[rebsr5231939]

Came home from a shooting match on Saturday the 10th. Parked the truck, a 2021, and unpluged the aux. front camera. Nothing else plugged in. 21000 miles. Got up the next morning and long story short, dead battery. I mean dead, 4.1 volts. RAM towed it to a dealer in Hillsboro NC on Monday. So far they cannot find any rogue draw on the battery. The truck is still at the dealers. If they don't find the problem I am afraid I will be at a match in Georgia or Penn. and the same thing will happen. I love the truck and have been a RAM fan sense 1988. What do you guys think?

 

[Captainmal]

My 2019 Ram 2500 did much the same a month ago in Maggie Valley. Just a bad battery but it took the second one down also. I jumped the truck from another one. Drove it to an auto parts and bought new batteries.

does yours start after the new battery?

 

[Crash68]

It's not all that uncommon for factory battery to just up and die completely like that. Nothing specific to the EcoDiesel as the gassers suffer the same sudden failure. Battery replacement usually fixes the problem.

 

[rebsr5231939]

My 2019 Ram 2500 did much the same a month ago in Maggie Valley. Just a bad battery but it took the second one down also. I jumped the truck from another one. Drove it to an auto parts and bought new batteries.

does yours start after the new battery?

The dealership said the existing battery was OK?
It is still at the dealership.

 

[rebsr5231939]

It's not all that uncommon for factory battery to just up and die completely like that. Nothing specific to the EcoDiesel as the gassers suffer the same sudden failure. Battery replacement usually fixes the problem.

I was told that when a battery goes below 7 or 8 volts, it is not salvageable. Is that so?
This truck is only 19 month's in my care. Got it in Feb of 2021.

 

[Manofmeyham]

I've seen several stories of battery and electrical issues recently. My guess is a bad batch released or something to do with shipping delays in 2020/21 causing batteries to sit and degrade. Simplest solution is to get a new and better battery.

 

[Crash68]

I was told that when a battery goes below 7 or 8 volts, it is not salvageable. Is that so?

Any voltage in the 11 volt range is considered dead.
At 10.5 volts a modern vehicle is hit/miss in whether it will even crank, low voltage protection in the ECM/BCM.
Most modern battery chargers won't even attempt to charge a battery if the voltage goes under 10 V. Usually have to parallel with another battery to fool the charger. Even then the battery in question has probably suffered degraded capacity.
Not sure why your dealership would even question a battery registering 4V. If the dealership doesn't replace the battery under warranty I would replace anyways.

 

[rebsr5231939]

Any voltage in the 11 volt range is considered dead.
At 10.5 volts a modern vehicle is hit/miss in whether it will even crank, low voltage protection in the ECM/BCM.
Most modern battery chargers won't even attempt to charge a battery if the voltage goes under 10 V. Usually have to parallel with another battery to fool the charger. Even then the battery in question has probably suffered degraded capacity.
Not sure why your dealership would even question a battery registering 4V. If the dealership doesn't replace the battery under warranty I would replace anyways.

Thank you all for the info. I think "I" will get hit up for a new battery if that is the case.

Dick

 

[Captainmal]

Follow-up if/when the dealership figures out the problem.

Do not be surprised if they are inept. Let's hope this is not the case.

 

[Dieseldragon]

Came home from a shooting match on Saturday the 10th. Parked the truck, a 2021, and unpluged the aux. front camera. Nothing else plugged in. 21000 miles. Got up the next morning and long story short, dead battery. I mean dead, 4.1 volts. RAM towed it to a dealer in Hillsboro NC on Monday. So far they cannot find any rogue draw on the battery. The truck is still at the dealers. If they don't find the problem I am afraid I will be at a match in Georgia or Penn. and the same thing will happen. I love the truck and have been a RAM fan sense 1988. What do you guys think?

Hi: rebsr5231939... I just hope the "Stealership" doesn't leave you flat!!!
Dieseldragon North shore of Lake Erie.

 

[rebsr5231939]

Hi: rebsr5231939... I just hope the "Stealership" doesn't leave you flat!!!
Dieseldragon North shore of Lake Erie.

They did. They did not even put the incident in my RAM history. Got the oil etc changed and had the dealership where I purchased the truck check and , nothing noted.

 

[namretsud]

I would ask to see the print out of the load test on the battery. If they didn't do a load test, I would demand one and if it shows any indication of failure, I would demand a warranty replacement.

 

[Bounty Hunter]

@GDE could this be related to the 3rd Gen charging issue you're looking into?

 

[GDE]

@GDE could this be related to the 3rd Gen charging issue you're looking into?

It could be. The charging algorithms on factory tune just do not seem correct for maintaining system voltage and state of charge on battery seems too low at times. The random discharge/charge while driving was done for fuel economy, but has very little impact. It might be having a negative impact on battery life.

 

[rebsr5231939]

I would ask to see the print out of the load test on the battery. If they didn't do a load test, I would demand one and if it shows any indication of failure, I would demand a warranty replacement.

Well guys, guess what. Got up Sunday morning and another “DEAD” battery, 2.63V. They towed it today to a RAM dealership in Burlington NC. Got a hand job from the dealership in Hillsboro NC the first time it happened. They are so backed up they cannot get to it till Nov.28th. Got other vehicles so not a big deal. I just want them to find the current draw and fix it. Time will tell.

 

[GDE]

Well guys, guess what. Got up Sunday morning and another “DEAD” battery, 2.63V. They towed it today to a RAM dealership in Burlington NC. Got a hand job from the dealership in Hillsboro NC the first time it happened. They are so backed up they cannot get to it till Nov.28th. Got other vehicles so not a big deal. I just want them to find the current draw and fix it. Time will tell.

If you had a radio update recently, it could be causing a parasitic draw. Ram has a TSB on it and a fix coming out soon.