Welp Latest RAM DEAD - Electrical

[Burla]

Sad. I have a 2024 RAM 2500. We have had some unusually cold weather this month, -40's. My battery failed after less than 12,000 miles and 17 months. Called the dealer in Fairbanks. I was shocked when they told me that RAM does not warranty the battery in Alaska, it's considered wear and tear. I haven't had time to check if that is true or not. Anybody know? Needless to say, it will not be a MOPAR battery replacing it.

Well yeah there is not much they can do, as you see in the chart the issue is you lose capacity in the cold and hemi's need more CCA then most vehicles. I would put a battery blanket on it and as much insulation as I could. I would be careful with a battery warmed blanket for the same reason on the chart, cold kills capacity and warm kills lifespan. Unless you have a battery warmer at 77f then I would avoid that.

 

[JamesC22]

RAM is dead as doornails. Working fine then dead. I figure I have a slow ground drain that will be about impossible to find. But going to have a positive attitude that it is just a bad battery.

EDIT: I have a jump pack that has worked on dead ass vehicles and mine did nothing, nothing. I tried 2x, it woke up then died immediately. Dead, dead, no power at all.

I have had a parasitic draw for a while now, finally got to the dealer and first thing they noticed was a lo-jack on the truck I didn't even know about. They are working on mine now and after researching this, it is a problem known with these anti-theft devices. May want to check it out. Good luck.

 

[TradesmanGuy]

I trust you have either a block heater and/or an oil pan heater and use them religiously.
If not, check them out ASAP.

If you regularly drive for short periods, a trickle charger/battery maintainer is very advisable.
Ideally, something like an engine bay-mounted NOCO 2D.

Heat will quickly kill a battery, but extreme cold without regular, full charging is almost as bad.

.

Simple Living Alaska a YouTube channel recently shared their 40below 3 week experience. Batteries frozen solid, 0 Volts. That also put on the patio various fluids to show the extreme cold effects and the motor oil gets real thick, like pouring pancake syrup from the refrigerator. I'm not sure a charger would make all that much difference, if any. Best to bring the battery inside where it is warm.

*** Edit ***
It was 60 below. So cold that the thermostat did not work. They had to buy a new one that went down to 100 below. Wow!

 

[RamDiver]

Simple Living Alaska a YouTube channel recently shared their 40below 3 week experience. Batteries frozen solid, 0 Volts. That also put on the patio various fluids to show the extreme cold effects and the motor oil gets real thick, like pouring pancake syrup from the refrigerator.

You will notice I mentioned both a block heater and an oil pan heater. As you say, attempting to crank a cold engine with thick oil is very tough on the entire starting system, especially the battery. An oil pan heater would greatly reduce the strain.

I'm not sure a charger would make all that much difference, if any. Best to bring the battery inside where it is warm.

I agree on bringing the battery inside. I do that for the generator and lawn tractor, but not the truck. Too much of a PITA for me.

I know about trickle charging from experience because I'm one of those who make frequent short trips regularly. Short trips will not allow any battery to recover from a single start. The state of charge (SOC) will continue to decline, creating more stress on the starting system and eventually causing a premature death of the battery.

I try to trickle charge at least weekly, especially during the colder months. This will keep the SOC where necessary for faster starts. I also plug in the block heater periodically when we have a cold period; the temperature here is far above -40°F.

.

 

[Schleicher]

I had a similar issue with my 2025 Laramie where I turned it off at the Post Office and when I came out it would turn over but not fire. While waiting for a tow, I tried it again about 1.5 hours later and it started.

My dealer service tech just called me back and it was a solenoid issue and he is having the part shipped in. It only happened when the engine was hot/warm. Once it cooled down it started fine.

 

[TradesmanGuy]

You will notice I mentioned both a block heater and an oil pan heater. As you say, attempting to crank a cold engine with thick oil is very tough on the entire starting system, especially the battery. An oil pan heater would greatly reduce the strain.




I agree on bringing the battery inside. I do that for the generator and lawn tractor, but not the truck. Too much of a PITA for me.

I know about trickle charging from experience because I'm one of those who make frequent short trips regularly. Short trips will not allow any battery to recover from a single start. The state of charge (SOC) will continue to decline, creating more stress on the starting system and eventually causing a premature death of the battery.

I try to trickle charge at least weekly, especially during the colder months. This will keep the SOC where necessary for faster starts. I also plug in the block heater periodically when we have a cold period; the temperature here is far above -40°F.

.

I learned early on, or adopted the philosophy of no short trips. In my mind it was more for the purpose of getting to full temperature so as not to leave moisture in the exhaust system. With some recent battery woes I fully agree on getting back the state of charge spent on getting the vehicle to start. If I have to back the truck out of the garage to wash it, it goes back on the charger after the wash.

 

[Marshall]

A good charged battery will not freeze at 40 or 50 below, but if it is low on charge or dead it will freeze and usally that is the end for it. I have had tractor batteries sit for months with no problem. I may have even remember to put a trickle charger on after a while.
They are talking -40 tonight in Regina.
I do pity the people that have to leave there stuff on the street in winter.

Friend of mine built a new house in Alt. while back and he had to show the place to me and point out the floor drain and hot water heated floor in the garage .
He also has hot water to wash the car and truck in the garage .

 

[RamCares]

Still having any problems, @Farmer Fran? If so, please send a private message our way so we can look into and offer additional support here.

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[Farmer Fran]

Still having any problems, @Farmer Fran? If so, please send a private message our way so we can look into and offer additional support here.

Hannah
Ram Cares

Nope, thank you. My dealer is pretty darn good and took care of the issue.

 

[Six Turboed]

Do not turn this into fear mongering with the "I thought I saw it here and I cannot remember where"...

Obviously, the problems are real but do not exacerbate it, I mean "come on man!" Really!

The last flash they did on mine fixed what ever it was (I'd have to look) and it also fixed the truck talking all the time. Day or night and did not matter what time it was the truck would be talking, checking up on things or doing what ever it was doing?? Now it rarely does it but once in awhile I will hear it making noise?? The only article I saw was the new trucks checking on itself due to all the Nannie's these new vehicles have. Thus causing the batteries to run down???????????

 

[dakotamar]

my 2024 battery died the other day and I had to boost it. been -13F at night lately around here and it is real slow at starting and won't start with the remote. I do have two ham radios in the truck that will be vamping some of the power, even though they are off. I've been unplugging the dash cam as I noticed that the truck has been powering it up in the middle of the night for hours on the switched usb circuits, on the bottom dash area. I guess I will be getting a NOCO G 2D to float charge it as I don't drive it enough to put a charge back into the battery by the looks of it.

 

[Farmer Fran]

Heat kills batteries and the cold destroys the capacity - 2 edge dagger

 

[turkeybird56]

Driving a lot helps. Been cold in the teens and 20s lately and I know my SOC low. Just took 180 mile trip yesterday. 90 miles to Texas Roadhouse with friends. 90 back home. Trip down truck stayed at 14.9V charging. Coming back North finally got down to like 14.6V charging. Yup RAM systems barely get truck up to status forget getting it to 100% SOC. Just an example and I have an H7 Duralast AGM battery 1 year old.

 

[gaudette58]

I have had a parasitic draw for a while now, finally got to the dealer and first thing they noticed was a lo-jack on the truck I didn't even know about. They are working on mine now and after researching this, it is a problem known with these anti-theft devices. May want to check it out. Good luck.

Hello James
My husband's 2021 Ram 1500 Bighorn has been experiencing dead battery issues since the day he purchased it. Multiple trips back to the dealership, new battery replacement x3. Fast-forward to this week, back to the dealership with dead battery issues still. My brother in-law ran a test and it was drawing 2.76 amps when the vehicle was off. This information was given to the service manager. Received a call today, they have identified the draw on the battery, it is the Radio Frequency hub which is faulty. A new one has been ordered. Fingers crossed his truck will be fixed and running correctly by next week when the new hub arrives.

 

[dakotamar]

I trust you have either a block heater and/or an oil pan heater and use them religiously.
If not, check them out ASAP.

If you regularly drive for short periods, a trickle charger/battery maintainer is very advisable.
Ideally, something like an engine bay-mounted NOCO 2D.

Heat will quickly kill a battery, but extreme cold without regular, full charging is almost as bad.

.

So Noco got back to me on this charger:
All of our GENIUS chargers, including the GENIUS2D, have a low end operating temperature of -20C (-4F). If the temperature is close to that, the units will not continue to charge as expected and may show their temperature error.

I have to ask them, next, if it will automatically recover from this error once the temp goes above -20C. EDIT their support says it will resume automatically.

 

[RamDiver]

Hello James
My husband's 2021 Ram 1500 Bighorn has been experiencing dead battery issues since the day he purchased it. Multiple trips back to the dealership, new battery replacement x3.

Could you please clarify an approximate date or time period, weeks, months, or years, since the truck was purchased and has been eating batteries? I'm trying to understand how long of a period this issue has been causing grief, and the dealership hadn't found a resolution until recently.

Fast-forward to this week, back to the dealership with dead battery issues still. My brother in-law ran a test and it was drawing 2.76 amps when the vehicle was off. This information was given to the service manager. Received a call today, they have identified the draw on the battery, it is the Radio Frequency hub which is faulty. A new one has been ordered. Fingers crossed his truck will be fixed and running correctly by next week when the new hub arrives.

That is a significant amount of current to be drawing from the battery without the engine running.
Please let us know if changing the RF Hub proved to be the final solution. TIA

.

 

[RamDiver]

So Noco got back to me on this charger:
All of our GENIUS chargers, including the GENIUS2D, have a low end operating temperature of -20C (-4F). If the temperature is close to that, the units will not continue to charge as expected and may show their temperature error.

I have to ask them, next, if it will automatically recover from this error once the temp goes above -20C. EDIT their support says it will resume automatically.

That's good information to know, thanks. I don't know how I missed that limited low-end operational temperature value.





I will be careful to not recommend this device for people who live in cold climates and will be looking to find a replacement that functions below -20°C. During the past week, the temperatures here have dipped to -31°C (-23.8°F).

The block heater still worked and made starting quick and easy. I will try to get an underhood temperature reading during the next cold snap, with the block heater on. I felt the warmth when I opened the hood.

.

 

[gaudette58]

issue

He purchased it brand new in March 2021. The first week he had it, the battery died. Multiple service visits, 3 battery replacements, and numerous excuses why it was happening, not driven enough, etc. when we took it in this time, we told them the correct meter test my brother in-law did.

 

[DanAR]

Hard to believe in all that time they never did a current draw test on it. Doesn’t speak to well for their service department.

 

[Six Turboed]

I just returned from my dealer that we purchased the truck from. I took all the paperwork I found about the DTCM and talked to the boss over the service department. The truck still would talk to us when ever it felt like waking up! I asked that the mechanic look at the paperwork I found. The mechanic seemed a little put off that I would do such a thing, but I asked the boss to please show the mechanic. They called me this afternoon and of course the mechanic could not see for himself but they did replace the DTCM with the 68644531AK module and I am to report back to them if that fixed it. In one of the articles I read the fella getting the same thing done was told the exact same thing, in another article I read the mechanic tested it and found a draw on the current and when replaced with the numbered module above there was NO draw anymore. My Mechanics' notes "found excessive IOD (Ignition Off Draw) caused by DTCM staying awake" "replaced DTCM"
The module was replaced with the correct numbered one and we should not hear our truck wake up anymore once we close the doors and lock er up! YAY. Now I do not have to worry if the truck sits for awhile. I will give it a week and see what it does.