New Battery

[Beauregard]

Battery life is dependent on the environment.
I live in the desert with my pickup parked outside. We get three months of 110-120 weather and two months of 100-110 on either end—five straight months of being in an oven.
No battery lasts more than three years here.

In the last few years, I've noticed that almost all batteries come with just a three-year warranty. Even my $380 Odyssey came with just a three year. Starting around ten years ago manufacturers started needing batteries that provided better electrical supply to all of the computers and electronics that were in their vehicles. Batteries are not what they used to be.

 

[BlueHemi1500]

About 10yrs or so is what I get. Not sure what chant you gotta do the ram gods. Lol.( Can’t help this. )So does STP clear up the IBS these trucks suffer from. I didn’t realize they have tummy trouble .

All
Realtively new to the RAM world, so still learning, I still have my training wheels on the truck .
So I'm a Paramedic and I know what IBS means in the human medical world. So what does/is IBS in the RAM world, and why does it need to be reset if you change out the battery? I am asking to learn and I'm in the zone of needing a new batterly as my truck is a 2020 and I got it Nused so its prior life is an unknown quantiy.

BlueHemi1500

 

[Sherman Bird]

All
Realtively new to the RAM world, so still learning, I still have my training wheels on the truck .
So I'm a Paramedic and I know what IBS means in the human medical world. So what does/is IBS in the RAM world, and why does it need to be reset if you change out the battery? I am asking to learn and I'm in the zone of needing a new batterly as my truck is a 2020 and I got it Nused so its prior life is an unknown quantiy.

BlueHemi1500

Well, a battery these days is "monitored" for capacitance by the computer/CAN/BUS system. As the battery ages, it begins to decline ala arterial sclerosis.

When a new battery is installed, new fangled cars have the adaptive learn portion of the algorithm for electrical system health operating on "cubed logic", IOW, the adaptive memory still sees the old, decrepit battery values stored in memory.

This requires a battery replacement reset to the computer, generally requiring a scanner.

One of my customer replaced the battery in his wife's current model car. Afterwards, he called me in a panic. This car has 2 windshield wiper motors on the front wind screen which must be recalibrated as a part of battery replacement. His wipers were "acting like a couple of drunk sailors" He said to me. The passenger one would go off the windshield on the outer edge into space!

He brought the car over, I performed a battery and wiper recalibration, and, as the British say: "Everything was all tickety-boo"!

So, the reference to IBS is a sardonic one!

 

[LouM]

Well the battery bug bit me Friday, went out to the pickup to go to a doctors appointment wouldn't even crank just a couple clicks some where. Got my wifes keys and took off in her Jeep.
Got home and started looking for my boost pak, couldn't find it finally about my third trip trough were it should have been I almost tripped over it.
Went out hooked up the boost pak truck fired right up nice and easy, left it idling and put a 2x4 I have cut for it on the gas pedal so she was idling at about 2000 rpm. Put the boost pak away and took a break gave the pickup a good 20 minutes to charge the battery.
Went out go get a peice of 3" pipe I had ordered, I had noticed a couple of warnings flash across the screen when it started and didn't pay them much attention. Got in the pickup and the check engine light and traction/stability control light was on, didn't think much about throw the boost pak in the back floor board in case I needed it. Backed up a couple of hundred feet and went down the driveway got to the road and started to take off, the damned truck wouldn't shift up from first gear. Stopped and shut it and restarted, no change did that a few times. Still couldn't get out of first turned around and headed back to the driveway as I got there I noticed that it wouldn't go into 4wd and I also couldn't lock the rear, damn so tried to ease up the long steep driveway, didn't work real well lots of wheel slip in 2wd.
Then the next fun deal starts, I'll get out my code reader and see if I can clear these faults and if everything will work again. Pickup has been starting fine numerous times by now. Can't find my code reader, give up grab the wifes car and back to town about 45 minutes picked up a high end scan tool suppossed to do everything but milk the cows. ZGot home and skimmed part of the manual got the batteries installed, went out pluged it in and it cleared both lights, test drove the truck and all working good. Got to wondering about that 5 year old battery, so down and dug out my loadester and voltmeter. Good voltage with no load threw the load on battery voltage dropped considerably finished the load test and batery voltage came back up and the battery tested out as getting bad but still just in the good range. So thought about it for a few minutes and said to hell with taking a chance again and to town for a new battery.
So about $250 later a new battery, and $280 for the fancy scanner and it seems good to go.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Well the battery bug bit me Friday, went out to the pickup to go to a doctors appointment wouldn't even crank just a couple clicks some where. Got my wifes keys and took off in her Jeep.
Got home and started looking for my boost pak, couldn't find it finally about my third trip trough were it should have been I almost tripped over it.
Went out hooked up the boost pak truck fired right up nice and easy, left it idling and put a 2x4 I have cut for it on the gas pedal so she was idling at about 2000 rpm. Put the boost pak away and took a break gave the pickup a good 20 minutes to charge the battery.
Went out go get a peice of 3" pipe I had ordered, I had noticed a couple of warnings flash across the screen when it started and didn't pay them much attention. Got in the pickup and the check engine light and traction/stability control light was on, didn't think much about throw the boost pak in the back floor board in case I needed it. Backed up a couple of hundred feet and went down the driveway got to the road and started to take off, the damned truck wouldn't shift up from first gear. Stopped and shut it and restarted, no change did that a few times. Still couldn't get out of first turned around and headed back to the driveway as I got there I noticed that it wouldn't go into 4wd and I also couldn't lock the rear, damn so tried to ease up the long steep driveway, didn't work real well lots of wheel slip in 2wd.
Then the next fun deal starts, I'll get out my code reader and see if I can clear these faults and if everything will work again. Pickup has been starting fine numerous times by now. Can't find my code reader, give up grab the wifes car and back to town about 45 minutes picked up a high end scan tool suppossed to do everything but milk the cows. ZGot home and skimmed part of the manual got the batteries installed, went out pluged it in and it cleared both lights, test drove the truck and all working good. Got to wondering about that 5 year old battery, so down and dug out my loadester and voltmeter. Good voltage with no load threw the load on battery voltage dropped considerably finished the load test and batery voltage came back up and the battery tested out as getting bad but still just in the good range. So thought about it for a few minutes and said to hell with taking a chance again and to town for a new battery.
So about $250 later a new battery, and $280 for the fancy scanner and it seems good to go.

Your test omits a very important item. You NEED a battery tester which temperature corrects for an accurate capacitance test of the battery. This is very different than the carbon-pile type load tester. At 5 years old, I wouldn't paw around with a battery that old; I'd just replace it and move on.... but, then, I only do this for a living!

 

[LouM]

Your test omits a very important item. You NEED a battery tester which temperature corrects for an accurate capacitance test of the battery. This is very different than the carbon-pile type load tester. At 5 years old, I wouldn't paw around with a battery that old; I'd just replace it and move on.... but, then, I only do this for a living!

I replaced it when the "old fashioned" load tester showed a lower then desirable voltage after and during the load test.

 

[Lysergic]

Battery life is dependent on the environment. Batteries are not what they used to be.

They sure aren't. I got 10 years out of the factory stock battery on my 2014 Kubota tractor. And let me tell you, that tractor battery got beat to death in heat and rough terrain. Tractors ain't the smoothest riding vehicles.

When I showed up with the dead core at the Kubota dealer, the parts guy just smiled and said, "We see those 10-year old batteries come in all the time". Apparently they made them too rugged. It was a Japanese brand that I did not recognize. He warned me to not expect the same longevity from the new Interstate they sold me.

Best life I ever got out of a vehicle battery was the factory Motorcraft badged battery in a 2001 Explorer. Lasted 8 years, and was still working. I only replaced it because we were taking a long trip into some cold weather and I didn't want to chance it.