And...She's Dead

[MTRamFan]

Went out to the truck today to find her dead as a door nail. No dash lights, no sign of life. Both remotes do nothing. The truck is 4 months old with about 5,550 miles on it.

Drove yesterday and everything was normal except it kept asking to do a download. I denied it a few times until I got home. Left the truck outside and hit the button on the screen asking for permission for the download. About an hour or two later, brought the truck in the garage.

I shouldn't say no signs of life. There is a clicking sound coming from the dash in the area of the start button. The cadence is about once a second.

Called the closest RAM dealer and waiting for a call back. Any ideas?

 

[Wild one]

Battery or connection to battery.

 

[turkeybird56]

Battery or connection to battery.

Definitely sounds like battery or connection. When Dealer gets it, tell them to also check the MGU, 48V charging system as it seems some folks are having trouble with the MGU's again. That is the Generator that both charges the 48V and 12V systems. All IMHO...

 

[mikeru]

It's hard to say for sure. Battery connections are easy enough to check. Bad battery could also be the problem. One thing that would make the truck appear dead is if the RF hub took a bath. But usually nothing works when that goes out. No sound at all when trying to start with the button. And no way to turn off the alarm except to disconnect the battery. Do you have any water leaks into the rear of the cab? Maybe you do and you don't realize it. Our 2020 Limited was out of commission for almost four months waiting for a new rf hub. Hopefully that's not your issue.

 

[turkeybird56]

It's hard to say for sure. Battery connections are easy enough to check. Bad battery could also be the problem. One thing that would make the truck appear dead is if the RF hub took a bath. But usually nothing works when that goes out. No sound at all when trying to start with the button. And no way to turn off the alarm except to disconnect the battery. Do you have any water leaks into the rear of the cab? Maybe you do and you don't realize it. Our 2020 Limited was out of commission for almost four months waiting for a new rf hub. Hopefully that's not your issue.

Dang, his ride is 4 months old, sure hope not, LOL.

 

[mikeru]

Dang, his ride is 4 months old, sure hope not, LOL.

Unfortunately it wouldn't be the first time if turns out to be that. Better for it to happen while it's still covered by the factory warranty though. But his symptoms don't really match what I saw and what other's have reported seeing when their rf hubs failed.

 

[MTRamFan]

It's hard to say for sure. Battery connections are easy enough to check. Bad battery could also be the problem. One thing that would make the truck appear dead is if the RF hub took a bath. But usually nothing works when that goes out. No sound at all when trying to start with the button. And no way to turn off the alarm except to disconnect the battery. Do you have any water leaks into the rear of the cab? Maybe you do and you don't realize it. Our 2020 Limited was out of commission for almost four months waiting for a new rf hub. Hopefully that's not your issue.

We've had a ton on rain here but the truck has been getting garaged for the most part. I had the infamous leak on my 2012 and fixed that but that was obvious. No signs of a leak with this new one.

Four months is crazy. Did Ram provide a loaner under warranty?

 

[MTRamFan]

Dang, his ride is 4 months old, sure hope not, LOL.

Kinda suspicious that it did the OTA update then **** the bed.

 

[mikeru]

We've had a ton on rain here but the truck has been getting garaged for the most part. I had the infamous leak on my 2012 and fixed that but that was obvious. No signs of a leak with this new one.

Four months is crazy. Did Ram provide a loaner under warranty?

Ram (Stellantis) provides a rental car, kind of. It's actually an allowance. I forget the dollar amount, but when we checked into it we could have only
rented a sub-compact for the amount they were providing. It's the dealership that provides loaners. Unfortunately our local dealership has very few of them, and none were available at the time. We actually own four vehicles between the two of us so we didn't have a problem in that regard. But it sucked making payments on a vehicle we couldn't use for months on end.

Kinda suspicious that it did the OTA update then **** the bed.

I was thinking that as well, but it sounds like the update completed and you drove your truck after that. Can't rule it out though.

 

[MTRamFan]

I was thinking that as well, but it sounds like the update completed and you drove your truck after that. Can't rule it out though.

It went from outside of the garage to the inside after the OTA update. No rain at the time. At least I think it was done. There was no on screen notice that I saw.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Have you tried to jump it?

 

[MTRamFan]

Have you tried to jump it?

I have not. My thinking is that somewhere there is an underlying issue that needs to be dealt with. I would hate to have the wife drive it and get stranded somewhere. Regardless, it has to go to the dealer. Is this thinking flawed? I could jump it but in the end, is this going to fix it? Hopefully it is just a bad battery but I would hope for a better battery from the factory if that is the case. My 4 previous RAMs never had battery issues but they were not the eTorque versions.

 

[Treburkulosis]

I have not. My thinking is that somewhere there is an underlying issue that needs to be dealt with. I would hate to have the wife drive it and get stranded somewhere. Regardless, it has to go to the dealer. Is this thinking flawed? I could jump it but in the end, is this going to fix it? Hopefully it is just a bad battery but I would hope for a better battery from the factory if that is the case. My 4 previous RAMs never had battery issues but they were not the eTorque versions.

I will be watching your thread. This I believe is a first. Hopefully you get it figured out.

 

[turkeybird56]

I have not. My thinking is that somewhere there is an underlying issue that needs to be dealt with. I would hate to have the wife drive it and get stranded somewhere. Regardless, it has to go to the dealer. Is this thinking flawed? I could jump it but in the end, is this going to fix it? Hopefully it is just a bad battery but I would hope for a better battery from the factory if that is the case. My 4 previous RAMs never had battery issues but they were not the eTorque versions.

All the new DT trucks from 2019 on, have batteries reported only going 4-5 years. I replaced mine in November 22, but the replacement (AGM) went bad in Feb 2023. Went and got another AGM, Autozone said battery OK, ahhh, no it was not. NE way, OP, if U put in new Battery, and the E Torque has the IBS on the negative post, make sure U get the IBS reset.

 

[stevenP]

This year my new 2500, had a similar issue. Was asking for a download, and it would fail multiple times. Then out of no where the screen in the dash would not cycle off after its timeout period. It just stayed lit up? Showing the icon asking you to hold your foot on brake and push the start button. Had to dis-connect the battery for a long period of time to reset this issue. If the dash display was on, left un-noticed it would have kept some module energized and it was drawing a lot of amperage...running the battery dead.

I just happened to catch this glitch, as I leave my truck on a battery tender. I noticed after several hours the tender was still charging, which is not the norm. Even though my tender was charging the measured voltage on the battery was still dropping. Told the dealer service writer, and he knew instantly what I was talking about. As if he had seen this before.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

Battery may even be a dud...
My cousin's brand new Trailboss left him stranded at work 1 week after he brought it home.
The local bowtie shop came right out with a booster but it wouldn't even take a jump...

 

[tul9033]

I had a similar problem, but it happend when I left my running boards deployed overnight. I ended up taking it to the dealer and they replaced the BCM, rear window, and 3rd brake light. There was water damage on the headliner around the 3rd light area.

 

[Riccochet]

Sounds similar to what happened to my 2013 at the 1 year / 9000 mile mark. Everything was dead. Turned out to be a bad battery.

Which was the same thing that happened to my 2012 Wrangler. Bad battery at 2 years old.

Was kind of common for a long while back then on Ram and Jeep forums.

 

[mtnrider]

The OTA update would not cause this issue, that is purely a "radio" update and will not affect starting. Sounds like you may have a bad battery, it happens.

 

[Santa Fe Ranch]

This year my new 2500, had a similar issue. Was asking for a download, and it would fail multiple times. Then out of no where the screen in the dash would not cycle off after its timeout period. It just stayed lit up? Showing the icon asking you to hold your foot on brake and push the start button. Had to dis-connect the battery for a long period of time to reset this issue. If the dash display was on, left un-noticed it would have kept some module energized and it was drawing a lot of amperage...running the battery dead.

I just happened to catch this glitch, as I leave my truck on a battery tender. I noticed after several hours the tender was still charging, which is not the norm. Even though my tender was charging the measured voltage on the battery was still dropping. Told the dealer service writer, and he knew instantly what I was talking about. As if he had seen this before.

My 2022 - 2500 exact same issue, in 2 separate service departments here in Texas. Service writers treat you like "you left your lights on", it's just a "Bad Battery", "we let it sit, 3 days, no problem."
I think there is a glitch, something electrical is draining the battery and Dodge service departments don't care or don't know what the problem is. I have 3 documented trips for the same issue. In Texas, 4 attempts and the Lemon Law kicks in. I love the Pick-up, avg 19 MPG, very comfortable, easy to drive and haul with. However, if all the electronics' have created a nightmare. I may have to go back to the other options.