2001 Dodge Ram 1500 battery issues
#1
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 battery issues
I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the small V8. My truck started off with overcharging my battery so I thought it was the alternator and put a new one in it. That didn’t fix the problem it would do fine as long as I stayed under 30mph so the next step was put a new PCM in it. Did that and it worked fine for a day or two and went right back to overcharging the battery, but as long as my a/c was on full blast and my lights where on bright it did fine. Well today I killed the truck for about 2 minutes and went to crank it battery was dead (battery is only a month old) jumped it off drove about a hour or so and killed it again went to crank it and the battery is super dead. I’m not sure what the issue could be but I know myself and the local mechanic have no clue what is going on. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by Haleemac; 07-03-2022 at 11:52 PM.
#2
#3
I’ve never collected anymore data then just going off the dash gauge. I’m not a mechanic by any means but I know if I drive it too long with the battery overcharged it’ll do some damage. If I stop and let the truck idle for a minute or so the gauge goes back to normal. I had someone suggest a external regulator, but after spending the money on a new alternator,pcm, and battery I wanted more than just one opinion before I spend money on it too.
#4
You can use a tool like this to connect it to the battery's positive and negative terminals to determine how much voltage the battery is seeing when the truck is running - https://www.harborfreight.com/100a-6...ter-61747.html
#5
#7
I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the small V8. My truck started off with overcharging my battery so I thought it was the alternator and put a new one in it. That didn’t fix the problem it would do fine as long as I stayed under 30mph so the next step was put a new PCM in it. Did that and it worked fine for a day or two and went right back to overcharging the battery, but as long as my a/c was on full blast and my lights where on bright it did fine. Well today I killed the truck for about 2 minutes and went to crank it battery was dead (battery is only a month old) jumped it off drove about a hour or so and killed it again went to crank it and the battery is super dead. I’m not sure what the issue could be but I know myself and the local mechanic have no clue what is going on. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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#8
Poor cables/connections are the #1 overlooked problem, especially when the parts cannon is ready for firing.
I know you just replaced the battery but good practice to "cut" the posts and the cable ends with a terminal cleaner tool, helps make sure the post tapers match and your getting full surface contact, that also helps reduce corrosion points in the future, also make sure your cables are good condition, next check all your chassis ground points primarily the engine and pcm/body gorund cables, poor voltage or back feeding due to corrosion can both cause a lot of damage and create alot of headache symptoms, next I'd check the cable ends at the alternator and the cable running from the alternator to the battery
As far as acting like a dead battery, poor battery connections do it probably 85% of the time
Could also have a loose starter, loose starter cables, weak solenoid/contacts in the starter
Even if your not mechanical, if you plan to work on your own vehicles, good idea to have the basic tools and knowledge at the ready
A voltage drop test on the starter cable might be a great place to start
I know you just replaced the battery but good practice to "cut" the posts and the cable ends with a terminal cleaner tool, helps make sure the post tapers match and your getting full surface contact, that also helps reduce corrosion points in the future, also make sure your cables are good condition, next check all your chassis ground points primarily the engine and pcm/body gorund cables, poor voltage or back feeding due to corrosion can both cause a lot of damage and create alot of headache symptoms, next I'd check the cable ends at the alternator and the cable running from the alternator to the battery
As far as acting like a dead battery, poor battery connections do it probably 85% of the time
Could also have a loose starter, loose starter cables, weak solenoid/contacts in the starter
Even if your not mechanical, if you plan to work on your own vehicles, good idea to have the basic tools and knowledge at the ready
A voltage drop test on the starter cable might be a great place to start
#9
Yep, battery cables and grounds are ALWAYS a good thing to inspect.
Beyond that, if you're having to jump your truck, first check voltage at the battery. If it's over, say, 12V* then have someone try to start it while you watch for voltage drop at the battery. If voltage pulls way down the batt is weak (we can probably rule this out if you just had the battery load tested) or your starter may be unhappy and drawing excessive current.
*some will argue 12.8 but I've had old batteries at 11V start a Ford EFI 351 for months
If beginning voltage is too low you may have a parasitic draw somewhere. One dead simple way to verify this could be to remove your negative cable at night. If the truck happily fires up the next morning when the cable is replaced, then a parasitic draw looks more likely and you can verify with a DMM (there are tons of vids on YT)
If NO voltage drop occurs with key in START, it's likely the starter is not being TOLD to engage, and I would then check for voltage at the trigger wire down at the starter itself. The little trigger wire should only be hot with key in START position. I just recently learned if you're unfortunate enough to have the '99-03 starter BE CAREFUL with the stupid plastic connector for the trigger wire. If '98 and earlier it's just a ring terminal (soooo much better-er and smarter-er!!!!)
There is also a starter relay in fuse box and you could swap it with another relay (there's really only 2 styles under there) if voltage is good but starter is not engaging.
Anyway, those are places to start. We can guide you from there. DO NOT buy any parts yet, further diagnosis is required before spending $$
Beyond that, if you're having to jump your truck, first check voltage at the battery. If it's over, say, 12V* then have someone try to start it while you watch for voltage drop at the battery. If voltage pulls way down the batt is weak (we can probably rule this out if you just had the battery load tested) or your starter may be unhappy and drawing excessive current.
*some will argue 12.8 but I've had old batteries at 11V start a Ford EFI 351 for months
If beginning voltage is too low you may have a parasitic draw somewhere. One dead simple way to verify this could be to remove your negative cable at night. If the truck happily fires up the next morning when the cable is replaced, then a parasitic draw looks more likely and you can verify with a DMM (there are tons of vids on YT)
If NO voltage drop occurs with key in START, it's likely the starter is not being TOLD to engage, and I would then check for voltage at the trigger wire down at the starter itself. The little trigger wire should only be hot with key in START position. I just recently learned if you're unfortunate enough to have the '99-03 starter BE CAREFUL with the stupid plastic connector for the trigger wire. If '98 and earlier it's just a ring terminal (soooo much better-er and smarter-er!!!!)
There is also a starter relay in fuse box and you could swap it with another relay (there's really only 2 styles under there) if voltage is good but starter is not engaging.
Anyway, those are places to start. We can guide you from there. DO NOT buy any parts yet, further diagnosis is required before spending $$
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Haleemac (07-04-2022)
#10
Yep, battery cables and grounds are ALWAYS a good thing to inspect.
Beyond that, if you're having to jump your truck, first check voltage at the battery. If it's over, say, 12V* then have someone try to start it while you watch for voltage drop at the battery. If voltage pulls way down the batt is weak (we can probably rule this out if you just had the battery load tested) or your starter may be unhappy and drawing excessive current.
*some will argue 12.8 but I've had old batteries at 11V start a Ford EFI 351 for months
If beginning voltage is too low you may have a parasitic draw somewhere. One dead simple way to verify this could be to remove your negative cable at night. If the truck happily fires up the next morning when the cable is replaced, then a parasitic draw looks more likely and you can verify with a DMM (there are tons of vids on YT)
If NO voltage drop occurs with key in START, it's likely the starter is not being TOLD to engage, and I would then check for voltage at the trigger wire down at the starter itself. The little trigger wire should only be hot with key in START position. I just recently learned if you're unfortunate enough to have the '99-03 starter BE CAREFUL with the stupid plastic connector for the trigger wire. If '98 and earlier it's just a ring terminal (soooo much better-er and smarter-er!!!!)
There is also a starter relay in fuse box and you could swap it with another relay (there's really only 2 styles under there) if voltage is good but starter is not engaging.
Anyway, those are places to start. We can guide you from there. DO NOT buy any parts yet, further diagnosis is required before spending $$
Beyond that, if you're having to jump your truck, first check voltage at the battery. If it's over, say, 12V* then have someone try to start it while you watch for voltage drop at the battery. If voltage pulls way down the batt is weak (we can probably rule this out if you just had the battery load tested) or your starter may be unhappy and drawing excessive current.
*some will argue 12.8 but I've had old batteries at 11V start a Ford EFI 351 for months
If beginning voltage is too low you may have a parasitic draw somewhere. One dead simple way to verify this could be to remove your negative cable at night. If the truck happily fires up the next morning when the cable is replaced, then a parasitic draw looks more likely and you can verify with a DMM (there are tons of vids on YT)
If NO voltage drop occurs with key in START, it's likely the starter is not being TOLD to engage, and I would then check for voltage at the trigger wire down at the starter itself. The little trigger wire should only be hot with key in START position. I just recently learned if you're unfortunate enough to have the '99-03 starter BE CAREFUL with the stupid plastic connector for the trigger wire. If '98 and earlier it's just a ring terminal (soooo much better-er and smarter-er!!!!)
There is also a starter relay in fuse box and you could swap it with another relay (there's really only 2 styles under there) if voltage is good but starter is not engaging.
Anyway, those are places to start. We can guide you from there. DO NOT buy any parts yet, further diagnosis is required before spending $$