My new 1500 night edition with 2,900 miles was cold dead yesterday morning in the Maine North Woods. On Monday we drove 3.5 hours to reach our destination. Less than 20 hours later, I went out to start my truck, and it was dead. Not even a light from anything. I got out my jump kit and tried to jump the truck. I got some dashboard lights, one click when I hit the ignition button, then everything started flickering, and then nothing. I grabbed my generator and a new battery charger. Got the generator running and charger hooked up. The charger said I had 4.4 volts from the AGM battery. I gave it a 30A charge for 30 minutes and brought the voltage up to 4.7 volts. I hit the jump start button on the charger and tried to start the truck. Same results as with my jump kit. Last resort, I had my boat battery in the back of the truck. Fortunately, the post were on the same side, but on the opposite side of the battery. I had to cut a lot of wire ties to get enough slack to hook up the battery. The truck started right up. I tied the battery in place because the battery bracket would not fit. I drove 4 hours home, right to the dealership. I called them on my way home and told them I was on my way. The said they had to keep my truck to run some test on the batteries. This truck has the large AGM battery, and a smaller one between the AGM battery, and the firewall. The little one is called the "stop/start" battery. They called today and said my truck was all set. When I got there, I told them I wanted someone with authority to explain exactly what happened to this $65K truck with less than 3k miles. I had two mechanics and the service manager explain what happened. The "stop/start" battery shorted out. Because of that, it drained down the AGM battery. I could not jump it, because with the "stop/start" battery shorted out, (it is either in parallel or series with the AGM battery) the AGM battery wouldn't take a charge. They said they have had issues with the "stop/start" batteries, but they can't replace them under warranty unless they fail. I asked them how I could get around this issue if it happens again. One of the mechanics said to take the positive lead off the "stop/start" battery, wrap it up tight with a rag (isolate the end of the cable), and then jump start the truck with my jump pack. I am not totally sold on this, but I take my truck off the grid, and AAA is not going to get me. I don't have the time to research the electrical wiring, but does anyone know what the "stop/start" battery does? Does it have something to do with coming to a stop, and the engine shuts off? I hope this helps someone in the same situation I was in. I sold my 2017 Chevy Silverado with a bad transmission, to get myself in a truck I can trust. My trust just went out the window.
