Battery / Starting Issues

Greetings Ram Forum, existing member first time poster. I have a 2014 Ram 1500, Laramie, 5.7 liter, 112,000 miles. Last week it all of a sudden wouldn't start. Stopped by AutoZone to check the battery, they said the battery, starter, and alternator are all good. I did a power draw test multiple times only to find nothing drawing power. If it sits all night without getting in it, it will crank up just fine. While I am at work if I get in it for tools 4 or 5 times before lunch I have to jump it off. If I don't get in it at all it starts up fine. When I test the battery for voltage it says 12.6 or 12.7 (after driving), as long as I stay out of it it has same reading next morning and cranks fine. If I get in and out of it the voltage starts to drop and once it goes below 12.4 volts it won't start. My guess is the battery, but I want to make sure before I spend $200.00 and that doesn't fix it. Any ideas on what might be happening?

My guess is the battery has no reserve left. Just the lights coming on when you open the doors is enough to drain it to the point where it won't start. I had it happen to a different car a few years back. New battery - no more problems.

If that is the factory battery, it has lived a good life. You will never get through the winter with it, at least not here in New England.

Sounds like a battery issue to me. There are 2 voltages that need to be done on a battery. 1 is key off, engine off and just testing across the battery posts, which is what sounds like you did. The other test is with someone trying to start the truck with the meter across the battery posts just like the other test. If the battery goes even close to 10 volts, get it out of there. It’s basically done. Here in the Midwest region of the US, we’re lucky to get 4 years out of battery because of the extreme heat and the extreme cold temps that we get during the year.

I went through that a couple weeks ago with autozone doing all the checking Eventually I could not start the truck with a charger. I bought an ODYSSEY 850 94R I think the numbers are . It cranks 1500ca for the first 5 seconds. Its pretty much the brand most otherd are compared to . Autozone seems to have the best price but they have to order it . My friend laughed as he said he never saw a battery come with an owners manual . I have never had to replace one yet

Oriellys stor brand made by east pen
reccommend the agm

X2Power at batteires plus made by northstar
or just get anorthstar brand , if yo can find them

Odyssey is great too but you can buy 2 of the others for same price.

Definitely sounds like the battery has next to zero reserve capacity left. Had a similar problem with mine where every few days I had to boost it with no noticeable amp draw


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Thanks everyone I did the crank test with voltage meter and it failed, dropped down below 10. So it's off to get a battery, I'll update in a few days. Thanks again, this has been driving me crazy.

gofishn said:

Oriellys stor brand made by east pen
reccommend the agm

X2Power at batteires plus made by northstar
or just get anorthstar brand , if yo can find them

Odyssey is great too but you can buy 2 of the others for same price.

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And I wonder what the reason for that may be
$225.00 @ Autozone is not bad

Gary2 said:

And I wonder what the reason for that may be
$225.00 @ Autozone is not bad

View attachment 183823

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Easy,because they can get it.
It is a great battery.
But, I got my East Penn for about half that and am pretty confident it will last far longer than half as long.

gofishn said:

Easy,because they can get it.
It is a great battery.
But, I got my East Penn for about half that and am pretty confident it will last far longer than half as long.

Click to expand...

Ya buy what ya hope is good enough or what ya can afford but will never know how good it is till it fails . I would venture to say " Easy, because they can get it " would fit most any company besides EnerSys and don't help the fellow make an educated battery purchase. I started using them over 10 years ago in our Jeeps which never seem to have a battery failure at the mall or can call AAA for help .

All right everybody it's been a few days I've give the battery hell and the truck still cranks. Replacing the battery seemed to fix the issue, thanks again everyone.

Sounds like good news. An easy fix really, and you should be good for several years.

2014 Ram Hemi Longhorn the starter lasted until 215,000 miles swapped it out..... Pickup has been very reliable