I recently bought a 98 Jeep Wrangler so I've parked the 97 Ram for a while. I have been starting it & driving it a little & letting my daughter drive it sometimes.

2 weeks ago she drove it around our little town & parked it in the driveway on a Wednesday evening. All was well. 10 days later (last Saturday) I went to take it for a spin. The battery was doornail dead. Not even a click.

I jumped it off and it wouldn't idle at first. After a few minutes it idled fine. I let it run for a bit then took it out on the road. I drove it 20 miles or so then parked it. It started just fine. Later in the day it still started & ran fine.

This past Wednesday it wouldn't start again. Same thing. Jumped off, no idle for a few minutes, then all was well. I started & idled it Thursday, Friday, & today and it seemed fine.

Any ideas what is going on with it? I NEVER had problems with it starting before. The battery is a year old & I replaced the IAC last summer and it has been good since.

 

Might be a couple of things. It might be that the terminals and or the connectors are corroded and need cleaned, they should be shiny silver when cleaned not the dull grey that most are with a casual cleaning they usually get. Another possibility is the alternator itself is only doing a marginal job and giving the batttery a partial charge. Alternators are great at keeping a battery charged up but sometimes not so good at charging a dead one. Another is the battery itself might be low on water, I know it is probably a no (low) maintenance but they do sometimes get low on water and often can be filled if you take the time to look at them. My suggestion is to check the water level (if possible) add distilled water to cover the plates well, clean the terminals and the connectors really well, and then charge the battery with a battery charger. Now wait to see how that works for you. Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I checked the water before i jumped it the first time & it was good. Everything is super clean & corrosion-free also.

I have been considering the alternator. I can test it in a couple of days when I get some time off work. What's the easiest way to test it in place?

 

If the in-dash gauge says voltage is ok, probably not a charging system problem.

How old is the battery? You can get both tested at a fair number of parts stores. (yes, on the truck. )

 

Another thing to check is how much power is being drawn when the truck is turned off.

If you have a multimeter you can test the ignition off draw (IOD). The IOD fuse allows things like the radio presets and sensor data to be stored while the truck is turned off.
If you're going to let the truck sit for more than a couple weeks then it's not a bad idea to pull the IOD fuse.

Disconnect the negative battery cable
Wait for at lease 20 minutes for the stored charge to dissipate.
Set the multimeter to DC amps (20 amp or more)
Put one probe on the negative battery post
Put the other probe on the negative battery cable
The meter should read close to .035A

 

once I get her running, it shows 14 on the gauge, like always. The battery is a little less than a year old.

Good info. I might can do this before work tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the detailed instructions!




What would cause the idle problems once I get it started? I've had dead batteries on vehicles before but never had an idle problem after I got them started.

 

Carbon build up on the tip of the IAC.
Remove it, and spray the tip off with brake cleaner.
Then get a handful of Q-tips and wet them one at a time with the brake cleaner to clean out the hole that the IAC plugs on the throttle body.
Don't twist/push/pull the pintle on the IAC, it is a little bitty electric motor and doing so could damage it.
Don't get the brake cleaner on the trucks paint when you spray the IAC. That would be easy to do on accident because brake cleaner comes out with some force.

To add to the battery issue, I bought a battery for a car that was sitting in the yard.
I installed it in the car.
I ran it twice in 11 months.
The car wouldn't start the last time I tried (at 11 months since install).
I charged the battery and it didn't hold its charge.
I got the battery tested and it tested bad.
I should have pulled the IAC fuse after each time I started the car.
Lesson learned.