Dead Battery after 3 years

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turkeybird56

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Canuks do not count.
You guys only got 2 seasons.
'Winter' and 'Really Winter'
HEY, how's that new ride doing you? I need to quit being lazy and buy some whole wheel well liners for the rear of MY 19. Did U get the E torque stuff or stay conventional V8 VVT?
 

gofishn

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HEY, how's that new ride doing you? I need to quit being lazy and buy some whole wheel well liners for the rear of MY 19. Did U get the E torque stuff or stay conventional V8 VVT?
Conventional.

I really like how the liners look on my truck. hated seeing my springs and shocks.
 

turkeybird56

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Conventional.

I really like how the liners look on my truck. hated seeing my springs and shocks.
Outstanding on the conventional VVT, smart decision in my lowly humble opinion. Yeah, liners on the list, but I have a whole house genny system to pay for first, LOL.
 

mikeru

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Man, gone are the days that the battery would last 6-8 years.
I just replaced a 12 year old NAPA battery in my "beater" SUV last month. It was still working fine, but the engine cranked over a little slower on one extra cold morning so I replaced it. I bet the new one doesn't last half as long.

Everybody needs one of these old school toaster style battery load testers in their tool boxes. Simplicity onto itself to use,and will give you the best indicator of how your battery is doing with-out breaking the bank to purchase.

That's a good idea. Order placed. Thanks for the link.
 

Wild one

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I just replaced a 12 year old NAPA battery in my "beater" SUV last month. It was still working fine, but the engine cranked over a little slower on one extra cold morning so I replaced it. I bet the new one doesn't last half as long.


That's a good idea. Order placed. Thanks for the link.
No worries,it will smell a bit when you use it the first couple times,and will get warm,as they basically operate like your household toaster does
 

06 Dodge

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I just replaced a 12 year old NAPA battery in my "beater" SUV last month. It was still working fine, but the engine cranked over a little slower on one extra cold morning so I replaced it. I bet the new one doesn't last half as long.


That's a good idea. Order placed. Thanks for the link.
May be the same place that made the NAPA battery also made some for Dodge, I got over 12 years out of Dodge OEM batteries in my old 06 that worked hard for 12 years in N Iowa winters...
 

Mark DeRoncey

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Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to post this in case anyone else has this issue. A few days ago I got into my truck and when I turned it on the following happened:

-Truck didn't start
-UConnect reverted to default settings and was missing a lot of features
-Climate control only went HI/LO and I was unable to set any temperatures
-Check engine light came on

Previous issues with the truck:
-In July 2022, the UConnect drained the battery trying to do an update.
-Dealership bricked the UConnect unit when trying to update it. It was replaced a few weeks later
-Overhead lights and tailgate release no longer functioned after the dealership replaced the UConnect unit.
-Dealership replaced the control module for over head console.

Troubleshooting:

Knowing the previous problems I figured it was the UConnect again. So here is what I did:

-I followed the steps on how to do a soft reset for the UConnect to hopefully get the update done (if it was UConnect that killed the battery).
-The unit did reset and all the features came back but no update was done.
-Drove the truck to get the battery charged up.
-Noticed that the battery was only able to get up to 14V and then after 10ish minutes it went down to 13.8V. This alarmed me the most so I drove home and put the battery back on the charger.

As a simply test I charged it up to full and then took it off the charger to see if it can hold a charge and the next day it was reading 10VDC. Figured this might be the problem and sure enough it was.

Solution:

Replaced the battery with a new one and read the check engine light status. The OBD2 reader gave me an: P1DF3 error "Power Train System. Replace Transmission Gearshift Selector Assembly". Basically the power train MCU could not read the data fast enough so it throws this error. After reading through the forum someone else had the same error and after replacing the battery it went away and so did mine.

Really not a big fan that RAM put in dodgy battery's but I hope this helps someone else that runs into this problem. If this is a duplicate let me know and I can take this down.

PS: I am tempted to replace the UConnect4 with the updated UConnect5 as this has a feature that forces the user to confirm an update which will help me eliminate the UConnect draining the battery in case it does that again. I really do not like UConnect and would love an alternative that can be used so if anyone has a suggestion I will take a look.
3 years is pretty much the life of any standard car battery today. All the electronics on modern vehicles are a constant strain on batteries. You used to be able to get a 5-6 year warranty on a battery, no more, 2-3 year is all you will find. There was a time when the only drain on a car battery in a parked car was the radio and clock memory. Alarms, sensors, monitors, transmitters and receivers are a constant draw on a modern vehicle battery reducing the lifespan.
 

dmcent63

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I’m on my third battery in my ‘16 in south Florida. Heat is the issue here. OEMs only lasted 2 year. I switched to an Odyssey AGM, figured it couldn’t get worse.
 

zzzxhk

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Cummins 6.7
3 years on the same battery is a lot around the desert. 120F isn't good for batteries, who would have thought?

I got a portable jumper hulkman.com just in case so I don't have to depend on others or trying to maneuver my wife's car around to the right side etc....
 

IdaRam4x4

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I seem to be replacing the battery about every 5 years. Something to consider: Make sure to top off the battery with distilled water on flooded batteries. Hook up a battery tender to charge and maintain the charge on all types. Maintenance free is a misnomer. I live in North Idaho with sub freezing temps
 

EddieO30

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I had both my batteries give out on me in less time than that (2019 Ram 3500). Ran stock batteries for about 2 years. The truck was not turning over as it should. It would not start, engine light came on, I did not have an scanner tool but my intuition told me it was the batteries. Bought 2 new Optima Yellowtop batteries, installed them. Truck turned on right away, engine light went away. However, all my preset options had gone back to factory setting. For some reason I had manual adjust them all. Truck has been running for 6 month now with no issues. I'm thinking that the LoJack installed by the dealer drained the batteries but not 100% sure of that or if it would do that. If it is a recurring issue I'll definitely look more into it. But as of now, working great.
 

barr0208

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3 years is pretty much the life of any standard car battery today. All the electronics on modern vehicles are a constant strain on batteries. You used to be able to get a 5-6 year warranty on a battery, no more, 2-3 year is all you will find. There was a time when the only drain on a car battery in a parked car was the radio and clock memory. Alarms, sensors, monitors, transmitters and receivers are a constant draw on a modern vehicle battery reducing the lifespan.
well i must be lucky i got a motomaster (Canadian Tire) agm with a free 5 year replacement
 

WY-Dave

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Everybody needs one of these old school toaster style battery load testers in their tool boxes. Simplicity onto itself to use,and will give you the best indicator of how your battery is doing with-out breaking the bank to purchase.

I'm going through a suspected battery issue and got the HF version for $15 yesterday. Did a couple of parts stores with the fancy digital version and almost dead on. I even took a shot battery and the results were pretty dang close.

1668550203310.png
 

16MaxSteelOutdoorsman

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My battery in my '16 made it almost to 6 years. Went dead at camp, had to wait a while for a jump. Fortunately there was an Auto Parts store in the nearest town and had that battery, $220.
 

Tray Burge

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Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to post this in case anyone else has this issue. A few days ago I got into my truck and when I turned it on the following happened:

-Truck didn't start
-UConnect reverted to default settings and was missing a lot of features
-Climate control only went HI/LO and I was unable to set any temperatures
-Check engine light came on

Previous issues with the truck:
-In July 2022, the UConnect drained the battery trying to do an update.
-Dealership bricked the UConnect unit when trying to update it. It was replaced a few weeks later
-Overhead lights and tailgate release no longer functioned after the dealership replaced the UConnect unit.
-Dealership replaced the control module for over head console.

Troubleshooting:

Knowing the previous problems I figured it was the UConnect again. So here is what I did:

-I followed the steps on how to do a soft reset for the UConnect to hopefully get the update done (if it was UConnect that killed the battery).
-The unit did reset and all the features came back but no update was done.
-Drove the truck to get the battery charged up.
-Noticed that the battery was only able to get up to 14V and then after 10ish minutes it went down to 13.8V. This alarmed me the most so I drove home and put the battery back on the charger.

As a simply test I charged it up to full and then took it off the charger to see if it can hold a charge and the next day it was reading 10VDC. Figured this might be the problem and sure enough it was.

Solution:

Replaced the battery with a new one and read the check engine light status. The OBD2 reader gave me an: P1DF3 error "Power Train System. Replace Transmission Gearshift Selector Assembly". Basically the power train MCU could not read the data fast enough so it throws this error. After reading through the forum someone else had the same error and after replacing the battery it went away and so did mine.

Really not a big fan that RAM put in dodgy battery's but I hope this helps someone else that runs into this problem. If this is a duplicate let me know and I can take this down.

PS: I am tempted to replace the UConnect4 with the updated UConnect5 as this has a feature that forces the user to confirm an update which will help me eliminate the UConnect draining the battery in case it does that again. I really do not like UConnect and would love an alternative that can be used so if anyone has a suggestion I will take a look.
Is it a 36 month battery?
 

soapy

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My new Pw battery was shot at 100 miles. I have found the AC delco batteries seem to be best for me for longevity. Batteries are not what they used to be so I carry a lithium jump start battery in my vehicles now.
 

james.kaschmitter.90

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Just FYI, dead battery on these RAMS after three years not unheard of. Prob not the norm, but a lot of the batteries are just making 4 years. Just too much electrical running and also depends upon where you be, driving habits, etc. On MY 19 which is 4 years old, my cold start volts at 12.2, instead of 12.4-7 where it should be, so I will be getting a battery soon, LOL. Also, my alternator system according to truck putting out 14.7/8 to battery so I know battery going, just how it is.
Yup, I learned many years ago, if you want to keep electrical problems to a minimum, buy the best battery you can afford. For example, buy a good battery with a 5 year warranty, and replace them every 3 years. Other than alternator dying, my electrical problems are nil. 06 dodge ram 3500, SRW, 5.9 Cummins, 432,000 + miles, 6 speed manual, 3:73 rears limited slip.
 

WY-Dave

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I'm going through a suspected battery issue and got the HF version for $15 yesterday. Did a couple of parts stores with the fancy digital version and almost dead on. I even took a shot battery and the results were pretty dang close.

View attachment 506970
Forgot about this post. With the 3 part stores testing and mine with the tester both batteries check "good". Went to WallyWorld and got 2 EveryStart platinum AGMs for $170ea. Been through a few -0° nights, with putting them on trickle overnight, no starting issues. The Diesel & DEF during those times were a different story
 
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