Remote start not working when cold

[Draker]

Hello @Hrspwr88, we certainly understand how this would be an inconvenience! If you are not able to determine a solution based on suggestions from fellow forum members and you decide to address this with your Ram dealer, we recommend following up with our Canadian Customer Care team for further support. You may either call 1-800-361-3700 or submit your info at https://forms.chryslercanada.ca/contact/en/contactCCI.php?brand=dodge to receive an email follow up.

Hi @Draker, we are sorry for the trouble! Please know that our team is available to you via private messages if you decide to address this with your dealer. We would be happy to offer additional support throughout your service in order to ensure that your concerns are addressed and resolved!

Kathryn
Ram Cares

Was at the dealer a couple of days ago and they did and update on the pcm software (didn't mark on the paperwork which update though). Working correctly so far.

 

[jtodd5781]

I talked to FCA customer care about my truck as they called me. They are going to contact the dealer and try to resolve this issue. It's not a battery issue as the battery has been replaced. I don't think the battery is getting fully charged and also there is more than likely an excessive amount of parasitic discharge. I was driving down road maintaining speed and noticed that the voltmeter on the dash stayed at constant 13.0V for about mile and increased to 14.4V when I decelerated. When this happened the outside temp was 40°F out and the engine temp was at 195°.

 

[HydroRebel]

I talked to FCA customer care about my truck as they called me. They are going to contact the dealer and try to resolve this issue. It's not a battery issue as the battery has been replaced. I don't think the battery is getting fully charged and also there is more than likely an excessive amount of parasitic discharge. I was driving down road maintaining speed and noticed that the voltmeter on the dash stayed at constant 13.0V for about mile and increased to 14.4V when I decelerated. When this happened the outside temp was 40°F out and the engine temp was at 195°.

I did notice the battery voltage while driving only reaching 13.5V just one time, and I thought that was weird. For the last couple of weeks mine has been steady at 14.7 14.8V while driving. Since I replaced my battery I only had 1 failed remote start at home and that was the day after I replaced it so it's possible that the battery never fully charged after I started the truck with it. I also only had one failed remote start at work since changing the battery and this one I have no explanation for. There's most definitely some parasitic draws going on whether it's by design or some modules not going to sleep when they should, it's hard to say. This whole experience has made me paranoid as I'm not convinced that any of the changes I made so far has fixed the problem.

 

[wpt02790]

Really weird. If you hadn't already just been through this routine, I'd say check the battery...

All this talk about batteries did get me curious about mine. I work from home right now, and Friday the dogs stayed home, so I didn't drive it. I have a heated garage that is currently set to 50. It sat Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday night, I checked the battery with my battery tester: 410 CCA.

Monday, after taking the doggos to daycare (roughly 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back), I tested it again, and it said 721 CCA. (Its the regular battery, not AGM, so 730 CCA rated.)

So I wonder how low it would get if I let it sit for a 5 days or a week, say on a trip out of town... guess we'll see.

I have a 17 Express hemi...same problem when its under 25 degrees out..(i just bought the truck a month ago) ...now i know why he traded it in! LOL..it starts fine by key..but under 25 degrees out when using the remote start, engine starts for about 10 seconds and shuts off

 

[HydroRebel]

I have a 17 Express hemi...same problem when its under 25 degrees out..(i just bought the truck a month ago) ...now i know why he traded it in! LOL..it starts fine by key..but under 25 degrees out when using the remote start, engine starts for about 10 seconds and shuts off

Yeah that's a different issue than we're all having and a weird one at that. If your truck remote starts and runs for 10 seconds than the remote start is doing its job I would think. No idea what would cause that to happen.

 

[bill-e]

My truck was not starting after sitting a day or two in single or below zero F temps. Today I brought it in for an oil change and mention the issue and asked them to take a look at the battery. They flashed the BCM with 08-41-21 as it was supposed to solve the "low battery" issue when remote starting. I guess I need to wait till next December to see if it's fixed

 

[HydroRebel]

My truck was not starting after sitting a day or two in single or below zero F temps. Today I brought it in for an oil change and mention the issue and asked them to take a look at the battery. They flashed the BCM with 08-41-21 as it was supposed to solve the "low battery" issue when remote starting. I guess I need to wait till next December to see if it's fixed

Hi, thanks for sharing this information but are you sure that's the right TSB number (08-41-21)? I'm trying to find info on it but so far no luck and it sounds like this will solve the problem that most of us have with our remote starter.

 

[Sascwatch]

We’ll, my remote start has failed to function 3 days already this month but the truck starts just fine if you get in and start it. Even from 3 feet away all I get is on flash of the lights and I can hear the fuel pump kick on but that’s it, no attempt to engage the starter.

This morning I was also greeted to a black and then blue screen when I put my truck into reverse, I’ve had this truck just under two years and have never had that before.

I already had the tab update performed last year When my remote start wasn’t working, but I’ve always felt my battery was weak which I believe was caused by it going completely dead multiple times when the truck was new due to a bad ground. Going to push for a new battery, hopefully it tests bad. Truck is driven daily.

 

[J-Cooz]

That's definitely a weak battery. My ecodiesel needed a new one in the first 6 months.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

 

[Sascwatch]

That's definitely a weak battery. My ecodiesel needed a new one in the first 6 months.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

Let’s hope it tests weak then, I’m pretty close with my sales guy at the dealer so I’m going to push for a replacement.

It’s only -5C here this morning, I’m lucky I’m not at my house in the north where it’s -20 to -30C overnight on a regular basis already.

 

[Sascwatch]

I grabbed a battery tester from next door, wasn’t sure on the cca so I just set it to 800. Looks good, but low voltage.

Booked in for Tuesday of next week, of course it’s supposed to be above freezing again so remote start will work just fine.

 

[bill-e]

It hasnt been super cold but down to 9°f and my truck sat for a couple of days. I have two devices plugged in that draw power all the time. I saw this thread this morning and remote started my truck though it was a balmy 18°.
I suffered from the truck not starting last winter and Idid have it flashed this past spring for this issue. I'll keep you posted

 

[Sascwatch]

It hasnt been super cold but down to 9°f and my truck sat for a couple of days. I have two devices plugged in that draw power all the time. I saw this thread this morning and remote started my truck though it was a balmy 18°.
I suffered from the truck not starting last winter and Idid have it flashed this past spring for this issue. I'll keep you posted

I have a dash cam that is hardwired through a power magic pro set to shut off the power at 12.5V. Some days it’ll shut off the camera as soon as I turn the truck off due to low voltage.

 

[HydroRebel]

We’ll, my remote start has failed to function 3 days already this month but the truck starts just fine if you get in and start it. Even from 3 feet away all I get is on flash of the lights and I can hear the fuel pump kick on but that’s it, no attempt to engage the starter.

This morning I was also greeted to a black and then blue screen when I put my truck into reverse, I’ve had this truck just under two years and have never had that before.

I already had the tab update performed last year When my remote start wasn’t working, but I’ve always felt my battery was weak which I believe was caused by it going completely dead multiple times when the truck was new due to a bad ground. Going to push for a new battery, hopefully it tests bad. Truck is driven daily.

Those are the same symptoms I had (minus the dash cam) remote start wouldn't work with the app or keyfob but the truck manually started fine. My issue was low battery voltage. I guess there's a magic number required for remote start. Anyway, I initially replaced my stock battery with an Odyssey H7 and my truck killed that too in about 9 months. My stock battery is still working fine.

I hopped on the H8 bandwagon a while ago and haven't had an issue since. There's a theory that a H7 battery is undersized for our trucks and I certainly agree with that based on what I seen so far. There's also weird parasitic drains going on (modules not sleeping when they should, etc). Sometimes my truck would only be drawing 30-40mA when first shut off. Sometimes there would be several amps for an hour or so. While that doesn't seem right at all the capacity of the H8 seems to be able to handle it.

You have more faith in your dealership than what I do and I can't wait to hear what kind of BS story they tell you. Of course there's a rare chance that they actually figure out what's going on. I look forward to hearing that also.

 

[Schatzy]

I to had remote start issues last winter. -30C and would only honk once but not start. Would start fine inside the truck. Weather warmed up and remote start worked fine before I could get to the dealer. Later on I started having other electrical issues including low battery warning which shuts down a large amount of accessories to conserve battery. Turn if off, restart and everything is fine. Took it twice to the dealer and could not identify the issue. Said battery was low, passed the test, charged it up and even tried to charge me as no issue was found (that didn't happen - why was battery low when it is driven almost every day). I started trying to locate the problem myself. Decided to upgrade to H8 battery but problems persisted. Eventually changed the Intelligent Battery/voltage sensor located on the negative battery post. That solved my problems. We are now having a current cold snap (-35C) and remote start is working fine. The part was $60.00 CDN so probably a lot cheaper in the USA. That was the fix for me so thought I would pass it on.

 

[Sascwatch]

Of course today is above freezing and the remote start is working fine. Dealer tech couldn’t find anything wrong but updated the bcm to the latest version and said it’s working fine.

I asked the service advisor to have the tech check the battery and charging system as the voltage is really low after starting the truck cold.

 

[Sascwatch]

I picked up my truck after work tonight and to my surprise they tried to charge me .2 hours labor to diagnose the blue screen camera issue as the tech said it was caused by improper customer configuration of the bcm. He printed me off a big list of items that weren’t set correctly according to my trucks factory configuration. This is caught me off guard as the only thing I have changed is the tailgate ajar warning.

After a few minutes and asking to speak to the GM they decided to not charge me the $47 for diagnosis. I told them I’ll see them in a couple days when it is cold again and remote start doesn’t work.

The truck had a bunch of communications errors which I’d assume is due to the low battery voltage prevent remote start from working, and instead of actually looking to see if there was an issue the tech blamed it on the big list of stuff that I haven’t changed.

 

[Hrspwr88]

The BCM update is what seems to fix the issue.

 

[Sascwatch]

The BCM update is what seems to fix the issue.

This will be the second update I’ve gotten for this issue. Last winter I had the same problem, once the cold returns we’ll see if the remote start still functions.

 

[Mslav]

I've been dealing with the same issues with my 2020 rebel back in January first they told me I wasn't driving it enough. Then they decided to replace the alternator that didn't work. Then they tried to tell me it was frozen def.. all these times they had to recharge my battery from 51%. When spring came the problem disappeared. Now that the weather is turned cold again I've had it back in three times for three complimentary battery charges. And they keep telling me it's not the battery. Now it's a software update. With another complimentary battery charge. Next week is supposed to be cold so we'll see how long it takes to call them again