Dead Batteries?

[Gump]

2010 Dodge RAM Laramie 2500.

In the colder weather (40 and lower) I’m having problems with my truck draining the batteries, sometimes overnight.

It is only in cold weather as in the summer the truck can sit for weeks without losing power.

So far this is what I’ve done to troubleshoot it.

Charged and load tested both batteries, out of the truck, separately.

I hooked an analog multimeter between the positive battery post, and the clamp.

Drawing between 150 to 200 MA.

I pulled every fuse and relay in the box, but nothing affected the draw.

I disconnected the grid heater solenoid and unplugged the MM3 tuner.

I clamped the positive and negative cables together to reset the TIPM.

None of this has stopped the power draw that’s killing the batteries.

All I can think of is the TIPM has gone bad.

The only other symptom of something wrong is occasionally,y the transmission will stay in 5th instead of shifting to 6th while towing a trailer, which may even be normal with the trans tuning.

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[AK Bob]

2010 Dodge RAM Laramie 2500.

In the colder weather (40 and lower) I’m having problems with my truck draining the batteries, sometimes overnight.

It is only in cold weather as in the summer the truck can sit for weeks without losing power.

So far this is what I’ve done to troubleshoot it.

Charged and load tested both batteries, out of the truck, separately.

I hooked an analog multimeter between the positive battery post, and the clamp.

Drawing between 150 to 200 MA.

I pulled every fuse and relay in the box, but nothing affected the draw.

I disconnected the grid heater solenoid and unplugged the MM3 tuner.

I clamped the positive and negative cables together to reset the TIPM.

None of this has stopped the power draw that’s killing the batteries.

All I can think of is the TIPM has gone bad.

The only other symptom of something wrong is occasionally,y the transmission will stay in 5th instead of shifting to 6th while towing a trailer, which may even be normal with the trans tuning.

With a 200MA draw, draining your batteries halfway would normally take two weeks.

The MM3 alone will draw 125MA; a normal parasitic draw without the MM3 should be less than 50MA.

So if you are sure the batteries are good, you have something intermittently drawing several amps during the night.

I would first try disconnecting the batteries overnight to see if they hold a charge when cold.

The static voltage on each battery should be at least 12.6 volts after sitting disconnected overnight.

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[Gump]

I could be wrong about the current one, so I’ll have to double-check.

I left the batteries outside overnight a couple of days ago when it was -20 degrees to see if they’d hold a charge, which they did.

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[northstarfire0693]

Dumb question, but what is a TIPM?

From what the OP is saying, it seems like he has a bad or weak battery thats not holding up in the cold.

To the OP, how old are the batteries?

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[AK Bob]

Dumb question, but what is a TIPM ? From what the OP is saying, it seems like he has a bad or weak battery thats not holding up in the cold. To the OP how old are the batteries ?

The TIPM is the Totally Integrated Power Module (Smart Fuse Box).

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[northstarfire0693]

The TIPM is the Totally Integrated Power Module (Smart Fuse Box).

Got ya, thanks man!

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[Gump]

Dumb question, but what is a TIPM?

From what the OP is saying, it seems like he has a bad or weak battery thats not holding up in the cold.

To the OP, how old are the batteries?

They were new in February 2021.

The batteries are not the problem, as Napa tested them, and so did I at our shop.

I used a load tester and two different testers to read the CCA.

They passed all tests even after sitting in double-digit cold temps overnight.

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[JAFO]

I am jumping on here 10 months later.

I'm having the same issue with my new 2023 RAM 3500.

The truck was running just fine, then, a couple of days ago, she went tits up.

I tried to start her and heard a loud "POP" over the speakers.

The instrument cluster went through its start-up menu, and the heater coil countdown started.

I hit the start button again, and nothing.

No start. I tried several troubleshooting items, like disconnecting one and both batteries to reset the computer.

I inspected all the fuses in the TIPM and tried running a jump on both batteries, but still nothing.

The dash showed 12.3V on one battery and a drain on the second (9-ish Volts).

Since it's still under warranty, Stellantis had it towed to the local dealership.

They can't seem to diagnose the problem and can't duplicate the "pop" noise.

Any other ideas?

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[AK Bob]

I am jumping on here 10 months later.

I'm having the same issue with my new 2023 RAM 3500.

The truck was running just fine, then, a couple of days ago, she went tits up.

I tried to start her and heard a loud "POP" over the speakers.

The instrument cluster went through its start-up menu, and the heater coil countdown started.

I hit the start button again, and nothing.

No start.

I tried several troubleshooting items, like disconnecting one and both batteries to reset the computer.

I inspected all the fuses in the TIPM and tried running a jump on both batteries, but still nothing.

The dash showed 12.3V on one battery and a drain on the second (9-ish Volts).

Since it's still under warranty, Stellantis had it towed to the local dealership.

They can't seem to diagnose the problem and can't duplicate the "pop" noise.

Any other ideas?

It's odd you were seeing a significant voltage difference between the two batteries.

I think the dealership should have replaced both batteries and performed a voltage drop test on the positive cable between the two batteries and each battery ground.

Please keep us posted.

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[JAFO]

It's odd you were seeing a significant voltage difference between the two batteries.

I think the dealership should have replaced both batteries and performed a voltage drop test on the positive cable between the two batteries and each battery ground.

Please keep us posted.

I just picked up the truck, and they couldn't diagnose it.

They ran the batteries on the dealership's GR8 chargers overnight and held a charge.

This is weird because we ran the batteries on a jumper cable for an hour with no increase in voltage.

They said there were no issues with the TIPM.

I guess we'll see come the morning.

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