Battery going dead on 2004 Dodge Ram - While I was replacing the battery on my son in laws truck, last week, I noticed arcing from the negative cable as I was placing it back on the post. I removed and replaced the connector several times (3 I think) and the 3rd time I put the connector against the post the truck started on its own with not key in the ignition. I was not aware the truck had remote start but my daughter cleared that us shortly after. The truck was purchased used about a year or so ago so they are not familiar with it's history. I do think the remote start was disconnected when it was purchased and was reconnected when it was discovered that the remote start existed. I felt there was something shorted in the electrical system due to the arcing of the connection when I made contact with the post so I disconnected the large cable from the alternator to check if the diodes may be shorted and tried reconnecting to see if the arcing was suppressed but it made no difference. Is there a chance that the remote start has an issue and if so how should I try to identify the problem? Maybe I should disconnect the power to the remote start unit so it will quit killing the battery. What do you think? The arcing is not real bad but I feel maybe an amp or so; it arcs about the amount that a radio would when connected while turned on which is not a lot but it keeps killing the battery becasue it is only driven every 3 to 4 weeks to runs about a mile to take the trash to the dump.

 

There is always some draw on the battery. Need to put a meter between the terminal, and the post, and see how many amps it is drawing. Then start pulling fuses until the draw goes away. That will tell you where the problem is.

 

Welcome to DF! Moving this to the 3rd gen Ram section.