[oilfield-dodge]

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to figure out what's killing my battery. I'll provide all relevant symptoms and info so this might be a bit of a long post, sorry!

I bought an 09 Ram 1500 Sport about 7 months ago. It has the Alpine Speakers, REN Mygig head unit and no modifications that I know of, as I bought it used at about 120,000 km.

First problem was that randomly the battery would drain overnight caused by the radio turning itself on and perform random functions- screen would turn on (but stay black), could hear the disc spinning up and speakers would humm. This seems to be a common issue with these trucks. The volume glitch never happened until recently though.

A couple weeks ago the truck started dying every night. I figured it was the radio finally glitching out permanently so I installed a relay to cut the power completely when the truck is not in acc or run. I figured this would solve the problem and the only problem would be not having the clock showing the correct time anymore. I installed the relay to the head unit only- not sure if amp needs to be cut as well, but it was effective in killing the head unit cold.

This still didn't solve the problem. I tested the amperage drain across the negative battery terminal with the keys out, doors closed and the hood lamp pulled. My multimeter showed a reading of 0.62 on the 10 Amp setting. I think this means 6.2 amps???? Either that or its .62 amps- either way, its way too high. I'm going to assume the 6.2 reading is the right one, regarding other measurements but If someone could verify or correct this, I'd love them. (The multimeter is product number 25-1031-2 and if this link works, this is it: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...OVR~0251031P/Digital+Multimeter.jsp?locale=en

I pulled all fuses today: I only tested on the 10 amp setting so it may not have shown smaller draws. I came up with a total of 4.5 amps from the following fuses: [Fuse / Amps / Description ]
M39 / 1.2 / IOD Amp/Radio
M34 / 0.2 / Bat - CCN/Interior Light/SCM/Sw Bank
M41 / 0.6 / IOD - SDARS ves 2-3/DVD/HFM/UGDO/Vanity Lamp
M42 / 0.5 / IOD - HVAC, U/Underhood Lamp **I pulled the underhood lamp
M38 / 1.0 / IOD - CCN/Interior Mods
J03 / 0.5 / Batt - Passenger Door Node
J07 / 0.5 / Batt - Driver Door Node
Again, those amp figures could be wrong- maybe move the decimal one place to the left?

That's all the info I have so far. The GF said she heard the speakers come on again after the relay was installed but the head unit was dead. Maybe I need to put a relay cut off on the amp too, or maybe its something totally different.

There are a lot of things drawing power but they seemed to all be related to the center console controls/entertainment. Could the wiring harness be frayed and shorting somewhere?

If I can't figure this out, I'm considering just adding a second battery that's isolated so I could basically just boost myself when needed. Once it's started it runs perfectly fine. I'll definitely be installing a custom stereo system this year because although I like all the features, this mygig crap is garbage. It's just let its customers down too hard. I love my truck but this is embarrassing.

Thanks to anyone who has read this all and might have any ideas. Have a great day guys.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Are you letting the ignition off timer run down before you take your measurements, requires 180 seconds after opening any doors? On the 10 amp setting .62 is 620mA, your scale is maxed at 2 digits to the left of the decimal, that's all it means. Your off-key draw should be in the range of 300-400mA.

 

[oilfield-dodge]

Thanks for your fast reply.

I'm glad to hear it's only 620 milliamps. That's a hell of a lot better than 6.2, I just cant believe its killing my battery so fast. Recently I just pop off the neg terminal at night.

I'll check tomorrow but I'm pretty sure all those readings were long after the doors were closed. I'm a little concerned that the problem causing the drain might be sporadic and not happening when I'm testing. I hope it's stereo related because that's something I'm good with. When I get back to Edmonton in October I'll be able to afford it but not yet lol!

 

[CdnoilRAM]

I hear ya. My last truck had an off-key draw from one of my many mods, and it annoyed the hell out of me when I'd get home for my week off and truck would be deader than sh!t and I'd have to beg a boost and ask them to sit for 5 min to give the battery some charge. Turned out it was my HID relay that had literally fused itself together.

I would recommend pulling the M39 fuse one night and the M38 fuse the next night and checking battery voltage in the morning, those draws look high to me. If you van isolate the circuit that's drawing power then you can start looking into a circuit line fix. The downside of our canbus system is the computer can continue to send a signal while attempting to resolve a circuit issue and thus drain the battery.

Who you working for out this way when you get out here?

 

[oilfield-dodge]

I pulled the M38 and M39 fuses and it dropped it down to the 300-400 range. I'm going out of town tonight so I'll just be popping the neg terminal again but I'll try it soon and report back.

I was working for Beaver Drilling last year, they're a small drilling company owned by Trinidad. This year I want to try a new company though, I heard you move up faster.

 

[f75m96me1986e50]

I recently diagnosed excessive current draw which was more than parasitic. 2013 ram 1500. I use the method of the incadesent filament of a 3057 bulb connected between negative battery terminal. Use the lower resistance filament as the running light filament gets dam hot! Pulled every fuse and light stayed illuminated. Dc current draw was .62. Or 620 milliamps. This is unsatisfactory. Disconnected all power connections to aftermarket devices. No change. Well, only suspect left was starter. Pulled main cable off starter,and low and behold the light dimmed substatially! Current draw read 285 millamps. Anomally, not really. Ive seen this scenario thru my 50+ years of electrical and electronics experience. Even the finest wire insulation,dielectric practices slip past the engineers. Our pencils all have erasures i reckon. Hipot tests,manufacturing flaws,and such do slip past companys and quality control is not always 100 percent bulletproof. Best regards.