2005 Ram 1500 Electrical Issues, help

[2005Ram1500woes]

I recently bought a 2005 Ram 1500 SLT from a friend. The vehicle has been well cared for mechanically. The previous owner did all the work on it since he bought it in 2014.

After buying it, I had Best Buy install a CarPlay radio. Since then there have been weird electrical issues with the truck.

I’m not a car/mechanic type person and don’t know much.

I suspect that there is a relatively minor issue with the electrical system that once fixed will be the end of the problem. The previous owner never had any electrical issues and had a factory radio fyi.

Things that have happened

1. while driving the radio turned off and back on repeatedly. I stopped to eat lunch and when I got back in it did not repeat this. On the same trip I later backed into a driveway. As I put it in reverse and started to back up the entire engine cut off. I turned the key into the off position and then cranked it back up immediately. I think I put it in park or neutral first.

Potential fix for this: I took it back to Best Buy and told them what happened. They said a ground wire for the radio was loose and fixed it.

The above issue has not repeated since taking it back to Best Buy

2. After sitting for a couple days go to use truck and it won’t crank, no dome light, no door adjar light on dash. Tried to jump it off, zero help, not even a hint of trying to crank. While looking at the fuse box press on the 30A ignition fuse and the dome light/door adjar light comes on, try to crank it and it tries to turn over but doesn’t. Try jumping again, nothing.

Take the battery out and go to Advanced Auto, battery is healthy, plenty of charge. Buy a 30A fuse for the ignition switch in the fuse box, maybe it’s blown. Go home put battery back in, new fuse goes in (the old one didn’t appear to be blown fyi, replaced it anyway) and it cranks up immediately without hesitation.

I put a new ignition cylinder in because the old one is very loose and the truck could be left in accessory mode

3. I’m at the shooting range and go to leave. Turn key and nothing happens, no dome light/door adjar when I get out. Pop the hood, jiggle the negative terminal, nothing happens, jiggle the positive terminal and the windshield wiper comes on once. Open the door, dome light on, door adjar on, cranks up without hesitation

3. I come out to use the truck and when I open the door the dome light and “door adjust” light isn’t on and I hear a a mechanical buzzing type sound coming from somewhere in the dash/engine area. Turn the key and nothing. Checked the battery with a multimeter and it’s got 12.4 volts.

I remove the ignition fuse and the buzzing sound stops. Put the ignition fuse back in and the sound remains off. Open the door and the dome light comes on, engine cranks without hesitation.

I would love some ideas about what this is. I have a video of the sound the truck makes , the buzzing sound that I could post later.

Thank you in advance for any ideas or help.

 

[RamDiver]

I recently bought a 2005 Ram 1500 SLT from a friend. The vehicle has been well cared for mechanically. The previous owner did all the work on it since he bought it in 2014.

After buying it, I had Best Buy install a CarPlay radio. Since then there have been weird electrical issues with the truck.

I’m not a car/mechanic type person and don’t know much.

I suspect that there is a relatively minor issue with the electrical system that once fixed will be the end of the problem. The previous owner never had any electrical issues and had a factory radio fyi.

Things that have happened

1. while driving the radio turned off and back on repeatedly. I stopped to eat lunch and when I got back in it did not repeat this. On the same trip I later backed into a driveway. As I put it in reverse and started to back up the entire engine cut off. I turned the key into the off position and then cranked it back up immediately. I think I put it in park or neutral first.

Potential fix for this: I took it back to Best Buy and told them what happened. They said a ground wire for the radio was loose and fixed it.

The above issue has not repeated since taking it back to Best Buy

2. After sitting for a couple days go to use truck and it won’t crank, no dome light, no door adjar light on dash. Tried to jump it off, zero help, not even a hint of trying to crank. While looking at the fuse box press on the 30A ignition fuse and the dome light/door adjar light comes on, try to crank it and it tries to turn over but doesn’t. Try jumping again, nothing.

Take the battery out and go to Advanced Auto, battery is healthy, plenty of charge. Buy a 30A fuse for the ignition switch in the fuse box, maybe it’s blown. Go home put battery back in, new fuse goes in (the old one didn’t appear to be blown fyi, replaced it anyway) and it cranks up immediately without hesitation.

I put a new ignition cylinder in because the old one is very loose and the truck could be left in accessory mode

3. I’m at the shooting range and go to leave. Turn key and nothing happens, no dome light/door adjar when I get out. Pop the hood, jiggle the negative terminal, nothing happens, jiggle the positive terminal and the windshield wiper comes on once. Open the door, dome light on, door adjar on, cranks up without hesitation

3. I come out to use the truck and when I open the door the dome light and “door adjust” light isn’t on and I hear a a mechanical buzzing type sound coming from somewhere in the dash/engine area. Turn the key and nothing. Checked the battery with a multimeter and it’s got 12.4 volts.

I remove the ignition fuse and the buzzing sound stops. Put the ignition fuse back in and the sound remains off. Open the door and the dome light comes on, engine cranks without hesitation.

I would love some ideas about what this is. I have a video of the sound the truck makes , the buzzing sound that I could post later.

Thank you in advance for any ideas or help.

How long did you use the truck without any grief, and before the Best Buy tech was messing with it?

If the answer is not much, then you don't know if the fault was pre-existing or the result of work performed.

If you drove it for a month without any problems and now it's misbehaving, something they did during the installation is to blame, and they should fix it.


Our trucks are notorious for having the fuses back away from fully seated.
A SOP for Ram ownership is to periodically push in the fuses in the TIPM.
Once every 6 months or so, depending on how far they're displaced from fully seated.

From your description, the battery connections should be verified to be clean, corrosion-free, and properly torqued.

How old is the battery?

Digital load testers are designed to be operated with no brain power and are very prone to false positives.

Our trucks are rolling microcomputers and are very sensitive to anything but a fully functional battery. As a result, the SOP for any irregular electrical issue is the load test the battery with a toaster-style load tester like this $18 device from HarbourFreight.

100 Amp, 6/12V Battery Load Tester

Amazing deals on this 100 Amp 6/12V Battery Load Tester at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

That should be enough to get you started.

BTW, that's a great first post with lots of details.


And, to Ram Forum.

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[2005Ram1500woes]

Thank you for the insights!

The truck belonged to one of my best friends. He rarely drove it and kept the battery on a trickle charger all the time. The terminals are clean. The battery is 8 years old. When I took the battery to Advance Auto they said the health was good. I'm not sure if they put a load on it but they hooked it up to their battery tester. I suspect they would have tried to sell me a new battery if there was any issue.

As soon as I got the truck I took it to get the radio. Literally cleaned it out real good, washed it and went to Best Buy. I'm relying on my friend, who I believe, that he never had any issues like this with it and the old radio.

I strongly suspect that when they installed the radio something got messed up. I don't know what. I've already taken it back once for the ground issue. They told me the ground was loose and they fixed it.

The odd thing is that it seems like it's not an issue of a parasitic drain or the battery not holding a charge or not having enough juice for a crank. In the times described above when it doesn't crank its like there is a loud click or sound when I go to turn the key. The alternator doesn't turn over but it's like it's blown a fuse. I don't actually know what that sounds like but it's how I could imagine it. A loud click then everything goes off. It has never required a jump to get started, and when it starts its immediate and solid with no hesitation.

 

[Daw14]

If you google battery testers you will find old style toaster type testers , analog .
These put a load on the battery to test how well it handles it , not just measuring volts.
These testers are about twenty dollars and will last longer than us.

It is 20 + years old and rust never sleeps.
I would start at the battery and clean every ground connection I was able to find.
Then I would look for information on any that were not located.
Less than stellar grounds can make one lose their mind , searching for the problem.

 

[RamDiver]

Thank you for the insights!

The truck belonged to one of my best friends. He rarely drove it and kept the battery on a trickle charger all the time. The terminals are clean. The battery is 8 years old. When I took the battery to Advance Auto they said the health was good. I'm not sure if they put a load on it but they hooked it up to their battery tester. I suspect they would have tried to sell me a new battery if there was any issue.

As soon as I got the truck I took it to get the radio. Literally cleaned it out real good, washed it and went to Best Buy. I'm relying on my friend, who I believe, that he never had any issues like this with it and the old radio.

I strongly suspect that when they installed the radio something got messed up. I don't know what. I've already taken it back once for the ground issue. They told me the ground was loose and they fixed it.

The odd thing is that it seems like it's not an issue of a parasitic drain or the battery not holding a charge or not having enough juice for a crank. In the times described above when it doesn't crank its like there is a loud click or sound when I go to turn the key. The alternator doesn't turn over but it's like it's blown a fuse. I don't actually know what that sounds like but it's how I could imagine it. A loud click then everything goes off. It has never required a jump to get started, and when it starts its immediate and solid with no hesitation.

Most retail commercial stores use a digital load tester, which, as previously mentioned, is prone to false positives. That's why we often recommend a charging session followed by a battery load test with a toster-style load tester as linked above.

If you had a brand-new battery, you would receive the same advice for load testing with the issues you have reported.

Try to keep in mind that we see almost the same scenario multiple times per day/week/ month. One flaky cell in the bank of 6 in the battery can have catastrophic effects on a rolling microcomputer.

There are other items to be checked, but until the battery has been correctly tested, they're a waste of time.

I've owned 2 of those battery load testers for decades, they're almost a 'must have' for anything but a new truck.

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[2005Ram1500woes]

Ok. I'm gonna get the linked battery load tester and will report back.

Thank you for the advice. I'm new to car stuff. Sort of don't know where to begin, or at least didn't until now.

Thanks gentleman.

 

[2005Ram1500woes]

Ok, done. Truck has been sittting for 9 hours without running. Disconnected the battery and ran the test.

800 cold crank amps according to battery:


12.4volts


Then I ran the load test and it never dropped out of the green for even 1000 cold crank amps. Screen shot from video during load test:

 

[RamDiver]

You're most welcome and thanks for the detailed report.

The next thing I would prove is the starter motor and starter relay.

Rather than write all this out, I'm going to cheat and post a link.

If the starter fails often, and you can find a volunteer, have them turn the ignition to start while you smack the starter motor with a hammer.

You used to be able to replace the contacts inside, when we used to rebuild starter motors, before everything came from China.

IIRC, a dead spot on the armature or plunger of the starter solenoid will cause starting to be hit and miss.

Or, in the case of my Toyota, the high current copper contacts in the end of the starter solenoid had disintegrated.

Wacking the starter will often cause it to start.

I had an '87 Toyota Extended Cab pickup that developed this feature. I replaced the high current contacts in it for less than $10 in the '90s.

You can bypass the starter relay to force it to crank with the ignition off, so it won't start the truck but proves the starter functionality.

Or, you can extract the starter and take it to a parts store for a free test.

Starter?

I have a no start condition in my '20 hemi. Starter doesn't crank. All I get is a humming noise that won't stop until I disconnect the battery. Battery has a full charge. Any ideas?

www.ramforum.com

Understanding Starter Motor Solenoid: How It Works

Learn about the starter motor solenoid: What it does, how it's wired, the different types, function and how it fails

ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com

While the ignition is in the start position, the pull-in & hold-in windings on the solenoid are energized, pulling in the plunger which closes the high current contacts to activate the starter motor and also moves the cantilever to engage the pinion gear via the bendix to connect to the engine crankshaft.




The above starter solenoid picture shows a better representation of the high current contacts.

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[2005Ram1500woes]

Thank you for all the info on the starter. I’m hopeful that that won’t be an issue for a while at least.

We may have found the problem. The positive battery terminal while very snug on the battery but was loose where the wires connect to it. We cleaned the rust off the terminal/connector and locked it down right. So far no issues with start ups. I’ve started it and ran it multiple times a day for a few days now without issues.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Hanover Fiste]

I have the same truck. You might want to check the condition of the battery cables, and replace them if necessary.

 

[2005Ram1500woes]

Thank you Hanover. I will keep that in mind. The battery itself is 8 years old but still healthy. Baring any problems before the battery needs to be replaced, I'll look at the lines when I get a new battery. It's the original starter too so I'd imagine it's gonna go at some point. Thanks again gents.

 

[2005Ram1500woes]

Happy to report no more battery/start up issues.