Red Lightning bolt

[AH64ID]

Greetings;
"Remote start disabled." It's -1 this morning.
Disconnected pass. batt neg & read 12.78V.
Disconnected driver battery pos & was 12.76V.
Reconnected batts. Turned on ignit & dash msg "<8 Volts".

When started manually, most truck screen options were greyed out & dash displayed "Battery saver node." Heater fan would cycled hi to low & dash battery screen alternated between 11V & 14V 'bout every 10 sec. Center display returned to normal after driving 15 minutes.

With pass batt neg disconnected, driver batt connected, dash was dead. Thought I could use truck as voltmeter?!? Seems it's not a simple parallel hookup, eh.

How can I measure if one batt is bad?

If one battery is bad you need to replace them both. If those are the OE batteries they have lived longer than average these days, time for a new set.

 

[WalterJ]

If one battery is bad you need to replace them both. If those are the OE batteries they have lived longer than average these days, time for a new set.

Howdy sir;
I'm unable to verify if one is bad, yet. Pass Neg & driver Pos removed, showed 12.76V-12.78V for both. I'll try to be more thorough tomorrow & completely disconnect one at a time for a "load test" with borrowed wigget. It promises to be 15deg Thursday, a good break.

 

[AH64ID]

Howdy sir;
I'm unable to verify if one is bad, yet. Pass Neg & driver Pos removed, showed 12.76V-12.78V for both. I'll try to be more thorough tomorrow & completely disconnect one at a time for a "load test" with borrowed wigget. It promises to be 15deg Thursday, a good break.

Since they are resting at 12.7 and <8 with a load I’d say one or both is bad. That’s not normal, even with the grid heater load. You could try charging them overnight, but I suspect that’s just delaying the swap at this point.

If they are original I’d just change them.

 

[Tuesdak]

With pass batt neg disconnected, driver batt connected, dash was dead.

You need to separate the batteries by disconnecting one of them then load test them. IMO driver side battery will not carry a load and is discharged or bad. Passenger battery hurt by this condition most likely. Voltage doesn't mean it will hold voltage under a load.

You did it correct by disconnecting the negative first because of the tool slips and hits ground there are no sparks. Same if you change them disconnect both negative cables first. This way current can't flow with no negative connection if you slip with a tool on the positive cables. Positive cables get put back on first.

Parts stores test for free, but, it needs to be one at a time. Many test without disconnecting the batteries and the good one carries the bad one through the test. Then the bad one murders the good one. The good one of the two will then murder a new one...

 

[Cummins12V98]

It's always the batteries!!!

 

[Diesel85]

It's always the batteries!!!

My 2020 truck had an early 2019 battery in it. Going by that date, I changed it this year.

Batteries are easier to change than alternators.

 

[WalterJ]

HI & everybody's right. Voltage don't mean s..t. I didn't know how to interpret the 8V displayed on my dash screen. It was 12 deg & hoping for a quick answer, nada. Next morning it took 2+ hours to extract the batteries. I didn't have myh neighbor's tester 'till later on the way to Farm-Fleet for 94RP batteries @ $200+ ea.

Cables were numerous, fat, perfect length [short] from assembly, friggin cold @ 9 deg & tightly fitted. Step ladder was slippery, on a 8% incline and wiggling a 45.5# battery to clear truck hardware was challenging. [figure i saved $200 labor at dlr., eh?]

Both tested "weak" with a 1500W tester, not sure if 6yrs is a good service life for Wis. I be looking for a block heater hookup. Had a cord hanging on my 2004.5 CTD 'cause I had the Winter pkg. No doubt this would have extended my current batt. life.

Question: Did all 2018 CTD come with a blk. htr.? Maybe the folks @ TDR Store will know. Gotta go, MA's 2000 Jeep battery died after only 5 months!!! Arrgh.

 

[AH64ID]

6 years is above average for the junk batteries being used these days.

All CTD’s have a block heater, but not all trucks come with a cord. The connection is behind the oil filter.

 

[Topzide]

@WalterJ, Do you have a battery maintainer on the truck when you don't drive it for a few days, especially in the winter? You could easily wire a 7 pin trailer plug and charge them through the trailer hook-up. That way you don't need to open the hood for hook-up. Today's vehicles have a lot of things wanting voltage! I've got mine hooked up this way and place a traffic cone by door to remind me to unhook the connection. Just look to make sure yours didn't slip through the cracks without one. I put the bumper mount one from Genos on mine and love it! The block heater has an extension cord that goes through a cover that goes over the passengers mirror as a reminder of that connection. I then have them set up with a WIFI smart plug that I have the battery set to come on every night and the block heater to only come on below set temp and between certain time in AM. That way the truck is less "grumpy" starting in the AM, especially if I need to rescue the DW on her way into work! I'm my own tow and warranty station for the house minus the 3500! Guess I should get another 3500 and a trailer big enough to haul one on!

 

[User113]

It's always the batteries!!!

Unless it's the crossover cable...

 

[bcbender]

We just lost the batteries in our 23' SO. Just about a year old and only sat for a few weeks, must've had a short od dead cell in one, 3V on one, 1.3V on the other.. Company truck so we just swapped em out. Batteries sure are junk these days.

 

[Diesel85]

We just lost the batteries in our 23' SO. Just about a year old and only sat for a few weeks, must've had a short od dead cell in one, 3V on one, 1.3V on the other.. Company truck so we just swapped em out. Batteries sure are junk these days.

When I was buying my truck, my RAM dealer was having lots of problems with batteries in brand new cars and trucks. They were finding new 2023 vehicles with 2021 batteries!

I changed my battery in my EcoD a few months ago, just because I don't need a dead truck or it killing my alternator.

 

[bcbender]

Welp.. I should've kept my mouth shut... I also lost the batteries Saturday on my 20'. Moved it behind the shop on Friday night, started just fine, went out to move it Sunday am to get a tractor out and nothing... Just a click and the spash screen reset, and tried again. No warning, no slow cranking, no anything that they were about to go....

Removed negatives, one was at 12.2, the other 12.1... Put a multi-meter on and hit the button, when the grids came on, within a second the voltage dropped from 12.2 to about 9 and a second later it was about 7 and the screen dropped...

2 new Costco AGMs in for $250.. we'll see if I get more than 37 months out of them.

Just FYI this is the first set (of many in CTD trucks) that gave me zero warning and simply quit, glad I was not on VAC or out somewhere remote.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Costco batteries are up to 36 months free replacement for our trucks. I replaced OE's at 5 years before they went bad as I knew time was not on my side. 3 years on Costco's so far, they seem fine.

 

[Topzide]

@bcbender, Sounds like you need to get a battery tender on the truck. Great peace of mind when not driving the truck for a few days. There's an awful lot of power hungry devices in these trucks and the short run times really hurt the capacity of batteries. the starting to move truck and then sitting is a hard thing! You took a lot out to move and then no recharge to replace what was used. Did you notice the manufacture date on the batteries that were stock in the truck? Wondering if they were a year older than the truck.

 

[bcbender]

Yeah, I have a NOCO 5,. I need to get the ring terminals so I can perm mount it, used it a few times, I think in this case it wouldn't have made a difference.

 

[Topzide]

@bcbender, Just wire it in through your 7 pin trailer receptacle. That way you won't have to open the hood. It works great doing this. I have a traffic cone by door to remind me to unplug. If I do happen to forget, There is a set of Anderson Power Poles that give way with a 12 inch piece of wire hanging out. That way I'm not dragging anything down the road or destroying a charger! Also have it on a WIFI plug so that it doesn't run all the time.

 

[AH64ID]

@bcbender, Just wire it in through your 7 pin trailer receptacle. That way you won't have to open the hood. It works great doing this. I have a traffic cone by door to remind me to unplug. If I do happen to forget, There is a set of Anderson Power Poles that give way with a 12 inch piece of wire hanging out. That way I'm not dragging anything down the road or destroying a charger! Also have it on a WIFI plug so that it doesn't run all the time.

I like the 7 pin idea, but it’s not practical for how my truck sits in the shop.

It you have a NOCO genius you can leave it powered 24x7. It stops charging when the battery is at 100% SOC and resumes as needed. Its better for it to stay powered all the time to monitor battery condition vs initiating a new charge cycle every time it’s powered on.

 

[Topzide]

@AH64ID, maybe the 12 volt angled receptacle could be mounted somewhere in a better place on your truck. That way there is no chance of the wrong thing being plugged into it. Whenever a generator that I'm asked to save, and it can't be, I grab these off of them for future projects. Maybe something to look into. They have clips to hold them in a panel and 1/4" quick tabs for power hook up. I power mine off during day since I might be taking the truck and charger is behind a locked shed door. I unhook trailer plug and hang in a bracket off the ground, re-hook when I return and place cone by door as reminder.

Edit for photo; https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...d=2ahUKEwi9ofnlqJmEAxX7rokEHdO-AHEQM3oECBcQAA

 

[bcbender]

I like the 7 pin idea, but it’s not practical for how my truck sits in the shop.

Me neither I also would forget, when I walk in nose first, I'll trip over the cord as a reminder... I bought the same Genius 5 you have and intended to install permanently but life keeps getting in the way..

BTW, which side of the sensor on the NEG post does the charge line need to be (battery side I assume?), I remember it being mentioned before, going to order the NOCO ring terminal kit tonight so when my truck gets back from correction and ceramic coating I will install prior to parking inside.