Loss of electrical power, clicking relays

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guywithglasses

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2021
Posts
2
Reaction score
0
Location
New England
Ram Year
2012
Engine
Hemi 5.7
For about six months now my truck has an intermittent loss of electrical power. It happens one of two ways:

1) I go to start it and there’s no power anywhere, no dash, lights, chimes, ignition, door locks, etc. The only power anywhere seems to be one small red light on the dash. If I disconnect and then reconnect the negative battery terminal for 5 seconds the truck has electrical power and everything operates as normal.

2) I’m driving along and the truck stalls with loss of electrical power and I coast to a stop. The electrical sys is mostly dead: no hazards, lights, radio, ignition, dash … just like #1 above EXCEPT it sounds like *many* relays under the hood are continually clicking. If I disconnect and then reconnect the negative battery terminal for 5 seconds the truck has electrical power and everything operates as normal. The first time this happened I had the truck towed and the relays were clicking away all night long. I tried the battery terminal trick the next morning and everything went back to normal and the truck fired right up.

I believe the battery is ruled out: any time this occurs the battery has normal voltage across the terminals and passes a load test. Also, the battery has been replaced twice since experiencing this problem.

I’m hoping for some pointers and troubleshooting tips. I’ve been burning up the Internet looking for posts describing these same symptoms and can’t find anything.

2012 Ram 1500 hemi 5.7
 
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