2017 1500 Laramie Electrical Issue

[Caplan1269]

I’ll apologize for the length in advance. I’ve had this truck since July of last year. New battery had just been installed when I bought it. Ran flawlessly until one morning in January when it wouldn’t start. Fine when I parked it that night, woke up to go to work and it just clicked. Took the wife’s car to work. Came home for lunch, jumped the battery. Started right up. Took the truck back to work. Went back out after work, click. Had a coworker jump me, went directly to the part store to have them test the alternator and battery. Left the truck running fearing it wouldn’t start again, but they said they’d need to turn it off to test it. Couldn’t take that chance. Knowing I had a 5 month old battery, I assumed it was the alternator, so I just bought a new one. Charged the battery while I installed the new alernator. Got it all done, started the truck no issue. Came out to go to work the next day, click. Took the battery out of the truck and tested it every hour for 8 hours, and it slowly kept dropping in voltage. Took the old alternator and the battery to a part store and had them test both. They tested them both twice and said both were good. I bought a new battery anyway and installed it. Truck started right up. I did some parasitic drain testing just to be safe with the new battery and new alternator in the truck and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Started with a bit of a draw when connected and after about 7 minutes or so of various systems doing there thing, it dropped down to where it was supposed to be. Trucks been running perfect for the past 2 1/2 months. This morning, go out to go to work, click. Jumped it, started right up. Went to work, let it run about a 1/2 hr in the parking lot, shut it off and continued my day at work. Went out for lunch about 5hrs later, started right up. Came out after lunch, click. Hooked up a charger on 2amp setting, took the wife’s car back to work. Came home, waited until about 7pm, unhooked the charger, tested the battery 12.95V. Tried to start it, click. Tested the battery again 12.46V. Jumped the battery, started right up. Checked the battery while running 14.66V. Let it run for about 25min, turned it off. Checked the battery 12.86V. Tried to start it, click. Checked the battery 12.41V. Truck is now sitting in the driveway and won’t start if I don’t jump it. Anyone have a similar issue? What am I missing?
UPDATE
Tested battery this morning after letting it sit overnight, 12.41V, so no voltage drop or parasitic drain happening.

 

[Audiowriter]

Possible terminals need cleaned / or cables are bad - but sounds like a short / ground / parasitic draw. If cleaning the terminals and confirming the cables are good - you will have to locate the parasitic draw / short. Try using an amp meter at the fuse box while truck is parked and not running. Hopefully the culprit will show up via the fuse box. (If your not familiar with using an amp meter for this - google search = "youtube multi meter locate automotive Ram 1500 electrical parasitic draw")

 

[wrench78]

wow, that has me stumped. The only thing I can think of is maybe check your ground wire not only at the battery, but at the frame too. Maybe coming loose not making good contact while driving and there for not charging the battery correctly. Shot in the dark, but maybe worth checking out??

 

[Wild one]

I’ll apologize for the length in advance. I’ve had this truck since July of last year. New battery had just been installed when I bought it. Ran flawlessly until one morning in January when it wouldn’t start. Fine when I parked it that night, woke up to go to work and it just clicked. Took the wife’s car to work. Came home for lunch, jumped the battery. Started right up. Took the truck back to work. Went back out after work, click. Had a coworker jump me, went directly to the part store to have them test the alternator and battery. Left the truck running fearing it wouldn’t start again, but they said they’d need to turn it off to test it. Couldn’t take that chance. Knowing I had a 5 month old battery, I assumed it was the alternator, so I just bought a new one. Charged the battery while I installed the new alernator. Got it all done, started the truck no issue. Came out to go to work the next day, click. Took the battery out of the truck and tested it every hour for 8 hours, and it slowly kept dropping in voltage. Took the old alternator and the battery to a part store and had them test both. They tested them both twice and said both were good. I bought a new battery anyway and installed it. Truck started right up. I did some parasitic drain testing just to be safe with the new battery and new alternator in the truck and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Started with a bit of a draw when connected and after about 7 minutes or so of various systems doing there thing, it dropped down to where it was supposed to be. Trucks been running perfect for the past 2 1/2 months. This morning, go out to go to work, click. Jumped it, started right up. Went to work, let it run about a 1/2 hr in the parking lot, shut it off and continued my day at work. Went out for lunch about 5hrs later, started right up. Came out after lunch, click. Hooked up a charger on 2amp setting, took the wife’s car back to work. Came home, waited until about 7pm, unhooked the charger, tested the battery 12.95V. Tried to start it, click. Tested the battery again 12.46V. Jumped the battery, started right up. Checked the battery while running 14.66V. Let it run for about 25min, turned it off. Checked the battery 12.86V. Tried to start it, click. Checked the battery 12.41V. Truck is now sitting in the driveway and won’t start if I don’t jump it. Anyone have a similar issue? What am I missing?
UPDATE
Tested battery this morning after letting it sit overnight, 12.41V, so no voltage drop or parasitic drain happening.

Spend $18 and get yourself one of these. A multimeter isn't a very good tool to test a battery with,but if it's all you have,get the wife to start the truck,while you have your multimeter on the battery terminals,and see what it drops to.

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

 

[Caplan1269]

Audio writer, appreciate the reply. Terminals and everything around them are clean as a whistle. Did all the testing I can do, including parasitic draw. Everything happens by the book. Once everything is connected, you see the draw from systems starting up and running their cycles and as the systems complete their cycles it drops down chunk by chunk until it gets to .05 after about 7 minutes.

Wrench, everything looks solid. Nothing lose anywhere, unfortunately. Believe you me, it has me stumped. When I checked the battery after charging at 12.95V and it didn’t start, it made no sense to me whatsoever.

Wild one, thanks for the advice. I can certainly get one of those. I use a multimeter because I’m used to using it with testing my boat stuff. Seems to do the trick in a pinch, but completely understand that a dedicated tool for the job will always do a better job.

Talked to my mechanic today and he thinks it might be a short in the cable to the starter, or the starter itself. Gonna do a load test on that line Friday afternoon to see. I’ll let y’all know how I make out. If that doesn’t work it’s headed to the garage.

 

[EdGs]

Next time it just "clicks", give the starter a couple raps with a hammer. Don't knock the crap out of it, just a couple decent taps. Then try to start it again.

See what happens.

 

[Wild one]

Audio writer, appreciate the reply. Terminals and everything around them are clean as a whistle. Did all the testing I can do, including parasitic draw. Everything happens by the book. Once everything is connected, you see the draw from systems starting up and running their cycles and as the systems complete their cycles it drops down chunk by chunk until it gets to .05 after about 7 minutes.

Wrench, everything looks solid. Nothing lose anywhere, unfortunately. Believe you me, it has me stumped. When I checked the battery after charging at 12.95V and it didn’t start, it made no sense to me whatsoever.

Wild one, thanks for the advice. I can certainly get one of those. I use a multimeter because I’m used to using it with testing my boat stuff. Seems to do the trick in a pinch, but completely understand that a dedicated tool for the job will always do a better job.

Talked to my mechanic today and he thinks it might be a short in the cable to the starter, or the starter itself. Gonna do a load test on that line Friday afternoon to see. I’ll let y’all know how I make out. If that doesn’t work it’s headed to the garage.

If it always starts with a boost,you can rule out the cables and the starter,it needs a battery,if it was starter or cables it still wouldn't start with a boost.
Even if you had the battery tested at your local auto parts place and they told you it was good,they probably used a digital tester,and trust me,they aren't worth the cardboard box they come in,buy one of the harbour freight old school toaster style testers,it's still one of the best battery testers a home guy can have,and will show a bad battery when a digital tester says the battery is good.

 

[Caplan1269]

Thanks for the reply Ken, but I’m fairly certain it’s not the battery. The battery that died first was a new battery and only 5 mos old when I started having issues. That was the one that tested good. I had it tested at 3 different places to be sure. I bought a new battery anyway. The new battery lasted about 2 1/2 mos. Is it possible to get two different batteries of different brands at two different places that die that quick, maybe, but not likely. New Battery charges fully and holds charge with no issue, so it’s likely not a battery issue.

I apologize for my bad nomenclature earlier, I’m not doing a load test, I’m doing some voltage drop testing on the starter and some of the lines coming off the battery.

 

[Wild one]

Thanks for the reply Ken, but I’m fairly certain it’s not the battery. The battery that died first was a new battery and only 5 mos old when I started having issues. That was the one that tested good. I had it tested at 3 different places to be sure. I bought a new battery anyway. The new battery lasted about 2 1/2 mos. Is it possible to get two different batteries of different brands at two different places that die that quick, maybe, but not likely. New Battery charges fully and holds charge with no issue, so it’s likely not a battery issue.

I apologize for my bad nomenclature earlier, I’m not doing a load test, I’m doing some voltage drop testing on the starter and some of the lines coming off the battery.

If it was a starter or cable issue,it wouldn't start with a boost.I think you're over thinking this,but if you want,have the wife try starting it,while you use your multimeter to check the voltage drop at the battery

 

[04fxdwgi]

If it was a starter or cable issue,it wouldn't start with a boost.I think you're over thinking this,but if you want,have the wife try starting it,while you use your multimeter to check the voltage drop at the battery

Since voltage drop is only obvious under load on the conductor / connections, also check voltage drop between the block and Bat-... And the Bat+ and the starter post. And the ground between the engine and sheetmatal (the one in the back)

 

[Caplan1269]

If it was a starter or cable issue,it wouldn't start with a boost.I think you're over thinking this,but if you want,have the wife try starting it,while you use your multimeter to check the voltage drop at Planning on doing the voltage drop tests on Friday.

Since voltage drop is only obvious under load on the conductor / connections, also check voltage drop between the block and Bat-... And the Bat+ and the starter post. And the ground between the engine and sheetmatal (the one in the back)

Thank you, yes. These are the checks I’m planning to do on Friday.

 

[Caplan1269]

PROBLEM SOLVED - LESSON LEARNED

Did volt drop testing today. Battery Pos to Battery Neg - Normal. Battery Neg to Ground - Normal. Battery Pos to Starter B post - off the charts @ almost 11V. Told me something is wrong in the line to the starter. Jack up the car, take off the tire, take out the mud cover, everything on the starter looks good, nothing loose. Decide to disconnect everything from the starter anyway, clean and reconnect. Put the wrench on the nut for the B post, barely applied any pressure and it turned. Must’ve been tight enough to be making a little contact and look right, but not tight enough to get enough juice to start. The added juice when jumping must’ve been giving it enough extra to start, but without the jump, it wasn’t getting enough. Tightened that nut up real good, no jump, no charging, no nothing. Pushed the button and the truck started right up. Appreciate the replies. Hopefully this helps someone, somewhere. Just because it starts when jumped, doesn’t mean it’s the battery or the alternator. I should’ve not been lazy and took the easy way out. I should’ve climbed under the truck 5 mos ago to check the starter when the battery and alternator I had tested good.

 

[Ken226]

PROBLEM SOLVED - LESSON LEARNED

Did volt drop testing today. Battery Pos to Battery Neg - Normal. Battery Neg to Ground - Normal. Battery Pos to Starter B post - off the charts @ almost 11V. Told me something is wrong in the line to the starter. Jack up the car, take off the tire, take out the mud cover, everything on the starter looks good, nothing loose. Decide to disconnect everything from the starter anyway, clean and reconnect. Put the wrench on the nut for the B post, barely applied any pressure and it turned. Must’ve been tight enough to be making a little contact and look right, but not tight enough to get enough juice to start. The added juice when jumping must’ve been giving it enough extra to start, but without the jump, it wasn’t getting enough. Tightened that nut up real good, no jump, no charging, no nothing. Pushed the button and the truck started right up. Appreciate the replies. Hopefully this helps someone, somewhere. Just because it starts when jumped, doesn’t mean it’s the battery or the alternator. I should’ve not been lazy and took the easy way out. I should’ve climbed under the truck 5 mos ago to check the starter when the battery and alternator I had tested good.

Thanks for coming back and posting the disposition! I'm glad it worked out!

 

[Marshall]

I have had that happen, poor connection at starter, another test, s good jumper cable from b- to starter case, I have seen starters not grounding out good, especially on trucks in rough country.
Cable ends can look good, but be all corroded up inside

 

[RedcardRam]

I’ll apologize for the length in advance. I’ve had this truck since July of last year. New battery had just been installed when I bought it. Ran flawlessly until one morning in January when it wouldn’t start. Fine when I parked it that night, woke up to go to work and it just clicked. Took the wife’s car to work. Came home for lunch, jumped the battery. Started right up. Took the truck back to work. Went back out after work, click. Had a coworker jump me, went directly to the part store to have them test the alternator and battery. Left the truck running fearing it wouldn’t start again, but they said they’d need to turn it off to test it. Couldn’t take that chance. Knowing I had a 5 month old battery, I assumed it was the alternator, so I just bought a new one. Charged the battery while I installed the new alernator. Got it all done, started the truck no issue. Came out to go to work the next day, click. Took the battery out of the truck and tested it every hour for 8 hours, and it slowly kept dropping in voltage. Took the old alternator and the battery to a part store and had them test both. They tested them both twice and said both were good. I bought a new battery anyway and installed it. Truck started right up. I did some parasitic drain testing just to be safe with the new battery and new alternator in the truck and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Started with a bit of a draw when connected and after about 7 minutes or so of various systems doing there thing, it dropped down to where it was supposed to be. Trucks been running perfect for the past 2 1/2 months. This morning, go out to go to work, click. Jumped it, started right up. Went to work, let it run about a 1/2 hr in the parking lot, shut it off and continued my day at work. Went out for lunch about 5hrs later, started right up. Came out after lunch, click. Hooked up a charger on 2amp setting, took the wife’s car back to work. Came home, waited until about 7pm, unhooked the charger, tested the battery 12.95V. Tried to start it, click. Tested the battery again 12.46V. Jumped the battery, started right up. Checked the battery while running 14.66V. Let it run for about 25min, turned it off. Checked the battery 12.86V. Tried to start it, click. Checked the battery 12.41V. Truck is now sitting in the driveway and won’t start if I don’t jump it. Anyone have a similar issue? What am I missing?
UPDATE
Tested battery this morning after letting it sit overnight, 12.41V, so no voltage drop or parasitic drain happening.

I haven't read all the posts so if someone else brought this up sorry.

1st I would check the starter draw etc....that's probably it.
2nd A friend had a Ford that the a/c compressor motor seized and it would only start with a jump start until he bypassed it with a shorter serpentine belt
3rd starter relay
4th ignition module

 

[Marshall]

a quick cable check is after trying to get it started and nothing happens, jump out , cuss when you trip, and put your hands on all the cable ends and connections at the battery and starter.
any that are poor will be hot.

That also works to check electric fences and coils, but if you have a younger brother, that's his job.

 

[Marshall]

just a quick note on batteries, mine is factory battery, so its 10 or 11 yrs old, I forget the build date, 2014 model. The battery sounded a bit slow when I ran to store today, so I clamped my load tester on when it was out of the garage, and the load test switch is to be on for 10 seconds.
after a second or 2 it was in the yellow, 10 seconds down to red, and that was enough drain to kill the battery.
So guess its that time. I have hoped it would make the warm weather and it did very good.
it lives most of the time in the garage these days.