RAM truck is a battery eater

[petersonj]

.when you start getting dash display warnings such as " Service ABS barking system"

I’ve started putting my truck on a tickle charger

I now know why I hear excessive laughter and barking when I walk through parking lots.

- John

 

[AH64ID]

I now know why I hear excessive laughter and barking when I walk through parking lots.

- John

Don’t want to overcharge the batteries with a trickle charger, so may as well tickle them full.

 

[seafish]

Im still running my Diehard Platinum P2 that I bought back in 2012 … knock wood and cross fingers!!!

That said, I do keep them on a trickle charger during the winter months when Im driving less.

Obviously I realize that a 2005 does not have NEAR the electronics and IOD battery draw of a newer truck.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Research anything made by East Penn they will be top quality. On my Harley they last a long time. 5 years on my boat batteries.

 

[AH64ID]

Im still running my Diehard Platinum P2 that I bought back in 2012 … knock wood and cross fingers!!!

That said, I do keep them on a trickle charger during the winter months when Im driving less.

Obviously I realize that a 2005 does not have NEAR the electronics and IOD battery draw of a newer truck.

You’re lucky, the P2’s I bought around that timeframe were the worst batteries I’ve ever ran. They didn’t make 3 years and took my alternator out with them.

 

[Tuesdak]

We live in the central part of Kalifornia, where summers get over 100 degrees for weeks at a time. This of course means engine compartment temperatures well above that. A literal oven for the batteries to sit in all summer.

This is your answer. Heat. It's difficult to wrap one's hear around Battery Life Is Cut In Half Every 10F over 70F. I had the same problem when I spent time in Bakersfield coming from Colorado wondering why Optima and other batteries were suddenly only lasting 2-3 years. And taking the GM alternator out on shorted cell failure.

Want longer battery life: move them to the bed of the pickup. Getting them out from under the hood will double their life in years. Condenser runs at ~165F, radiator even hotter, of course you don't heat the air to 100% of the temperature but it's hotter with the A/C on. Then it don't cool down overnight so the average battery temperature is high.

Yeah decide if the expense is worth it to move the batteries out of the under hood oven. For example the AGM Deep Cycle batteries in my RV are older than my pickup! Because they don't see the extreme under hood temps.

We are slightly hotter so if the batteries make it through the first year ... it's a gamble at the end of year two how much of a 3rd year they have in them. I am at 2 years and 1 month on my current X2 set. Odyssey didn't make it even 2 years (4 months short of 2 years) in my 2018 as we had a summer that didn't cool down overnight and I have the record power bill to prove it. The OEM's made it one month short of two years. FCA's warranty only put in one so I went to Batteries Plus and got a 5 year warranty (they reduced it to 4 years on stuff they sell now) so in 5 years of ownership I am on the 3rd set of batteries. (Warranty as I only paid for one set so far.) I am gambling on when exactly the 4th set will be needed as the past two summers were hot and dry enough to kill cactus.

I am curious as to how much of year 3 the X2's will go. They have gotten frequent 10A auto charger time and I ran the garage A/C often to cool them down over the past summer.

Too bad Odyssey doesn't make an Extreme edition for our RAM's.

RAM diesel trucks and Harvey Davidson motorcycles...best battery eaters in the business.

It's not a brand: it's the heat where you're at.

"Supposed" to last longer and not suffer from electrolyte boiling and acid leaking past the post seals

Mmmm K. Non-spillable doesn't mean Leak proof! Heat gets em. Using the GM side terminals so no reason for this to crack and leak. Had five suffer this and require special approval (PIA) for warranty.

Consumer Reports tests even showed the Deka East Penn AGM's couldn't take the heat. Yep. Very short life cranking an 6.5 IDI.

 

[clovisb31]

Well, since battery brand, type ( lead acid vs. AGM) longevity , country/place of origin, climate, oven baked/frozen , opinions, and any other factors I haven't thought of yet...are all over the map seems like only one thing to do....

Buy the cheapest, longest warranty, with the most retail locations, so you can get warranty replacements wherever you are most likely to
be at any given time.

Easy peasy...and maybe throw a "Tickle" into them for good measure.

 

[John Jensen]

My 2020 HO AGM batteries are 4 yrs, 9 mos old and still test strong. It sits for months at a time with a NOCO Genius 10 battery charger/maintainer. I only use it once a year for a 2000-mile trip running empty and two or three 300 mile trips pulling my 9800 lb trailer to the desert dry camping.

I'm a firm believer in a good battery maintainer. My pull trailer has two lead acid batteries on a maintainer that are eight years old this month and still put the slide out and in with ease. However, at eight years I should think about replacing them.

 

[Turbo Terry]

What I’m trying to understand all the neoprene ? Rubber stuff they put around these battery’s . Is it to keep them warm or protect them from the heat.

 

[Tuesdak]

type ( lead acid vs. AGM)

I run AGM's in this heat for three reasons:
1) Less chance of acid ruining the battery cables.
2) Faster charging for short trips (or limited generator time in the RV.)
3) Generally higher CCA's for longer. After the glow plugs (or grid heater) hits em they have enough to spin the engine fast enough. Useful for the IDI's I ran.

I do not run them for longer life as it's not good odds. Out of like 7 AGM's purchased at the same time only one went the distance of 7 years in a gas engine rig. Unheard of in this heat. In other climates like say Colorado I was getting longer life out of AGM's.

 

[Ozymandias]

What I’m trying to understand all the neoprene ? Rubber stuff they put around these battery’s . Is it to keep them warm or protect them from the heat.

It acts for both, keep em from the peaks in either direction.

 

[Topzide]

I'm going to try my hand at a replacement battery blanket replacement due to vermin damage! I'm going to use the same insulation that is used in "oven mits", with a heavy canvass cover over this inner. I like the insulation as it has an inner radiate barrier. This may be whats need, and since I just replace my batteries with Walmart AGM H7's, should be a good test on longevity. Got 4 years from Champions from Pep Boys. Still have them and they're holding 12.3v. I have cores available for trade to keep "newest" old batteries for genny and other needs. If I ever need to replace the bed and go with a flat bed, will for sure move them from engine bay! Would be able to set them up similar to the way a "big rig" has them done. Will keep updates coming' or start new thread.

 

[Grumpy8811]

RAM diesel trucks and Harvey Davidson motorcycles...best battery eaters in the business.

that reminded me of my older Harley " Sybil".
the regular old flooded 50 series batteries would last a year or so in my old Eletra Glide, when they MOCOcame came out with the AGM style batterya couple of my friends bikes went 3 or 4 years on their AGM batteries. So I switched.. the super duty AGM battery failed 4 times in a year, all under warranty. Harley dealer told me the last time I got the free replacement that I had to bring the bike in if battery died again... sure enough,battery failed. I went back to the old once a year battery.

 

[Grumpy8811]

OK, nothing to add here except to say I figure 3 year battery life is all to expect
and first sign my vehicles start to crank slowly I start thinking about replacement of the battery.

my truck has a build date of Oct 2015.
I noticed the truck starting to crank slowly in late 2019.
Batteries never went dead or left me with the hood up .
Replaced batteries with Discount Advances Auto Parts HGM's around Xmas 2019
so they have been in the truck for 5 complete years.

Have a friend who swore by Odysees Yellows.
He said his were 10 years old in his Ram 2500..

maybe its more of a who knows and battery life is just one of those things
more dependent on situation than anything else

 

[Signal73]

I’m still on my oem from early 2019 but it only has 26k on it and sits in the garage on a 2a tender when not in use. It’s also a tradesman so not too many electronics to draw the batteries down.

 

[Jim W]

I know my 2008, doesn't have all of the parasitic electrical draws that the newer trucks have.

The original Mopar batteries lasted only 4 years than I switched to NAPA Legend batteries which I usually get 7+ years out of them. I am now on my four set of batteries in 17+ years.

The first set Mopar batteries =4 years, the second set of batteries, first of NAPA batteries, NAPA Legend =7 years and 6 months, the second set of batteries NAPA Legend were 7months old (see note below) and the third set is now 5 + years and counting. I always have had very good luck with NAPA batteries, and you can always find a NAPA store when needed.

(NOTE But I did have an outlier with one set, they only lasted 7 months, one battery was replaced under warranty, defective negative post. I had to purchase the other battery at regular cost. I didn't trust the one that NAPA store said was still good. So, both replaced at the same time.)

To me maintenance is very important to battery life I always make sure the battery post is cleaned and covered with dielectric grease with the battery terminals tight. The top of the battery is also cleaned with nothing contaminating the battery post from the top. If possible, the fluid level is checked and refilled with distilled water when needed, never allowing the batteries lead plates to be exposed to air.

Just my $0.02

 

[endoscott]

Get ready for even more cost-cutting at NAPA....I guess this happened in May so the recent poor quality is not surprising. It was already going downhill by then. Too bad, NAPA was my go-to place for many years. Lets watch them take on massive debt, pay the top few guys giant bonuses, then go "bankrupt". I get batteries at Wal-Mart now.


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[Ram4Sam]

Add my 2016 to the battery eater list.....third set of batteries since new (11/2015). Daily driver, never any weird issues others have mentioned prior to failure. Just a clicky no start when they give up.

Sam

 

[Turbo Terry]

Might be time to buy one of those Noco boost jump starts to carry behind the seat. I don’t want to get stranded remotely. Click click click not good

 

[Turbo Terry]

How big of Noco do I need and how long do they last. Just another battery