Issues with 2024 HD 2500 RAM

[nevinc]

After starting the truck, the at battery posttest is 14.87 Volts.

 

[RamDiver]

You haven't indicated the battery load test results. It should inform you of the relative CA or CCA after being engaged for a given period of time.

The load tester I just looked at says to hold engaged for 10 seconds and includes a temperature correction based on the current ambient temperature.

As mentioned, a battery measuring 12.01 VDC is already compromised and not fully charged.

14.87 VDC sounds like the alternator is functioning correctly.

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[nevinc]

So far, I have:
08:45 - Battery at rest 12.01 Volts
09:45 - Started truck - 14.87 volts.
10:45 shut off truck running was 14.83.
10:50 shut off 12.84 volts.
Under load test with tester 11.25 volts.

 

[RamDiver]

So far, I have:
08:45 - Battery at rest 12.01 Volts
09:45 - Started truck - 14.87 volts.
10:45 shut off truck running was 14.83.
10:50 shut off 12.84 volts.
Under load test with tester 11.25 volts.

What is the CA or CCA after engaging the load tester for the specified time?




Here's a link the the fuse voltage drop chart.

https://m.roadkillcustoms.com/wp-content/technical-pdf/Standard%20ATC%20Fuse%20Voltage%20Drop%20Chart.pdf

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[nevinc]

After engaging the tester for 10 seconds the CCA was at 975, close to 1000 on the meter.

 

[RamDiver]

After engaging the tester for 10 seconds the CCA was at 975, close to 1000 on the meter.

Excellent! That likely rules out the battery as a problem.

So parasitic current faults can be fun to resolve. (sarcasm)

I posted the voltage drop chart above, you can wait for sleep and then measure the voltage drop across the fuses using test probes or paper clips with alligator clips.

Place your meter leads on either side, across the fuse and measure DC mV.

Using the chart for the specific fuse value, the mV value will translate into a mA current value.


Another option is to remove the negative battery lead and install an ammeter between the negative lead and the negative battery post. Wait for sleep, observe the current draw after about 15 minutes and start pulling fuses until you isolate the current draw.

One challenge with this method is that some vehicles may wake from sleep after pulling certain fuses. You will have to monitor the current draw carefully and if the vehicle wakes, wait for sleep again before proceeding.

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[nevinc]

Removed negative battery terminal and tested for amperage between battery and negative cable. 4.5 Amp draw.

 

[RamDiver]

Removed negative battery terminal and tested for amperage between battery and negative cable. 4.5 Amp draw.

Is that 4.5A after sleep?

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[nevinc]

It has been off for 1 hour, so I would think it should be asleep by then?

 

[RamDiver]

It has been off for 1 hour, so I would think it should be asleep by then?

I don't know your truck specifically, but an hour sounds like a pretty reasonable period to invoke sleep.

So, 4.5 Amps does sound excessive. You could play another probability game and just start yanking specific fuses like the Uconnect radio to see if that load disappears.

Please keep in mind that the pulling of any fuse may wake the truck, forcing you to wait for sleep to return, again.

BTW, I updated the directions for measuring the voltage drop across fuses.

I know that it's crazy that you have to do all this troubleshooting on a new vehicle but, what can I say besides, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Looking on the bright side, if you can determine the source of the excessive current draw, surely the monkeys at the stealership can resolve the issue from there.

When I pull this fuse, the current draw goes away. Why does this device continue to draw current when in sleep mode?

They should provide a free synthetic oil change for you doing their work.

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[Jimmy07]

I bought a new 2024 RAM 2500 HD and have had to jump start it every day since I got it. Dealer said battery is good and they had no problem.

I don't know what to do to get them to understand that every morning I go out to my truck it is dead.

I have verified the usual, nothing is left on, I have tried different troubleshooting techniques.

Tried leaving the radio off, locking it, leaving it unlocked, etc.

I just jumped it and it started for about a second and died instantly and I heard a loud "crack" or pop in the dash to the left of the steering wheel..

I jumped it again and it started, it has been idling for about 30 minutes to charge the battery.

Anyone have any ideas other than I am going to take it back to the dealer and I am afraid they will again say it tests and runs fine...???

At night, when the truck is off, does your instrument cluster and start button go through a constant cycle of illuminating for about 30 seconds, shut of for 10-15 seconds, then illuminating again, and constantly repeating this cycle?
If so, this is your issue:

Buying new truck, had to sign acknowledgment that connected services account can’t be activated?

I don't think you can get that in Canada,as there is no 911 button for up here.These days everybody has a cell phone anyways,lol Yes, but while your truck is on fire and you're pinned under the seat, trying to get it out of your pocket, tapping the button to wake it up, then dialing 911 takes a...

www.ramforum.com

Until they figure it out, sign out of your Ram Connect app, and delete it, and that should stop the battery draining.

 

[nevinc]

I get lifetime inspections and oil changes, also I get new vehicles to drive when they have my truck.

I am down to the fuses for determining the amperage draw. Actually, the dealership should figure this out.

Having been a vehicle and aircraft mechanic myself for 40 years or so, (Military and Civilian) I know how mechanics think and act.

I am determined to let "them" figure this out from here. They have a charts and diagrams from the mfg. that shows them what devices draw what current to help them narrow the issue down.

I have an appointment tomorrow to have them begin their exhaustive troubleshooting (sarcasm).

Thank you for all of your time and suggestions, they are very helpful!

 

[RamDiver]

I get lifetime inspections and oil changes, also I get new vehicles to drive when they have my truck.

I am down to the fuses for determining the amperage draw. Actually, the dealership should figure this out.

Having been a vehicle and aircraft mechanic myself for 40 years or so, (Military and Civilian) I know how mechanics think and act.

I am determined to let "them" figure this out from here. They have a charts and diagrams from the mfg. that shows them what devices draw what current to help them narrow the issue down.

I have an appointment tomorrow to have them begin their exhaustive troubleshooting (sarcasm).

Thank you for all of your time and suggestions, they are very helpful!

You're most welcome and good luck with the stealership and their exhaustive testing efforts.

Jimmy07's solution above looks like an easy fix, if it applies.

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[turkeybird56]

Removed negative battery terminal and tested for amperage between battery and negative cable. 4.5 Amp draw.

There is your problem, monster parasitic draw. It will draw milli amps all the time for some things, not 4.5 amp, so now the search starts again. Remember, some things are always on, like RF hub, clock, voltage maintain settings, but milli amps, not 4.5 amps, IMHO. Just FYI, when you turn off truck, the "rotating" press to start display should go out after 45 seconds. The front hubs will power down, but then after 1 minute, (your front console charging hubs (USB), power up for 1 hour then go to sleep. But that is milli amps draw, not 4.5.

The 14.87 charging rate is high, but that is due to SOC on battery. MY 19 will push out almost 14.9 at times, because it just does not get run enough long enough or far enough, just short trips to town. Since I drive so little, prob gonna wire in a Noco unit, instead of carrying my battery charger all over, but that is an issue related to my circumstances.

G/L on all this and getting a resolution.

 

[nevinc]

Thank you very much for your comment.

Yes, the hunt begins, I had read that the draw should be in the milliamps and not in amps as well, so I know something is drastically wrong with the truck.

I am hoping the dealer will do their due diligence and find and correct the issue and not turn this into a long-drawn-out ordeal.

Thanks again!

 

[nevinc]

I just disconnected and deleted the app. I will go see if the amp draw is gone.

I will also try disconnecting and deleting the app to see if the issue is resolved.

 

[Dean2]

I did not read all the posts. I posted this on the Lexus Forums, same process works on Ram.

In addition to high temperatures killing batteries prematurely, leaving cars sit and letting the battery drain down then recharge, dramatically shortens battery life, no matter what kind it is.

In order to understand how quick this happens on our heavily computerised cars I thought, I would run the test on my 2015 LS460 SWB AWD. I started with a quality Multimeter that has both DC and AC current(AMP) measuring capacity. You put the black lead into the common port, and the Red lead into the 10A port, may also be labelled just AC/DC A on some meter. Having Alligator clips on the end of the probes will make doing this a whole bunch easier.

I shut off the car, put the key FOB in the house in an RFID box, left the doors unlocked, and lifted the hood. My car does not have a hood open warning light so no hood open sensor that needs to be defeated. I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, clipped the Red Lead to the battery terminal and the black lead to the Negative cable. I then opened and closed the drivers door. Reading popped to 4.8 amps with the interior lights coming on. Closed the drivers door, reading dropped to 2.7 amps and after about 30 seconds started to steadily drop. Within 90 seconds it was down to .7 amp and still dropping. Within three minutes it was reading between .03 and .04 amps, so 30 to 40 Miliamps.

I had read that the FOB being too close would cause the vehicle to wake up so I went in the house and got the FOB. Even right beside the car, not change in .03-.04 AMPs being drawn. Used the FOB to open the trunk, reading popped up to 6 Amps. Closed the Truck with the auto close system using the button on the trunk lid, reading stayed at 5-6 AMPs. As soon as the trunk latched the AMPs dropped to 2.5 and then kept dropping following the same pattern above. I tried a number of different combinations and permutations, including putting the push button start in the run position without stepping on the brake so the car didn't start. Remember, your multimeter is limited to 10 AMPs, if you start the car, or turn on high draw things like Headlights, you will likely pop the fuse that protects the multimeter.

No matter what combinations I tried, the at rest reading dropped back to the 30 to 40 miliamp reading. The only thing I didn't do that I wish I had done, was lock the doors and see if the at rest reading increased with the security system active. Since I park in a secure garage and never lock the car, I didn't think about that till I had it all buttoned up again.

Since the car sits for long periods of time I have attached a NOCO harness to to the battery terminals to make hooking up the trickle charger much easier. This way I can just plug the trickle charger in without having to remove the clips and lift the battery cover each time to attach alligator clips. I have these quick connects on all my vehicles. Even at only 40 Miliamp, a battery will drop below starting voltage in about a month, if it is stored cold it will go flat faster than that. Remember, lead acid batteries do not like to be discharge down to 11 Volts and recharged. They are much happier and last far longer if kept above 12.3 volts and that means a trickle charger is a good idea if you don't drive your car for at least 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days.

Hope this information helps those of you suffering from batteries going flat or dying prematurely.















Multimeters have a lot of different layouts, this is just for illustration.











As a followup, Charged the battery to full, after an hour off the charger, read 12.73. July 2023 OEM Lexus battery. After sitting in the garage un-driven for 8 days, battery now reads 12.45. So the constant drain, even though very small, definitely draws down the battery over time. Battery went from 100% to 80% in 8 days. Still lots of juice to start the car. Left parked with no trickle charger, and assuming an even rate of drain the battery will be down to 50% in another 12 or so days.

At 12 Volts it is still enough to start the car but this is NOT what lead acid batteries like and will materially decrease its service life. If you aren't driving the car regularly your battery will last far longer if you put it on a .75 AMP to 2 AMP smart trickle charger like a Noco. The other option is to disconnect the negative battery during storage, but I find it a lot easier just to leave it on the trickle charger.


You can use the quick connect cable on the jump start terminals as well, they don't have to go on the battery itself. The reason I put them on mine was so I don't have to remove any of the under hood covers or the battery cover to hook up alligator clips each time I wanted to put the trickle charger on. On my LS you can't reach the battery terminals without opening the battery cover by the windshield.

Here is a picture of the LS460 Battery location. The panel with the Yellow sticker has to be removed at min to get alligator clips onto the battery.

 

[nevinc]

Question: If I buy a GENIUS charger for my truck and wire it in with a quick release harness, what is the recommended amperage I should use? They sell 1A, 2A, 5A, 10A, etc.?

 

[Dean2]

Question: If I buy a GENIUS charger for my truck and wire it in with a quick release harness, what is the recommended amperage I should use? They sell 1A, 2A, 5A, 10A, etc.?

A couple of mine are Noco Genius .75, the biggest I use as a trickle charge is Noco 2 Amp. I leave them plugged in full time, only unplug when I am taking the vehicle for a drive.

 

[RamDiver]

I bought a Noco Direct-Mount 2A charger + maintainer the same as Dean displayed above.

It's designed to be mounted in the engine bay and uses a temperature controlled algorithm to prevent over/under charging related to engine bay ambient temperature.

I occasionally don't drive my truck for a few days during cold temperatures and often only drive for short trips into town, where the battery has insufficient recharge time.

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