Battery dead?

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RamCanada67

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Went out to my one week old 2022 ram 1500 classic this morning. Grasped the drivers side door handle. Doors unlock except drivers door. Got in and pressed the brake. It's stiff. Pressed start and nothing. Hear lots of clicking sounds from the fuse box. Any ideas?? It's still clicking after getting out and closing the doors.
 

Striker3636

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I have a week old 2022 as well. My build date was March 22 so it’s been sitting on a dealer lot for the better part of a year. If mine sits a few days it seems to have a weak start. When I first looked at it, the red plastic positive terminal cover for the battery was sitting inside the vehicle, which makes me think they had it on the charge pack a few times from sitting. My guess is crap battery to begin with, degraded by a year of slow discharges, in freezing weather. If it doesn’t improve I’ll be in asking for a new battery.
 

RBJRBJ

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I owned a GMC Denali and now have a 2021 RAM with Hemi V8 eTorque and own two Battery Tenders which have worked flawlessly for years. Both vehicles, if left garaged for 5 days or more would experience battery drain, prohibiting starting them. As a result, not wanting to risk overcharging, believing “simple is best” I use this model available at Amazon for $52.86:
Battery Tender Plus Charger and Maintainer: Automatic 12V Powersports Battery Charger and Maintainer for Motorcycle, ATVs, and More - 12 Volt, 1.25 Amp Battery Chargers - 022-0185G-DL-WH
 

turkeybird56

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YUP, even MY 19 DT RAM, if sits a lot of days, battery not wanna play nice. Friggin charging systems in these rolling computers: Sometimes the TIPM directs the system to charge Battery as low as 14.2, other times 14.8. I hate these inter-related systems, and all the standby systems, which suk juice regardless of truck on-off, what a royal PITA. I always keep an eye on the Volt meter (for lack of a better description) when driving. Just scroll and look once in a while. I keep the stats up in EVIC, not MPH indicators.
 
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RamCanada67

RamCanada67

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Update...I used a multimeter and battery was reading 5.0. So I put my battery charger on it for about 20 mins until it read 12.7 and it started. Reluctantly. Idling in the driveway at the moment and going for a long drive. Although it's only a week old, the build date says October 2021 so it's been sitting around a dealership lot draining and being recharged for a year and a half. The red plastic positive terminal cover was off sitting on the fuse box, so the dealer must have had to recharge it. Several times I'm guessing. Hopefully the dealership puts a new battery in it when I go in there tomorrow and throw a tantrum! Lol

Side note: I've driven it every day since purchased so it hasn't sat for very long. I'm pretty sure everything was off when I left it last night. It wasn't overly cold last night. 34ish. So it must be a crap battery. The only thing different that I did this morning was have both key fobs in my pocket. I don't think that would be related to why the battery was reading 5.0.
 
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turkeybird56

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Update...I used a multimeter and battery was reading 5.0. So I put my battery charger on it for about 20 mins until it read 12.7 and it started. Reluctantly. Idling in the driveway at the moment and going for a long drive. Although it's only a week old, the build date says October 2021 so it's been sitting around a dealership lot draining and being recharged for a year and a half. The red plastic positive terminal cover was off sitting on the fuse box, so the dealer must have had to recharge it. Several times I'm guessing. Hopefully the dealership puts a new battery in it when I go in there tomorrow and throw a tantrum! Lol

Side note: I've driven it every day since purchased so it hasn't sat for very long. I'm pretty sure everything was off when I left it last night. It wasn't overly cold last night. 34ish. So it must be a crap battery. The only thing different that I did this morning was have both key fobs in my pocket. I don't think that would be related to why the battery was reading 5.0.
Battery reading 5.0 Volts === toast. Get new battery, being run that low I doubt a wet battery gonna hold up well (My Opinion). When my factory went bad, I put in a H7 AGM from Autozone. A lot of PPL profess, make small mod in battery box and put in H8 size batteries in their truck, but I do not have the "cold" issues U have, so H7 size (stock) be fine. I definitely would get Dealership put in new battery. All IMHO .....
 

JW2 Innovations

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I dont daily drive my truck so put a quick disconnect harness from my battery and use Noco charger now since it can charge a very dead battery vs previous charger I had that required min voltage before it would start charging. Just have to remember to disconnect it when I leave! :)
 

turkeybird56

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TB is spot on. The battery should not be going to 5 volts overnight. Get the dealer to put a new one in. They should have done that before delivering it.
You could not start a friggin lawn mower on 5 volts, LOL. It is always amusing to pop hood, shut down truck, and watch a volt meter on battery voltage when different systems shut down and what stays active. The days of a simple battery, VR on firewall etc are long gone.
 

rws1944

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I've posted my times on dead battery issues and this forum is full of threads about this. I have a 2019 limited in which the OEM battery died, this is a common complaint. The easy, quick and cheap fixed is to ash can the OEM battery and replace it with an H8 AGM battery from a reliable manufacturer. I purchased and Interstate H8 AGM installed for $250 and have had no problems since. OEM's are H7 but the tray is H8. All that is needed is to remove the spacer in the tray and the H8 drops right in. Stop screwing around with the OEM battery if it gives you trouble and get the H8 AGM.
 

brian42

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My battery died at the 2 1/2 year point or so. Everything was great the day before (I drove it every day) and then, out of the blue, the next morning the truck wouldn't start, the dash went crazy, and I heard all kinds of clicking (angry relays) from the truck.

I was confident I didn't have a major electrical failure sitting in my driveway overnight so went and got an X2 Power AGM (H7/94R) that morning and problem solved.

If you want the dealership to put another OEM battery in there for free start the conversation now. Take pictures/videos of the issue to show the service writer to prove the problem (don't rely on it happening when you are at the dealership) and have it looked at; repeatedly if necessary (that's how I got the A/C TSB done - after 4 failed attempts).

The basic warranty specifically states that it does not cover a discharged battery so make your case that the battery is defective or that your truck sat a lot between production and delivery that would have exacerbated the situation.
 

RamCares

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Sorry to hear you are experiencing this, we certainly understand why this would be concerning. If you end up addressing this with your local dealer, please let us know via PM. We'd be more than happy to provide you with an additional layer of assistance for that process.

Callie
Ram Cares
 

Brent 1955

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Went out to my one week old 2022 ram 1500 classic this morning. Grasped the drivers side door handle. Doors unlock except drivers door. Got in and pressed the brake. It's stiff. Pressed start and nothing. Hear lots of clicking sounds from the fuse box. Any ideas?? It's still clicking after getting out and closing the doors.
 

Brent 1955

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Went out to my one week old 2022 ram 1500 classic this morning. Grasped the drivers side door handle. Doors unlock except drivers door. Got in and pressed the brake. It's stiff. Pressed start and nothing. Hear lots of clicking sounds from the fuse box. Any ideas?? It's still clicking after getting out and closing the doors.
I have a 2013 Ram 3500 have noticed if I wait 3 days between starting my truck the battery drains. Quick fix I went to harbor Freight picked up one of their solar charges and place it in the windshield haven't had a problem since. The vehicle electronics itself drains your battery down even when not running. The solar panel evens it out.
 

Dean2

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I have a 2013 Ram 3500 have noticed if I wait 3 days between starting my truck the battery drains. Quick fix I went to harbor Freight picked up one of their solar charges and place it in the windshield haven't had a problem since. The vehicle electronics itself drains your battery down even when not running. The solar panel evens it out.
If it is going flat in three days you have a parasitic drain you need to find or a very weak battery. There is always a drain when the vehicle is off but t should be in the 5 MA range after everything goes to sleep. To measure the drain make sure doors are closed, and your FOB is in the house out of range. You should see 400 MA at shutdown and then decrease to the 3-5 range after everything is asleep. anything over 10 MA needs to be found and fixed. Push down all the fuses, gently, my bet is half aren't fully seated.

Typical battery should last at least a month sitting though a tender is never a bad idea for vehicles that sit a lot.
 
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Brent 1955

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If it is going flat in three days you have a parasitic drain you need to find or a very weak battery. There is always a drain when the vehicle is off but t should be in the 5 MA range after everything goes to sleep. To measure the drain make sure doors are closed, and your FOB is in the house out of range. You should see 400 MA at shutdown and then decrease to the 3-5 range after everything is asleep. anything over 10 MA needs to be found and fixed. Push down all the fuses, gently, my bet is half aren't fully seated.

Typical battery should last at least a month sitting though a tender is never a bad idea for vehicles that sit a lot.
I replace my batteries at least every 3 years on my ram. It is easier to do that than a tow bill later.
 

Dean2

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I replace my batteries at least every 3 years on my ram. It is easier to do that than a tow bill later.
Well, either you got a Duff battery the last time or you have a big draw after shutdown. With going to the extra expense of changing batteries out that often, there is no way it should go flat in 3 or 4 days. My 2021 Laramie has the factory battery and it can easily go a couple of months before I need to throw a Noco 750 MA tender on it for a day, and that brings it right back up to full charge.
 
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RamCanada67

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Update: since the dead battery episode Friday and after I charged it back up and drove around, it hasn't happened again. I just got back from the dealership and they did whatever Ram techs do. They said the battery tested fine. It's fully charged. No bad cells etc etc. It's charging as it's supposed to and keeping its charge. They did some investigating and found out that there's a known issue with some 1500s where, periodically and sporadically, the cluster doesn't shut off after turning off the vehicle and drains the battery. Ram is working on a software upgrade to address the issue. Hopefully I'll get the update before and if it ever happens again.
 
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