DODGE RAM FORUM banner

Dead Battery Problems

23K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Hakomaki  
#1 ·
It started this past fall where my 2019 RAM Longhorn had a dead battery after sitting with the truck in the accessory position and using the cell phone. The phone call lasted close to an hour and the vehicle had roughly 34,000 miles.
I got a jumpstart and found that many of the warning lights were on when the truck started and I was only able to drive away in 1st gear. The truck would not shift out of first and the safety features were not available. I nursed the truck to a place that was easy to access for a wrecker. I was informed that it would be 1-1/2 - 2 hours for the wrecker. while waiting, I let the truck run and charge the battery. After 30+ minutes, I decided to restart the truck. this action cleared the warnings and things functioned again so I cancelled the wrecker and drove to the dealer. they checked things and told me that the battery checked out as good. (My battery tester showed that it needed replacement).
The same thing happened again this Monday only the time spent while the truck was in accessory mode was less than 25 minutes. Again dead battery. After a jump I had all kinds of warning lights and the truck would not ever engage into gear. I called a friend ad decided to purchase a new battery. The new battery allowed me to start the truck, but the warning lights were still present, the truck would not go into gear and the safety features were off. I called for a tow. The tow truck driver had difficulty in loading the truck onto the flatbed as the current condition affected the brakes and the manual release would not free the rear wheels. It is a good thing that the ground was all snow as the truck was able to slide onto the flatbed.
It has been 4 days and the dealer has not been able to look at my truck due to an overload of vehicles ahead of mine and short staff.
Has anyone experienced this type of problem?
 
#2 ·
Just a suggestion from my sister’s-in-law experience, in 3yrs she has owned her brand new Subaru she has gone 4 batteries (no need to bring up dealership BS here) but replacing the alternator saved dead battery issues. Her alternator was faulty and sometimes would not charge but of course dealership swore alternator was fine she just had bad butch of batteries! She ended up going to an independent shop and got an after market alternator. Your case I would suggest try a new alternator they are relatively cheap compared to the headaches you are going through. Battery swap was a great start, alternator should be next. Great thing with Ram cares is they will listen to your refund request. Do it out of pocket, dealership don’t use common sense any more they look at computers only.
 
#4 ·
I am watching your thread to see what suggestions you get! My 2017 2500 Limited diesel is throwing the “Battery Saver Mode” at random but seems more prevalent after I remote start the truck! I am sitting in the truck with new batteries waiting to see if I can detect any unusual activity and I did. 5-10 minutes after I last had the ignition on our a door open the dash lit up and did some weird flashing then went back off. Then a few minutes later there was a whirring sound coming from the glovebox!

I am perplexed why this brand seems to have more electrical issues than others? My old Jeep Grand Cherokee had electrical gremlins too! The first thing I noticed with this electrical system was my map lights working randomly normal then fading to dim! The issue chases itself from driver side to passenger side too!
We need a Ram tech to chime into this thread!
 
#5 ·
As 14vern said the electronics have a threshold they need to operate above. Once you go below that functions fluctuate and you get chocolate in your peanut butter and peanut butter in your chocolate.

Every year everyone wants more which the auto makers try to do. Not only to appease the consumer but to entice them to buy a new vehicle with more features and integration. That means more electronics, more programming code, and even more integration which increases the chances of module errors/failures and operating errors. Weak, dying, and dead batteries/alternators are terrible for electronic continuity.

My battery died several months ago and gave me some issues and codes (not nearly the level that the OP had). I replaced the battery and have not had any issues since but it did take a bit for everything to clear and get back to normal.

This is going to be the case for any vehicle nowadays due to their electronic complexity. Some auto makers may have programmed better for low threshold or electrical system failures but every auto maker has these issues.
 
#6 ·
My ‘19 RAM Limited 4x4 with 35k miles just did the same thing. Battery dead even though I drove it 4 days earlier. Jumped it from battery pack. All kind of safety features disabled. Transfer case indicator never got light showing it was in 2wd (or anything else). Would not get out of 1st gear.
When it was running, battery voltage showed 14.1V, which is where normal is. Does not show amps, though, but seems like alternator is OK.
Will probably pull battery and take to auto parts store for testing.
So, here I am trying to decide what to do.
Nearest dealer 60 miles away.
 
#8 ·
I've been here at southern Dodge just for a battery an my truck is still sitting no one has even looked at it ,I understand short staff ,but if you have 5 people looking at 2 cars that's a problem better commutation should be intact not just let the people just sit here without notice
 
#9 ·
I am having the same exact problem. With my 2019 ram 1500 Laramie 4x4. I have taken it to two different dealership and they can not find anything. I also have a new alternator and a new optima battery The only thing I have found is the battery is not getting the full amps from the alternator. The alternator is putting out about 35 amps and the battery is only getting 8 or 9 amps. Just enough to keep the truck running. But not enough to charge the battery. So about every 5 or 7 days I have to charge the battery. I have checked for periodic amp draws. I did not find any at all. I do not have a wire schematic for the truck yet. I am going to look in on getting a wire schematic.