Warning lights and new battery

[Car-Guy]

I don't drive mine often either! 1000 miles on three year old truck. But I do try and drive at least every other week. I need to drive it more and not have today's crappy gas in the tank too long, although I do use a stabilizer. And I throw a trickle charge on battery occasionally.

You must have the record for the the lowest # of miles on a 3 year old truck. Heck, I put that many miles on mine in a week,,,,,, sometimes.

 

[MyWifeLetMe]

Have you tried going through fuses and relays under the hood to see if any popped?

Thread 'TRX Electrical - Power Distribution Unit - PDU - Fuse Box' https://www.ram-trx.com/threads/trx-electrical-power-distribution-unit-pdu-fuse-box.21319/

 

[Two]

I don't drive mine often either! 1000 miles on three year old truck. But I do try and drive at least every other week. I need to drive it more and not have today's crappy gas in the tank too long, although I do use a stabilizer. And I throw a trickle charge on battery occasionally.

I don't think they mind sitting for long periods, at least none of the other 6.2s seem to care, and I doubt that this charging issue is due to not having driven it - unless it's rodent related.

That's with good solar panels or maintainers always used when parked in my case. But it's important to me that when they do get driven it's for long enough to get the oil up to temp. I don't like driving less then 20 miles, and that's a bare minimum (if it's warm out).

Gas being "old" doesn't bother me one bit since finding out about Star Tron. Other vehicles that never leave the property run on gas that's about three or four years old by now, treated with Star Tron. And I did add some to the TRX's tank at some point late winter or in the spring.

 

[LarryMopar360]

You're right about the 6.2 not minding sitting. I've had some 5.7's the clacked like a you know what if that sat, then eventually quieted down. I never hear the lifters in my 6.2.

I do "make" myself take it for an occasional longer trip in which I'm driving for over an hour. Get oil temp up and dry out everything in exhaust that may have condensation.

 

[LarryMopar360]

Have you tried going through fuses and relays under the hood to see if any popped?

Thread 'TRX Electrical - Power Distribution Unit - PDU - Fuse Box' https://www.ram-trx.com/threads/trx-electrical-power-distribution-unit-pdu-fuse-box.21319/

Yes I did pop the lid and make sure everything was all the way down.
Thank you for the suggestion though!

 

[Two]

You're right about the 6.2 not minding sitting. I've had some 5.7's the clacked like a you know what if that sat, then eventually quieted down. I never hear the lifters in my 6.2.

I do "make" myself take it for an occasional longer trip in which I'm driving for over an hour. Get oil temp up and dry out everything in exhaust that may have condensation.

Anything that has sat for more than 24 hours I use the "flooded" method on before starting the engine. The difference is especially noticeable on the V6s with the dumb upside down filter, but I'm sure it can't hurt getting some oil circulated in the system before starting any engine.

Thankfully I don't need to make myself go more than 150 miles, it's pretty rare that any car gets driven less than that once started - 300 miles is most common.

 

[MyWifeLetMe]

Yes I did pop the lid and make sure everything was all the way down.
Thank you for the suggestion though!

You said the battery is only showing 3 volts, have you tried getting it tested or try to charge it and see if it'll take a charge? Don't know what would've discharged it so quickly, but if it's down to 3 volts, nothing in the truck will even attempt to turn on

 

[Tom488]

Gas being "old" doesn't bother me one bit since finding out about Star Tron. Other vehicles that never leave the property run on gas that's about three or four years old by now, treated with Star Tron.

Big fan of Star Tron here, as well. But I did find its limits... about 5.5 years. I kept a bunch of fuel in a drum, treated with a double dose of Star Tron, and dated the drum Sept 2017. Two years ago, when troubleshooting a friend's lawnmower, I filled his tank from my fuel drum. The detonation was obvious immediately on startup... what used to be 87 octane fuel seemed more like 70 or so. Prior to that, the fuel ran fine in my snowblower all through that winter - so it went to crap between Feb. '23 and May '23. And yes, the mower ran perfectly once we put fresh gas in it.

On the other hand... 70 octane fuel still makes excellent weed killer, now that we cant get good Round-Up anymore - and still lights off burn piles like nobody's business. Mix in a little styrofoam and Ivory soap, and the uses multiply

 

[one0se7en]

You must have the record for the the lowest # of miles on a 3 year old truck. Heck, I put that many miles on mine in a week,,,,,, sometimes.

1 year and 4 months, I'm at 438 miles. With work and such been hard. My goal is to be a 1000 by the end of the year. It's a weekend truck in New York.

 

[Two]

1 year and 4 months, I'm at 438 miles.

Hey, only another 62 miles and you can floor it!

 

[Chawumba]

Today I went out to truck to try removing cables for a few and re-install to see if my warning lights went away. Truck now has zero power, same as if there were absolutely no battery. Dead. I tried the emergency re-start that the antigravity battery has and nothing. I'm so confused now. I have no idea if there's a draw but the antigravity should've started the truck if there was. It reminds me of my old Dodge when a fuse relay went out. Did I throw parts ($1400 battery) at a problem without fixing it?

Doing my best to avoid dealership because of past experiences, and now I also want to avoid towing it. Beginning to think there's a draw maybe. Or bad alternator?

Any suggestions are very appreciated!

Larry

I've got a fair amount of experience with antigravity batteries - they can be great, but a few rules. #1 it needs to be fully charged before installing. The BMS in the antigravity will balance the cells and voltage will stabilize, but only when fully charged before use. #2, I've installed a half dozen in a half dozen different cars, no need to register the battery. The BMS in the antigravity very closely mimics the charge profile of a lead acid battery, your vehicle won't know or care that its in there. That said, sounds like you may have a pretty signigicant parasitic draw happening, if that is the case, you'll want to sort that out.

 

[Two]

#1 it needs to be fully charged before installing.

Meanwhile I'm wondering if starting with a fully charged battery (a small solar panel aways hooked up when parked) is what made my charging system confused.

 

[LarryMopar360]

I've got a fair amount of experience with antigravity batteries - they can be great, but a few rules. #1 it needs to be fully charged before installing. The BMS in the antigravity will balance the cells and voltage will stabilize, but only when fully charged before use. #2, I've installed a half dozen in a half dozen different cars, no need to register the battery. The BMS in the antigravity very closely mimics the charge profile of a lead acid battery, your vehicle won't know or care that its in there. That said, sounds like you may have a pretty signigicant parasitic draw happening, if that is the case, you'll want to sort that out.

Thank you so much for this information! Finally got around to testing for a draw. It's only about 2.5 to 3 milliamps so that's normal from everything I read.

I fully re-charged OEM battery (doesn't appear it was the problem in the first place). Put it back in truck and it started immediately with all lights still on though (Battery, CEL, Vehicle not in Park). Opened and closed driver's door and shut it off and back on a couple of times but no help. Then I noticed that the dash lights all stayed on despite shutting engine off, closing driver's door and pressing lock button on FOB. It appears they weren't going to go off. I'm wondering if I missed that before so it drained the new battery too. So that may have been the draw. Dang all these electronics and management systems. I just received my new battery charger for the antigravity (LITHIUM FERROUS PHOSPHATE) that my truck apparently drained. I hope I didn't kill it! Next is to try charging it and get the truck (I can drive it again so that's a plus!) to dealership for the ABS re-flash and whatever is crippling it. Right now it sits without battery connected.

You all have been a huge help!

Larry

 

[LarryMopar360]

You said the battery is only showing 3 volts, have you tried getting it tested or try to charge it and see if it'll take a charge? Don't know what would've discharged it so quickly, but if it's down to 3 volts, nothing in the truck will even attempt to turn on

Just received my new charger for lithium batteries. We shall see My response above explains more.

 

[TRXpensive]

Make sure you follow the correct Positive and Negative connection sequence. It is CRITICAL in newer vehicles, especially those like the TRX with a Battery Management System (BMS).

DISCONNECTING the battery:
1. Disconnect the BMS Sensor on the Negative terminal.
2. Disconnect the NEGATIVE battery terminal
3. Disconnect the POSITIVE battery terminal

CONNECTING the battery:
1. Connect the POSITIVE battery terminal
2. Connect the NEGATIVE battery terminal
3. Connect (plug in) the BMS sensor on the Negative terminal LAST!

 

[Psifer]

Make sure you follow the correct Positive and Negative connection sequence. It is CRITICAL in newer vehicles, especially those like the TRX with a Battery Management System (BMS).

DISCONNECTING the battery:
1. Disconnect the BMS Sensor on the Negative terminal.
2. Disconnect the NEGATIVE battery terminal
3. Disconnect the POSITIVE battery terminal

CONNECTING the battery:
1. Connect the POSITIVE battery terminal
2. Connect the NEGATIVE battery terminal
3. Connect (plug in) the BMS sensor on the Negative terminal LAST!
View attachment 149253

Where does it state that the BMS must be unplugged before disconnecting the battery? I've never done that in any of my Mopar vehicles and have never experienced an issue. I've disconnected my TRX's battery a few dozen times by now.

 

[BlueTRX]

I have a thread here with similar issue.
Truck wouldn't "go to sleep" after locked because of a chinese LED Steering wheel module that kept everything on.

I learned many with car play modules also had that issue. Others with power steps also reported similar problem

 

[LarryMopar360]

I have a thread here with similar issue.
Truck wouldn't "go to sleep" after locked because of a chinese LED Steering wheel module that kept everything on.

I learned many with car play modules also had that issue. Others with power steps also reported similar problem

Ugh. Okay. I don't have the power steps. Hopefully mine is only because it does not recognize the vehicle is in Park.

I did not remove the BMS from Neg cable first. Didn't realize that was what it was tbh. I just removed Neg cable then Pos.

 

[LarryMopar360]

What is the large module that is next to battery, toward passenger side? I unplugged it and plugged it back in hoping to reset something, anything lol. I took a pic of the part number and did a search and it gave me "pressurized" wiper bottle. I accidentally deleted the pic with the part number and batter has to be out to read it

 

[Psifer]

What is the large module that is next to battery, toward passenger side? I unplugged it and plugged it back in hoping to reset something, anything lol. I took a pic of the part number and did a search and it gave me "pressurized" wiper bottle. I accidentally deleted the pic with the part number and batter has to be out to read it

The module to left of the battery, mounted vertically, is the PCM.