Something is draining my 2022 2500 Pick-up

[Santa Fe Ranch]

I love my new pick-up, comfortable, high-tech, and avg 20 mpg. Bought new, I'm approaching 31000 miles. This pick-up has been in 2 different dealerships for the same issue, 3 times. Nothing is left on, over-night checks don't show a drain, batteries have been replaced. The last trip (3 to 4 days) it was supposedly battery issue and seem to be re-solved. 3 times inside my barn, dead, battery charger for 10 minutes and starts just fine.
The pick-up can set for as much as 5 days or as little as 2 days, go to start up, and just a click. The last time was in a hotel parking garage, couldn't be towed. Jumper cables, find a kind stranger and jump it off. This is a 87000.00$ top of the line diesel pick-up, loaded to the hilt.
I believe that there is an electrical issue that is causing the drain, I'm also concerned the local dealers are not trained or aware of this problem.
Anyone else having the same issues? In Texas we have a Lemon Law, it's very time consuming and takes months to work thru. I don't want to go down that road, I'd rather have this mysterious issue resolved.

 

[jejb]

Sorry to hear about that. I have the same basic truck (22 Ltd Longhorn 2500), but with only 7000 miles on it. I've had no issues with the charging system or batteries. In the old days, I'd say it sounds like an alternator issue, but who knows on these much more complicated machines. Hopefully someone will be along that knows more about the issue.

BTW, you have "Cummings" for the engine type in your info, below your username. There is no G, it's just Cummins.

 

[NETim]

Start carrying one of those little lith-ion battery jumper doodads in your truck until you can get the problem resolved.

There are many threads here where folks have troubleshot this "phantom load" issue on their Rams. It can be very time consuming to locate. No money in it for a dealer while under warranty.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I love my new pick-up, comfortable, high-tech, and avg 20 mpg. Bought new, I'm approaching 31000 miles. This pick-up has been in 2 different dealerships for the same issue, 3 times. Nothing is left on, over-night checks don't show a drain, batteries have been replaced. The last trip (3 to 4 days) it was supposedly battery issue and seem to be re-solved. 3 times inside my barn, dead, battery charger for 10 minutes and starts just fine.
The pick-up can set for as much as 5 days or as little as 2 days, go to start up, and just a click. The last time was in a hotel parking garage, couldn't be towed. Jumper cables, find a kind stranger and jump it off. This is a 87000.00$ top of the line diesel pick-up, loaded to the hilt.
I believe that there is an electrical issue that is causing the drain, I'm also concerned the local dealers are not trained or aware of this problem.
Anyone else having the same issues? In Texas we have a Lemon Law, it's very time consuming and takes months to work thru. I don't want to go down that road, I'd rather have this mysterious issue resolved.

Keep us updated on this issue. But with 31,000 miles on a 1-year-old truck I'm thinking it's just tired.

 

[crash68]

I believe that there is an electrical issue that is causing the drain,

Have you checked the batteries with a voltmeter when the truck doesn't want to start? If the batteries are draining, try disconnecting one of the negative terminals before you let is sit overnight to possibly eliminate battery self discharge.
I wonder if the IBS is possibly causing grief with the charging system.

 

[GTyankee]

Santa Fe Ranch​

may i suggest that you start checking out
MOPAR EXTENDED WARRANTY
you have about 4,000 before it will no longer be available.

You would not want the dealership to all of a sudden find the cause of your problem, 2 days after your warranty expires

All of the Mopar Extended Warranties themselves are the same
Your dealership, or any dealership will over charge you

https://www.chryslerfactoryplans.com/about-us/

sells the exact same plan & they charge you less

There are at least 2 more places that sell the same plan,
they may be cheaper yet.

 

[Santa Fe Ranch]

At 34,000 miles, I took your advice and purchased a Mopar Extended Warranty. My ghost issue has been checked 3 separate times at Dodge dealerships here in Texas.

 

[Travelin Ram]

It’s not difficult for a motivated tech to find a parasitic drain. Problem being the motivation, because it’s time consuming. The usual procedure is to measure the drain with a meter; however if it’s randomly appearing and not always present that’s a challenge.

I would start the process of elimination myself. Pull half the fuses and let it sit. See if it drains. If it still drains, reinstall those and remove the other half. The object is to eliminate 50% of the circuits.

Once you find out which half contains the problem, you divide that group in 2 and repeat. It’ll take time, but eventually you’ll be able to inform the dealer tech the problem is isolated to a few possible circuits or even 1.

 

[Santa Fe Ranch]

Wow, I should have thought about that. Spend 87,000.00 for "Best in Class" pick-up. Then pull half the fuses each day after work, then put them back in the morning. Looking for a Ghost Drain.
I'm pretty good, so I'd say 30 to 45 minutes in the evening (barring weather), then maybe 45 to 60 minutes in the morning (in the Dark). put them back and diagnosis. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A FORD.
BEST FORUM ADVISE; Bought additional extended warranty.

 

[Redfisher1974]

Not sure if serious

 

[RamDiver]

Wow, I should have thought about that. Spend 87,000.00 for "Best in Class" pick-up. Then pull half the fuses each day after work, then put them back in the morning. Looking for a Ghost Drain.
I'm pretty good, so I'd say 30 to 45 minutes in the evening (barring weather), then maybe 45 to 60 minutes in the morning (in the Dark). put them back and diagnosis. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A FORD.
BEST FORUM ADVISE; Bought additional extended warranty.

I know it sucks to find intermittent electrical faults, especially when you never signed up for them. They're usually not that difficult to find, only tedious.

A thing my father used to say to me that drove me nuts comes to mind, "You can be a part of the solution or part of the problem, the choice is yours".

When my stuff, vehicle, appliances, or electronics start misbehaving, I want it to stop ASAP and I'm rarely willing to pay someone to fix it because it requires dedication to find intermittent faults and rarely can we locate a mechanic or technician who will apply sufficient effort to fix someone else's stuff.

You can play the victim or just get on with it, and figure it out. You will find endless virtual support here at Ram Forum, you only need to ask for help and apply yourself to finding the solution.

No offence intended.

.

 

[NETim]

There are some YT videos that show how to isolate a parasitic drain. Rams aren't the only vehicle that will exhibit this problem.

A buddy of mine disconnected the OnStar system on his Chevy which caused the truck to run down the battery overnight.

The various onboard computers talk to each other and if one doesn't respond, the boss computer will poll it continuously in an attempt to get it to answer up. The boss computer never "goes to sleep". So the truck battery gets discharged as a result.

The price we pay for all these bells and whistles.

The CT, MRI and Xray systems I maintained before I retired were littered with Canbus communication links. Normally, Canbus systems are pretty robust and reliable but they do break down. Usually one controller would go bad and screw up the entire comm chain. (It's a serial bus.) Fortunately for us, usually we had diags and fault LED's that would lead us right to the problem child. Usually.

Good luck!

 

[Travelin Ram]

Wow, I should have thought about that. Spend 87,000.00 for "Best in Class" pick-up. Then pull half the fuses each day after work, then put them back in the morning. Looking for a Ghost Drain.
I'm pretty good, so I'd say 30 to 45 minutes in the evening (barring weather), then maybe 45 to 60 minutes in the morning (in the Dark). put them back and diagnosis. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A FORD.
BEST FORUM ADVISE; Bought additional extended warranty.

Some people can’t be helped.

Not knowing the difference between a town in Georgia and the engine in their truck should have been a clue.

I gave you the KISS version because it appears you don’t have diagnostic skills to use a multimeter.

Enjoy your future Ford trade in.