Dead Short

[woody31]

I have a 2014 ram 4500 with a 6.4 hemi,,, It will not start if I leave the battery on over the weekend.
I took off the negative battery cable and put a test light in series on it. The test light lights up,,,so I put a multi meter in there as well to see how many volts is going out,,10.7 volts. Everything seems to work ok,,this is a base model,,no power locks or windows,,I pulled every relay and fuse out of the small electrical box,,and tried many on the main fuse box,,i also unhooked the alternator,,,still no help;;
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. If I cant get it lined out it will go to the dealer,,which I do not want,,,thank you

 

[Craw]

If you cant figure out where it is coming from could you put like a intermediate cutoff switch between the battery and the draw? If anything make it a dead man switch for security purposes. Just a thought.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/w...ge//627/large/20975377_cbw_s9911_pri_larg.jpg

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/w...ge//627/large/20971921_cbw_s5404_pri_larg.jpg

 

[crash68]

have the battery load tested, if it's the original battery you probably need a new one

 

[woody31]

have the battery load tested, if it's the original battery you probably need a new one

Battery is new, Please reread my post.

 

[R.L.K.]

The OP doesn't mention a new battery [emoji41]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[woody31]

no need to be a richard smoker,,im looking for help not a butthead

 

[joshuaeb09]

I would start looking for shorts to ground on any of the positive leads. With the battery pulled check your resistance to ground at the positive terminal and work your way from there.

 

[chopperman1]

Putting a test light in series does nothing except complete the circuit, not a valid test.

Putting a volt meter in series does nothing except maybe burn out your meter, not a valid test.

Your post says nothing about a new battery, that would be my 1st response, but you say it is new later on. I would still put a load test on the battery. 10v makes no sense and tells me low battery. You need to have battery tested and charging circuits tested.

Putting a amp meter in series will tell you parasitic draw. That is the test you want only after the battery/charging is tested. Some parasitic draw is normal, ie radio, computer and various other electronics.

With battery at full charge put the amp meter back in line. With all fuses in, start pulling one at a time and see which drops the amp draw. Don't forget to pull the circuit breakers as well as the relays.

 

[crash68]

Putting a test light in series does nothing except complete the circuit, not a valid test.

Putting a volt meter in series does nothing except maybe burn out your meter, not a valid test.

Your post says nothing about a new battery, that would be my 1st response, but you say it is new later on. I would still put a load test on the battery. 10v makes no sense and tells me low battery. You need to have battery tested and charging circuits tested.

Putting a amp meter in series will tell you parasitic draw. That is the test you want only after the battery/charging is tested. Some parasitic draw is normal, ie radio, computer and various other electronics.

With battery at full charge put the amp meter back in line. With all fuses in, start pulling one at a time and see which drops the amp draw. Don't forget to pull the circuit breakers as well as the relays.

^^^^this exactly.. without knowing all the variables and the fact the truck is a '14, it's a good possibility that one of the original batteries could be failing :-D

 

[Hootbro]

 

[Triumphx]

no need to be a richard smoker,,im looking for help not a butthead

Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[Tach_tech]

As others said you need to perform a parasitic draw test with a multimeter set to amps. FCA spec for draw is 35miliamps or less, however in my experience anything less than 50ma is fine.

 

[Mark Wood]

Thanks

 

[BWL]

Title sounds like a to the point obituary for a midget. Did it happen just after replacing the battery? Have you checked voltage with the truck running to be sure the alternator is charging and within the correct voltage range (around 14.5v) an overcharge would damage a battery pretty quickly. Since its a base model there should be less to troubleshoot. If its charging properly and the battery tests fine then draw testing a fuse at a time should narrow it down. If pulling fuses doesn't change anything the short would have to be close to the battery before the block or something around the starter.

 

[Mark Wood]

Thanks for the reply. Bwl..the only thing I did not isolate is the starter..i put my multi meter back in line in neg.side and watched draw on amps scale go from 3 to 14 i didn't touch anything...its at dealership now..ill update when I know the cause.

 

[Headcase]

Please take your alternator for a load test at an auto parts store. You could be overlooking something small an alternator related. Just a thought. Trying to help.

 

[Headcase]

...You could remove the starter and do the same load test with it as well...

 

[Marshall]

You ask for help and you never said that you had a new battery in the first post and than get a bit pissy
You have a radio in that thing? volts tell you nothing, you need to check for current flow.
a radio draw current all the time. You will have to find out how much current is flowing and why ,if more than a few milamps.

 

[Mark Wood]

You ask for help and you never said that you had a new battery in the first post and than get a bit pissy
You have a radio in that thing? volts tell you nothing, you need to check for current flow.
a radio draw current all the time. You will have to find out how much current is flowing and why ,if more than a few milamps.

No need to be a ****...i used my volt meter to do a amp draw test..it switches between 3.4 and 10.2 amps all by itself..have isolated. Radio ..alt
.starter..base model ..no power seats ..windows..or locks ..it is most likely a module in the pcu..tcu..bcu..i will update as I can...thanks Richard Smoker

 

[Hootbro]

Replies from two separate accounts, interesting.