helps to pinpoint certain problems.

 

[Aseras]

Hmm... Sounds like a worthy weekend project for me. I might check all of my ground connections as well. Have not had any of the above problems with mine. But this sounds like cheap insurance against having them...

So, I too am curious as to where they all are...

There is 2 on the frame in front of the battery. The main body ground is behind the battry to frame. Follow that cable from the battery and it bolts to the engine. On mine that bolt was loose as well...

There's some great QA these days. At least is not like the GM 2016 Volt where they pinched the 12v main battery harness during assembly and were blowing 200 amp fuses and melting terminals and causing fires.

 

[Dusty1948]

There are also two on the right front fender and a third on the radiator support near the right headlamp.

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: 031844 miles.

 

[Frebo]

Any updates/insights into this issue?

I had the same issue. Had the 2019 RAM 1500 Limited with eTorque for two months and it's got about 1200 kms on the clock now. Driving it daily so it's not just sitting. Driving it like a car so far (no towing/loading). Got back one eve at about 10pm parked it (and did not forget ligths or anything plugged in). Next morning it was as dead as a doornail. No sign of power anywhere whatsoever, had to unlock with the emergency key. Measured the voltage across the battery and it was ~5v. I called roadside assist and they could not jump it with the booster pack. Some electronics would come on, but not all. The guy then tried to jump it with his (much bigger) tow truck, but it did not make much of a difference. (Now, looking back, I'm thinking that he made the mistake of not first charging it for a few minutes before trying to jump it.) Then he wanted to load it to tow it, but the brakes or something was engaged (transmission was in neutral) and my truck had to be dragged (with locked wheels) onto a tow truck. A very sad sight/experience.

One thing I did notice (may or may not matter) is that the computer controls seems to be inconsistent. E.g. it's set to auto engage the park brake, but sometimes it would not release it when you shift to drive, then you have to manually release it.

Eventually, at the dealer, they re-charged the battery and says everything is fine now. They cannot find anything wrong at all. I am very concerned to say the least.

Any thoughts/ideas?

Is there a way/tool to use to monitor current draw every time I park? Something is failing inconsistently and it would be useful to see when you park if there is excessive current draw.

Also, (I'm in Canada) do I have options or ways to get out of this purchase? (I've been driving RAM for 10 years and this is my 2nd new truck, but am starting to get second thoughts on this)

 

[Dusty1948]

Any updates/insights into this issue?

I had the same issue. Had the 2019 RAM 1500 Limited with eTorque for two months and it's got about 1200 kms on the clock now. Driving it daily so it's not just sitting. Driving it like a car so far (no towing/loading). Got back one eve at about 10pm parked it (and did not forget ligths or anything plugged in). Next morning it was as dead as a doornail. No sign of power anywhere whatsoever, had to unlock with the emergency key. Measured the voltage across the battery and it was ~5v. I called roadside assist and they could not jump it with the booster pack. Some electronics would come on, but not all. The guy then tried to jump it with his (much bigger) tow truck, but it did not make much of a difference. (Now, looking back, I'm thinking that he made the mistake of not first charging it for a few minutes before trying to jump it.) Then he wanted to load it to tow it, but the brakes or something was engaged (transmission was in neutral) and my truck had to be dragged (with locked wheels) onto a tow truck. A very sad sight/experience.

One thing I did notice (may or may not matter) is that the computer controls seems to be inconsistent. E.g. it's set to auto engage the park brake, but sometimes it would not release it when you shift to drive, then you have to manually release it.

Eventually, at the dealer, they re-charged the battery and says everything is fine now. They cannot find anything wrong at all. I am very concerned to say the least.

Any thoughts/ideas?

Is there a way/tool to use to monitor current draw every time I park? Something is failing inconsistently and it would be useful to see when you park if there is excessive current draw.

Also, (I'm in Canada) do I have options or ways to get out of this purchase? (I've been driving RAM for 10 years and this is my 2nd new truck, but am starting to get second thoughts on this)

There are relays in the Total Integrated Power Module (TIPM) that have been known to stick actuated allowing a device to continue to draw current when ignition is off on vehicles that have been in service for a while. Still, could happen on a new truck.

The more likely suspect would be the battery due to an intermittent cell-to-cell connection. This is a symptom reported across all battery makes and they usually pop up in the first year or so.

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: 035897 miles.

 

[Frebo]

Any updates/insights into this issue?

I had the same issue. Had the 2019 RAM 1500 Limited with eTorque for two months and it's got about 1200 kms on the clock now. Driving it daily so it's not just sitting. Driving it like a car so far (no towing/loading). Got back one eve at about 10pm parked it (and did not forget ligths or anything plugged in). Next morning it was as dead as a doornail. No sign of power anywhere whatsoever, had to unlock with the emergency key. Measured the voltage across the battery and it was ~5v. I called roadside assist and they could not jump it with the booster pack. Some electronics would come on, but not all. The guy then tried to jump it with his (much bigger) tow truck, but it did not make much of a difference. (Now, looking back, I'm thinking that he made the mistake of not first charging it for a few minutes before trying to jump it.) Then he wanted to load it to tow it, but the brakes or something was engaged (transmission was in neutral) and my truck had to be dragged (with locked wheels) onto a tow truck. A very sad sight/experience.

One thing I did notice (may or may not matter) is that the computer controls seems to be inconsistent. E.g. it's set to auto engage the park brake, but sometimes it would not release it when you shift to drive, then you have to manually release it.

Eventually, at the dealer, they re-charged the battery and says everything is fine now. They cannot find anything wrong at all. I am very concerned to say the least.

Any thoughts/ideas?

Is there a way/tool to use to monitor current draw every time I park? Something is failing inconsistently and it would be useful to see when you park if there is excessive current draw.

Also, (I'm in Canada) do I have options or ways to get out of this purchase? (I've been driving RAM for 10 years and this is my 2nd new truck, but am starting to get second thoughts on this)

UPDATE: For those interested....
The best theory/conclusion the dealer has for what happened is that the system was set to auto-upgrade the firmware and then at some point the system attempted to do an auto-upgrade of the firmware, but it could not complete (unknown reason). It is likely that the system attempted to upgrade at some point and then I just walked away (locked the car and walked away). Can you imagine being in a rush and late for an appointment and then the system tells you that it's busy with an upgrade that might take another 30 minutes? Not sure if that scenario is true or possible. When a firmware update is disrupted (in my experience with other computer systems), depending on the quality of the firmware development, anything is possible. The problems and behaviour could be random and inconsistent, so the disrupted firmware may have caused/controlled something somewhere to drain the battery....?

 

[HeliPilot]

Any updates/insights into this issue?

I had the same issue. Had the 2019 RAM 1500 Limited with eTorque for two months and it's got about 1200 kms on the clock now. Driving it daily so it's not just sitting. Driving it like a car so far (no towing/loading). Got back one eve at about 10pm parked it (and did not forget ligths or anything plugged in). Next morning it was as dead as a doornail. No sign of power anywhere whatsoever, had to unlock with the emergency key. Measured the voltage across the battery and it was ~5v. I called roadside assist and they could not jump it with the booster pack. Some electronics would come on, but not all. The guy then tried to jump it with his (much bigger) tow truck, but it did not make much of a difference. (Now, looking back, I'm thinking that he made the mistake of not first charging it for a few minutes before trying to jump it.) Then he wanted to load it to tow it, but the brakes or something was engaged (transmission was in neutral) and my truck had to be dragged (with locked wheels) onto a tow truck. A very sad sight/experience.

One thing I did notice (may or may not matter) is that the computer controls seems to be inconsistent. E.g. it's set to auto engage the park brake, but sometimes it would not release it when you shift to drive, then you have to manually release it.

Eventually, at the dealer, they re-charged the battery and says everything is fine now. They cannot find anything wrong at all. I am very concerned to say the least.

Any thoughts/ideas?

Is there a way/tool to use to monitor current draw every time I park? Something is failing inconsistently and it would be useful to see when you park if there is excessive current draw.

Also, (I'm in Canada) do I have options or ways to get out of this purchase? (I've been driving RAM for 10 years and this is my 2nd new truck, but am starting to get second thoughts on this)

The auto parking brake issue you have is not really an issue (at least I don't believe it is). I think you're starting your truck and putting it into drive before you actually fasten your seatbelt. If your truck is in drive before your belt is fastened, the parking brake will not auto release, and you must manually release it. If your seatbelt is fastened before you put it into drive, the brake will release automatically every time. Hope that helps.

 

[Aseras]

UPDATE: For those interested....
The best theory/conclusion the dealer has for what happened is that the system was set to auto-upgrade the firmware and then at some point the system attempted to do an auto-upgrade of the firmware, but it could not complete (unknown reason). It is likely that the system attempted to upgrade at some point and then I just walked away (locked the car and walked away). Can you imagine being in a rush and late for an appointment and then the system tells you that it's busy with an upgrade that might take another 30 minutes? Not sure if that scenario is true or possible. When a firmware update is disrupted (in my experience with other computer systems), depending on the quality of the firmware development, anything is possible. The problems and behaviour could be random and inconsistent, so the disrupted firmware may have caused/controlled something somewhere to drain the battery....?

The problem is the IBS ( battery management system ) for all DT except those with etorque AFAIK is set to shed load and NOT charge the battery until it drops to 10v or a very low state of charge. Then it only charges at a maximum of 250ma.

The fix is simple, set the ibs min voltage to 13.5v or higher.

 

[Frebo]

UPDATE: For those interested....
The best theory/conclusion the dealer has for what happened is that the system was set to auto-upgrade the firmware and then at some point the system attempted to do an auto-upgrade of the firmware, but it could not complete (unknown reason). It is likely that the system attempted to upgrade at some point and then I just walked away (locked the car and walked away). Can you imagine being in a rush and late for an appointment and then the system tells you that it's busy with an upgrade that might take another 30 minutes? Not sure if that scenario is true or possible. When a firmware update is disrupted (in my experience with other computer systems), depending on the quality of the firmware development, anything is possible. The problems and behaviour could be random and inconsistent, so the disrupted firmware may have caused/controlled something somewhere to drain the battery....?

Had this happen to me again today (~4 months later) and the car now has ~4500kms on the clock. I have no idea why this is happening. Everything is fine for a few months and we're doing daily driving without any problems. Then one morning, it's completely dead. Something drained the battery completely. A light duty smart charger (3.5 Amp max) struggled for the first few hours and was in a confused state trying to charge the dead battery, but at the end of the day it managed to get it back to just over 12 volt. The previous time the tech at the dealer told me the battery tested fine with no damage (which is hard to believe). Still, I suspect there's something else that drains the battery only sometimes. ??