Hi, guys .... maybe you can offer up some help here.

I have a 2010 1500 Hemi Laramie with just about 6500 miles on it. The truck doesn't get driven a lot, but I plow with it in the winter and it becomes my principle vehicle during that time. Otherwise, I drive it to the dump once a week (7 miles) and to pick up feed once a week (25 miles) and to the golf course (6 miles). So, not a lot of use. Just like all the trucks I've owned over the last 20 years.

Drove it Saturday to the dump, no problem. Drove it Monday to the golf course, no problem. Wednesday morning went out to drive it to work ..... fob would not unlock the truck, used 'real key' to open the doors, popped in the fob ..... everything was dead. Tried to start the truck .... nada. No clicks, no sounds, no nothing. Fob didn't want to come out of the ignition either.

Sounds like a dead battery. ??

But, I've had the truck sit for a week or more without any problem starting before. Checked the battery cables to see if they were loose. Nope. Truck's just a year old, too. Flat dead.

Wonder why this would happen. Nothing's plugged in that wasn't before. No lights on, no doors ajar.

Any ideas?

 

Could have something shorting out and draining the battery, could also just be dead cell in the battery.
It happens, I bought a Optima Yaller' Top last spring, used it three times, didn't run much out of it any of the three but stuck in on an automatic charger after every use (as Opltima suggests) and after the third time it wouldn't take a charge and died shortly thereafter. Was determined the battery had a bad cell on a battery with a production date just 5 months earlier...

 

Description sounds like a bad battery, replace it..!
The last 3 dodge products i bought brand new, all 3 had battery`s go bad in a years time. Just flat out dead, wouldnt even take a charge

 

Thanx, guys. I did have a charger on the truck for 5 hours. One of those little "home owner" chargers. The lights, locks, etc worked when I took the charger off. I'll see if it starts this morning.


But, I think "bad battery" is the source of the problem.

 

Haad the same issue on my 2010, bad cell in battery, JUNK

 

You can test it. http://www.ehow.com/how_5837873_test...e-battery.html

My dad had a bad one on his 99. It was working but weak and making his truck act weird. The battery was under warranty via Walmart and their "Service Techs" refused to believe it was a bad battery. He insisted they test the battery and they said they didn't know how to. Ended up going inside buying the tool to test it. Tested it in their service bay right in front of them and showed them it was a bad cell. The manager gave him a new battery after that.

 

A general guide.

Do a quick check of your battery with a volt meter. If it reads a little over 12 volts your battery is good, If you read around 11 volts it may be an indication of a weak cell, try charging the battery. If you are reading 10 volts, more than likely you have a dead cell and a dead battery. 2 volts per cell.

You can try charging when you get these low readings and with a weak cell it should work for a while but sooner or later it will go dead especially when it starts to get really cold. At 10 volts you may get one start and that's it.

 

Under 3 years call the Service contract you have, that everyone gets up to 3 years or maybe 5 and if you have extended then for how ever long you have. They will come and boost it or charge it they will tell you if its anygood and then drive to dealer if no good but I have let a car sit all winter and it still started. I bought a trickle charger after that because I was told it's not good to no drive it, if it was the same size etc as the one in my truck I would have swapped it back and forth to keep it charged. But if you do let it set around and have the 2 amp setting on your charger maybe hook that up when you plan on letting it sit.

 

One of the dealers ... where I bought the truck ... wanted to 'flat bed' to the shop and have it looked at. Of course, it's under the warranty and I have the towing deal that's at no cost.

But, I'm sure I'd have to sit around and twiddle my thumbs as I waited for whoever to show up.

BTW, I remembered something. I crashed my mountain bike a month or so ago. I had my right hand in a cast and could ONLY drive the truck as my daily driver is a manual.

So, this truck has been driven quite a bit over the last month.

Truck started fine this AM .... drove it to the dump, but let it run. I'll prolly take it to the local dealer Monday to see WTF is up.