Battery Importance

[jc56berg]

I have seen, read and checked a hand full of threads about the battery in our Rams. Most recent Thread: P219A code 5.7. The "change or check your battery" comes up a lot. A strong battery is important for todays vehicles and it doesn't fix all the problems but discussions seem to evolve around the battery frequently. Do our Ram batteries never sleep, go in sleep mode, throw codes etc...? My OEM went door nail dead 14 months ago. No surprise the summer heat here will kill one like in Canada cold. Had my mechanic replace it with other maintenance. Super Start brand battery.

 

[Dean2]

You got 5 years in Houston heat, That is 2-3 years better than average. Actually in Canada, the cold means batteries typically last nearly 8 years, have had some go 10 to 12.

 

[jc56berg]

You got 5 years in Houston heat, That is 2-3 years better than average. Actually in Canada, the cold means batteries typically last nearly 8 years, have had some go 10 to 12.

View attachment 586108

WOW!! OEM battery? Eight years. Thats impressive.

 

[Hagar1]

WOW!! OEM battery? Eight years. Thats impressive.

I have an Ever Start that I purchased in May of 2019, it has a date sticker on it 3/18. I pulled it out of my truck last year to put in my van. It is still going. I've done a load test on it and while not perfect, it still passes.

I'm in Northern Ontario. Where the Black flies set up drilling rigs on any exposed skin!

 

[Dean2]

WOW!! OEM battery? Eight years. Thats impressive.

The 2020 Jeep my wife drives daily still has the OEM battery and it load tests at 96% after almost 7 years of service. My 2021 Pickup that doesn't get a lot of use, 25,000 miles in 6 years, tests at 98% but it has a minder on it when parked for more than a couple of weeks and it is in a heated garage.

Batteries last so well in our cooler climate that Costco still has a 60 month full replacement plus another 48 month prorated warranty, so total 98 months. Almost all my batteries that get replaced get Costco batteries.

 

[Rado]

I changed my OEM battery a few months ago on my 2015 just because of age !
It was still working fine !
So 10 year s ols I am happy
Maybe Maine winters help LOL

 

[Hagar1]

WOW!! OEM battery? Eight years. Thats impressive.

I got 7 year out of my OE battery. Guess I'm just lucky.

 

[turkeybird56]

I have seen, read and checked a hand full of threads about the battery in our Rams. Most recent Thread: P219A code 5.7. The "change or check your battery" comes up a lot. A strong battery is important for todays vehicles and it doesn't fix all the problems but discussions seem to evolve around the battery frequently. Do our Ram batteries never sleep, go in sleep mode, throw codes etc...? My OEM went door nail dead 14 months ago. No surprise the summer heat here will kill one like in Canada cold. Had my mechanic replace it with other maintenance. Super Start brand battery.

It's not the battery not going to sleep, it is all the computer modules that run for various amounts of time after you turn off your truck. There are a few modules THAT never go to sleep. Once your truck finally shuts down, you will have at least a .30 milli amp draw all the time. Further, modern vehicles, alternators are not designed to "charge" your battery fully, but to keep a "running" charge. And, if there is an issue where you have a module and a parasitic draw, that not help either.

When you buy a battery, you would do well once you got it home to put a charger on it and get it up to 100% SOC (status of charge), as batteries sitting on a shelf are almost never 100% ready. If you take a lot of short trips, especially a lot of stop and go in town, and not a long trip once in a while, that will gradually pull down a battery also, cause starting the truck is a monster voltage pull. That is why a lot of folks put their batteries on a maintainer/tender once in a while, especially if a truck sits a long time between starts. Soke people keep a charger mounted in their truck permanently and plug in frequently.

Finally, the heat in H Town not help either.

All above IMHO.

 

[turkeybird56]

I got 7 year out of my OE battery. Guess I'm just lucky.

I got almost 4.5 years outta my original OEM (actually 5.5 years calendar time, as truck was built in April 2018, and I bought in Aug 2018). Put in an AGM and got 4 months, battery bad. Put in another AGM, SO FAR OK.

 

[wrigley]

I have a 2023 that I purchased in May of 2023. I just replaced the OEM battery 2 weeks ago (6/14/26). Dead as a door nail!

 

[Hagar1]

I've had batteries in both my vehicles freeze solid, did not harm them even one little bit. Just let them warm up, charge 'em up and keep going.

 

[MarshRam]

In FL, all batteries in all vehicles have always dumped at slightly after 4 years. I always took all them in slightly before that 4 year warranty expired when they still worked, but were obviously not optimal and checked out in the tests. Free batteries for nearly two decades. Went in a few years back and noticed the warranty dropped from 4 years to 3 years. Now I have to pay for them