MELTED STEAMING BATTERY , Dash Full Light Display , How to Diagnose ?

[oldmanram03]

Couple Questions:
A) I'd LIKE to go with AGM's , but I a little hesitant because the charging curve is different than a WET PLATE Battery, Is there enough difference to worry about ?

B) Anybody know if someone makes a gadget to through in between the alternator and Batteries that will modify the charge curve so it is more friendly to AGM's ?

I'll be googling it tonight as well ............

 

[Daw14]

Couple Questions:
A) I'd LIKE to go with AGM's , but I a little hesitant because the charging curve is different than a WET PLATE Battery, Is there enough difference to worry about ?

B) Anybody know if someone makes a gadget to through in between the alternator and Batteries that will modify the charge curve so it is more friendly to AGM's ?

I'll be googling it tonight as well ............

In my 2014 1500 , I have had an AGM about 3 or 4 years .
I have not experienced any issues with it charging properly.
I watched it like a hawk at first , but then realized all was good.

 

[oldmanram03]

In my 2014 1500 , I have had an AGM about 3 or 4 years .
I have not experienced any issues with it charging properly.
I watched it like a hawk at first , but then realized all was good.

Thanks DAW14, I was searching on the web and have YET to find someone DISSATISFIED with their AGM performance , I'm 90% sure I will be going that way :

I know I'm NOT working at the speed of light to get this done, three reasons ,
1) I am semi retired and I afford to take my and do the job right.
2) I am just recovering from pneumonia , and a cold before that, I've been out of commission for 2 month's, lost 20 lbs, and it's COLD out .
3) If I don't find out exactly what caused this it will be in the back of mind ALL THE TIME , "Is that charging gremlin coming back"

I'm starting with the passenger side / FRIED battery , terminals don't look toooooo bad , and yes I use RED GREASE on my terminals. No oxygen, NO moisture, No acid = No corrosion (ALMOST) Continuity check passes battery ground, small ground cable to fenderwell , and the ground going down to what ever down there ..... wait NO CONTIUITY ??? could be rust on this end of cable........cleaned off rust ....still no continuity..... followed that ground under my truck ...... It's the lead from my Negative post to my TRAILER/ REAR Jumper cable power. I'll follow it to the rear, just to see if the positive and it have rubbed raw and are arcing together(Longshot at best ) Damn I don't remember 40 degree's being this cold

 

[Daw14]

You are cold at forty , I live in fla. And 60 is freezing to me.

 

[EdGs]

I just came back from Pittsburgh, PA via Flint, MI. It was 9° at Flint Bishop Tues. AM, was 30° at my house in SWFL Wed. AM.

I like when it's cool out, I save on my electric bill.....lol.

 

[oldmanram03]

I just came back from Pittsburgh, PA via Flint, MI. It was 9° at Flint Bishop Tues. AM, was 30° at my house in SWFL Wed. AM.

I like when it's cool out, I save on my electric bill.....lol.

You Guys crack me up , THANKS !!

 

[oldmanram03]

You are cold at forty , I live in fla. And 60 is freezing to me.

 

[oldmanram03]

Well I followed it to the end , no rubbing , false alarm
I agree you Seafish, I'm just slower than I used to be, so moving on to the Crossover Cable , I then went over to the Driver battery, to look at the cable end that burnt that cover , as you can see below, a little crummy, BUT , I bet it's about the same as half of you guys's cables.










So the reason I went over to this battery is so that I could do this .........Check the continuity from the Bad Battery POst to the end that tied to the Driver Battery .......



And Remember that sucker is still live , so wrap it up 90% to eliminate the chances of a little light show.
( I decided to keep it attached and chance it so I was 100% sure of what I was measuring )

And the results: (crossover cable means the end I just detached from the Driver Battery)
Crossover Cable bare end to Dead Battery Post Continuity ....... YES
Crossover cable end to OTHER side of Crossover cable continuity .........YES
Crossover Cable Bare end to Dead Battery cable end (when still attached) OHM's .......... 00.1 to 00.2
Crossover cable Bare end to Dead Battery POST (still attched) OHM's ......................... 00.1 to 00.2

HUH ?? ..................................

Well so far I'm coming with all cables looking pretty good, a little corrosion but not exceptionally bad , and no bad cables YET !!

Stay tuned still more testing to come....................
But first , a nap :sleep: , hey I'm old and I got up at 5AM
OK back at it :coffee:






2003 RAM 3500 2WD QCLB SRW 150,000 miles 5.9 CUMMINS , Bullydog PMT on EXTREME,ATS Arcflow, Aurora 3K, 50HP sticks, Stainless ATS E-manifold, Billet components in my 48re , Stainless 5" exhaust, Hikari Hyperstar 9007 LED headlights, Katana H7 36w led's in my Spyder Fog Lights
LED cab lights, now at 200,000 miles(y)
250,000 (y)

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oldmanram​

Registered
Joined Jan 24, 2018
124 Posts
Discussion starter·#22·15h ago

So after all the test's above coming back ACCEPTABLE, I am starting to lean to that rarest of animals, the battery came to it's END OF LIFE ! Where the sulfate (or whatever) on the plates finally flakes off enough to bridge the gaps at the bottoms of each plate , causing an internal short circuit thus leading to thermal runaway and we have a "MINI CHERNOBLYL" Battery Meltdown ...........

BUT I still have a couple more tests .............

Remember the Battery is 5 1/2 years old , never given me an once of trouble , and when I restarted the truck at home, and ran it for 2 minutes , hooked up my scanner and It came back with NO CODES !!!

 

[MrBonez]

I agree battery age could have been a root cause of all the trouble - They don't last forever you know.

It's good that you're not in a hurry, take your time and you'll get it right in the end.

Bear in mind when you say sulfates at the bottom of the battery, it could have been that or if you've been using regular tap water like many do, natural mineral buildup will do the same shorting the plates resulting in the same.

I can't tell you how many batteries I replaced in the field from that very thing happening.

Had one once that was so bad I couldn't even handle the battery until it had cooled down. It was the end of the work day and I told the guys there I'd be back in the morning after it cools down and settles so it woudn't blow up on me while trying to remove it from the machine.
VERY Hot and severely swollen battery literally stuck in the battery box from it swelling - Not a great way to end your day but it happened.

 

[oldmanram03]

MR BONEZ said ........................It's good that you're not in a hurry, take your time and you'll get it right in the end.

Bear in mind when you say sulfates at the bottom of the battery, it could have been that or if you've been using regular tap water like many do, natural mineral buildup will do the same shorting the plates resulting in the same.

I can't tell you how many batteries I replaced in the field from that very thing happening. }

ME ..............Ya , I learned long ago about using Distilled Water, but some still throw tap water in. Heck, even in an EMEGENCY you can still find a Distilled Bottled Water at 7-11 , just have to read about a thousand labels of all the different types of water they sell, but eventually you will find a spring water that is DISTILLED as well. I even use it when flushing my cooling system. Photo Below : These were from a flush I had to do 3 years ago, a word of warning :
DO NOT RUN OUR COOLANT GO TOOO LONG BETWEEN CHANGES !!!
AND, it can fool you , I thought because it was still that perfect color , all was OK ..... WRONG ASSUMPTION !!!

Jugs on the far left were what came out , allmost perfect color , but it was leaving deposits all over the iinside of my cooling system ... a grey gooooooo.... LAST PHOTO , those JUGS linded up were a sample of every flush I did over the next 4 days , like 20 or 21 flushes to get it clean. And I used 6 different types of cleaners (some worked some had No effect at all) to FINALLY cut through the gooooo.

 

[Markw]

It looks like one of the batteries shorted out and it cooked. I just replaced all of the hoses in my truck, got it filled up with coolant, went to start it up and click. All of the lights on the instrument panel went crazy and that was it. Fortunately I still had a month left on the warranty. Took it back, got a refund and bought a AGM battery that has a 4 year free replacement warranty.

 

[Marshall]

You list a 5.7 hemi, but I presume that is in error,
If you have 2 batteries then buy 2 new good batteries and fix ,clean all the cable connectors. You have one good battery and one poor battery,
it will kill the good battery .
Check voltage drop at each connection and between batteries and grounds.
You boiled that battery dry, what about the other one?

 

[truck2014]

You list a 5.7 hemi, but I presume that is in error,
If you have 2 batteries then buy 2 new good batteries and fix ,clean all the cable connectors. You have one good battery and one poor battery,
it will kill the good battery .
Check voltage drop at each connection and between batteries and grounds.
You boiled that battery dry, what about the other one?

Not a battery expert by any means , but agree with some here , those connections , and battery neglect etc. looks to be the big reason . OP got lucky on this one .

To the OP ,you shouldn’t have a problem with a couple AGM’s . And you can’t boil them dry they are maintenance free , at least the ones I have . For my money it would be a couple Everstarts from Walmart . For the price , and especially the 4 year free replacement would be hard to beat anywhere . Good luck !!!!

 

[oldmanram03]

Hi Guys , I'm over on Cummins Forum , and the listed 2003 5.7 Hemi is not a mistake , I own one of those too. I liked it so much that when I wanted a new WORK truck , I started looking for a 2003 RAM 3500 CUMMINS truck, took me about 2 months but I found one !! and I love it. I've owned her for 175K miles. And I cleaned the connections and pulled the terminals this last summer, however , I pressure wash my engine a few times a years , and live in Washington. where it rains from September 1st to August 31st.

And having 2 of basically the same truck , has it's advantages .............

And the Terminals , yes they are original , and I should have changed them last set of batteries 5-1/2 years ago, but , I just didn't have the time. Have to order them, and it takes about a week to get them. Just couldn't afford the down time. The truck runs and ran fantastic. Rarely a problem. I try to keep ahead on maintenance, but , I also have a wife and 3 daughters, all of which have vehicles. But tis time I had to order the batteries anyway, so then I ordered the battery temp sensor, and so I bit the bullet and ordered the cables , I went with CE auto electric Cables , Give Tony a shout , he will take care of you. They even shipped my cables out the SAME DAY they got my order. that's customer service

 

[Marshall]

I just read more of your posts, cables did not look bad , but need a good wire brushing.
Check with the ohm meter with no load sometimes will not be the same as load on ends when starter is running.
It you had the truck running with everything running and all the lights on fans on high , then check voltage drop at each connector, and grounds

Good luck with the new cables.