Hey everyone, I got a 1998 Ram 1500 with the 5.9 V8. Bought this truck last month and did all the maintenance on it just to know it's done. So it's got a brand new battery, good battery terminals, good wires ect. But it sit for a few weeks and drained the battery.

So I took the battery to get charged at a tire shop and when I put it in the truck again, it turned to ACC just fine and then started clicking. Now the truck is completely dead. No dome lights, no ACC, no cranking or noise. Nothing. As if it didnt even have an engine.

My only thoughts could be the 50A battery fuse or the 140A alternator fuse. I'm HOPING it's not the alternator for my own wallets sake.

What are your guys thoughts? Is there any other issues I should check that I'm not aware of? I didn't have time to check with my multimeter because I had to get to work but I plan to do that tomorrow

Edit: forgot to mention it wont jump either

 

Sounds like dead battery.

 

Do you think the tire shop didn't charge it properly or all the way?

 

Unless you put a voltmeter on it, static, cranking, running, you're only guessing.

 

Check in the PDC under the hood to see if any of the large fuses are blown. If so, replace the bad fuse and re-check to see if things are any better. If you have a pick and pay salvage yard near you, you can typically pickup those now expensive large fuses cheap or free. Also, check the battery cables to ensure you have a good battery connection at the battery and the grounds. You can also have a load test performed on the battery to ensure it's actually good. Even new batteries can be dead on arrival, due to a bad cell or two in it.

 

Think I would recheck all the battery connections......

 

I would agree, the behavior and result to me sounds like a poor battery connection or potentially a dead/weak battery.

If you're going to further diagnose this issue yourself you should definitely invest in a DVOM or make friends with someone that as one, as well as possibly a battery charger of your own. Most likely could find a DVOM at a pawn shop, good chance on a charger as well if money is big issue. Personally would recommend a fluke product, the 115 or 117 is a nice household mechanic quality unit but pricey, a 17b is a little more basic and affordable.

I really struggle with the cheap off brand ones you find at Walmart and such but they're might possibly be some decent ones.

This should be easy for you to do, however it will require some time and tooling. At this point it guess and by golly.

 

Until I saw the edit where it wouldn't jump, I was going to say get a volt/ohm meter. You still need to get one as they are really handy. However, if it sat, you might have corrosion on the battery cables. Both at the battery and also at the other end. Especially your negative cable. A bad connection there will stop everything dead. Look for white fluff or a greenish color on the cable. That is corrosion and might be your problem. You might also have a broken ground. There are also small ground cables from the firewall to the engine.

My gut feeling is you either had a faulty ground cable, a ground from the firewall to engine is bad, or the positive cable to your starter might be corroeded.