Completely lost power to everything

[madrock]

Hey all. My electrical demons are back again. A few weeks ago, my TIPM issues (I think) resurfaced. My dash would light up like a Christmas tree, the radio would reboot, and the wipers would go crazy. I work from home and have a commuter car, so I don’t drive the Ram much. I really only drive it when I haul my travel trailer. As such I was slowly saving to get a refurbished TIPM.

On Saturday, I went to have my emissions testing done. When I got home, the climate control knobs were flickering at a rapid pace. I have never seen that before, and the truck was off when it did it. I started the truck up, and the issue went away.

Last night, I went to move my truck, and it’s dead. The battery is charged, but there is zero power going to anything. I thought the battery just died, but it won’t respond to a jump start. I plan on pulling the dash apart to inspect the climate control harness, but anything else I should look for? Are there specific ground locations I should look at?

I’m losing my patience with this thing, and to make things worse, it is parked my steep driveway, so getting underneath on a creeper will be fun.

 

[SitKneelBend]

Hey all. My electrical demons are back again. A few weeks ago, my TIPM issues (I think) resurfaced. My dash would light up like a Christmas tree, the radio would reboot, and the wipers would go crazy. I work from home and have a commuter car, so I don’t drive the Ram much. I really only drive it when I haul my travel trailer. As such I was slowly saving to get a refurbished TIPM.

On Saturday, I went to have my emissions testing done. When I got home, the climate control knobs were flickering at a rapid pace. I have never seen that before, and the truck was off when it did it. I started the truck up, and the issue went away.

Last night, I went to move my truck, and it’s dead. The battery is charged, but there is zero power going to anything. I thought the battery just died, but it won’t respond to a jump start. I plan on pulling the dash apart to inspect the climate control harness, but anything else I should look for? Are there specific ground locations I should look at?

I’m losing my patience with this thing, and to make things worse, it is parked my steep driveway, so getting underneath on a creeper will be fun.

I'd start with the battery. A bad one can cause all of these things. If you replace it you should get an AGM battery considering your driving habits.

 

[madrock]

I'd start with the battery. A bad one can cause all of these things. If you replace it you should get an AGM battery considering your driving habits.

My battery is new in the last several months. It was replaced under warranty when my door switch caused a parasitic draw. The battery is AGM.

 

[RamDiver]

My battery is new in the last several months. It was replaced under warranty when my door switch caused a parasitic draw. The battery is AGM.

Load test the battery with a toaster-style battery load tester like this $20 unit from HarbourFreight.

The battery is common to all electronic systems and easy to test.

The age of the battery is irrelevant, it's often the first logical component to verify.

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

After you verify the battery, your next adventure is chasing & refurbishing bad common grounds and starter connections.

.

 

[SitKneelBend]

My battery is new in the last several months. It was replaced under warranty when my door switch caused a parasitic draw. The battery is AGM.

I'd still start there. Wouldn't be the first new (old) battery sold and many have experienced these exact symptoms when the battery is bad (myself included, twice). It's also easy enough given your current parking spot to take the battery to test as opposed to trying to work on it there. The last AGM I replaced was relatively new but I left the key in the ignition and ran the battery down, it too would not take a charge anymore.

 

[madrock]

Here’s my update in case anyone is interested. Back on November 8, I disconnected all the harnesses behind the center dash like the climate control etc. The truck immediately started when I jumped it. I left it disconnected for about 2 weeks, and it started without all the dash light/wiper blade craziness.

I saw another post about the mini relays were causing someone’s hvac knobs to flicker like mine, so I replaced the two mini relays and reconnected the hvac harnesses.

Since that time, I’ve had zero issues with starting the truck, no crazy dash lights, the wiper blades don’t move on their own, and the hvac knobs no longer flicker.

 

[SitKneelBend]

Here’s my update in case anyone is interested. Back on November 8, I disconnected all the harnesses behind the center dash like the climate control etc. The truck immediately started when I jumped it. I left it disconnected for about 2 weeks, and it started without all the dash light/wiper blade craziness.

I saw another post about the mini relays were causing someone’s hvac knobs to flicker like mine, so I replaced the two mini relays and reconnected the hvac harnesses.

Since that time, I’ve had zero issues with starting the truck, no crazy dash lights, the wiper blades don’t move on their own, and the hvac knobs no longer flicker.

Noice!