My Broken Rebel

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CanRebel

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Went for trip and left my Truck at work for 6 days.

Come back, go to start it. It says Service Electronic Stability Control

Tried to clear the codes, but it would just say the ECU was corrupted and fail.

Figured not that big of deal. tow it to a dealer and get it fixed.
First dealer ... Look at in Feb
Second dealer ... Look at in March
Third dealer ... said maybe in 6 months
Fourth dealer ... said 4 weeks

So, it's sitting at fourth one. After searching for the error, few mentioned battery, which I thought could be after sitting for 6 days.
Check and it seemed fine.

1669446986221.png
 

Daw14

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How did you check your battery ? Did you have it load tested? Try removing both terminals and cleaning them.
 

RamDiver

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Yup, it doesn't take much oxidation or crud to impair the battery connection. I try to clean mine at least twice per year and also apply a thin film of dielectric grease. Anywhere that experiences a serious winter or weather extremes, I'd say it's necessary.

I picked up my '21 Ram last January and wasn't overly impressed with the cold weather starts after sitting for a few days. I believe that the Mopar battery is marginal and plan to replace it with an AGM ASAP, the next time it shows impairment.

Costco has an awesome warranty on AGM batteries.

For any starting problems or erratic digital electronics type errors, especially during cooler weather, clean and lube battery terminals as step 1 in troubleshooting.



Get one of these cleaning tools, they're cheap even in Canada. They make the task easy, quick, and precise. A small tube of dielectric grease will last forever if you're only using it on battery terminals.

battery post cleaner.jpg


After cleaning the posts & clamps, that still does not confirm your battery is in a healthy state. Corroded terminals may have compromised the ability to fully charge the battery. Now cold weather is here, the battery was sitting and possibly not fully charged, to begin with.

Could you possibly clean the terminals and boost using another source? I know I'd be trying a few tests before waiting more than a day or two let alone 4 weeks. That sucks!

As for the battery testing, did you use a load tester? Princess Auto used to sell the wee toasters for about $20.

Using today's prices, it looks like Amazon.ca beats Princess Auto.

battery load tester.jpg

That, or have a volunteer hold a multimeter on the battery while you're cranking it to see how low it dips under load.
 
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RamDiver

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Money is on the battery. Id buy one, a GOOD one, and drive over to the dealer and install. Its well worth the gamble.

A quick and easy boost job would confirm that theory.

Maybe if travel time isn't an issue, a boost test to confirm. Maybe, the OP has tried all of these tests already. :cool:
 
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CanRebel

CanRebel

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A quick and easy boost job would confirm that theory.

Maybe if travel time isn't an issue, a boost test to confirm. Maybe, the OP has tried all of these tests already. :cool:

Tow Truck driver tried. He had portable unit that we plugged into the office building.
Machine seemed to show the battery was fine, doesn't mean it was though.

Truck was running really bad. RPM's were jumping all over the place.

I couldn't clear any of the codes that were showing up.
example
U0401
C121C
Bunch others.
 
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CanRebel

CanRebel

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After sitting at Dealer for almost 2 weeks. They finally got back to me.

Told me something(rodents/animal) were chewing on wire harness on passenger side of engine.
Want $900 to repair it. Haven't gone see it yet.
 

RamDiver

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After sitting at Dealer for almost 2 weeks. They finally got back to me.

Told me something(rodents/animal) were chewing on wire harness on passenger side of engine.
Want $900 to repair it. Haven't gone see it yet.

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

I had a similar problem with my Tundra several years ago. I never experienced any performance-related difficulties but while in the shop for a recall, they found lots of chewed-up wiring.

I was lucky that with the recall, they had to pull off the entire intake manifold and that's where the rodents had been collecting and chewing.

Ever since that experience, I keep several mouse traps loaded with peanut butter in my barn and garage.
.
 

Lamarsh

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After sitting at Dealer for almost 2 weeks. They finally got back to me.

Told me something(rodents/animal) were chewing on wire harness on passenger side of engine.
Want $900 to repair it. Haven't gone see it yet.

Animals can reap havoc on engines. Pine/red squirrels are usually the culprits, as unlike their fox and grey squirrel cousins, they actually make homes inside things like engine compartments and peoples' homes, and when they do, they can be very destructive. In addition to ripping things apart to try to make a home, they also chew wires out of stimulation and to trim their teeth. I had one years ago rip apart my truck's entire hood insulation and ruin a few wires. It was a huge pain. Just part of the risk of parking outdoors, as many of us do. Also have had them get into the house. When they die in a wall cavity, it's a real pain.

Hope the fix they offered solves your problems.
 
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CanRebel

CanRebel

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Went to go see the damage. wasn't too bad. was in one spot. Strange spot on the passenger side above the tire.

when I told them, I would just repair it myself. they lower the price in half. took them 3 hours.

solved all the issues. the guy working on it, took it for test drive. told me I should remove tune before bringing the truck to dealer.
 

RamDiver

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Went to go see the damage. wasn't too bad. was in one spot. Strange spot on the passenger side above the tire.

when I told them, I would just repair it myself. they lower the price in half. took them 3 hours.

solved all the issues. the guy working on it, took it for test drive. told me I should remove tune before bringing the truck to dealer.

Good news that your repair costs were lowered.

Hopefully, you can develop an action plan to keep the chewers away.
 
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CanRebel

CanRebel

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True. lower is better.

Not much I can do about though. Next time I'm not going to leave it at work.
My house isn't much better. We have many animals, large and small.
I'll at least get my wife to go start/move it every day, which might help.
 
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