Battery voltage

[eltaco]

This is what I am most concerned about. When I drive for a while (2 hour trip let's say) my voltage will start up fine and go to 14.4V and then after driving it slowly drops. I have had it drop as low as 13.2V. Maybe this is normal? Can anyone confirm (does anyone work for a dealer here in parts) that this is normal or expected?

I don’t work for a dealer but I think this is common and expected.

From what I’m gathering on the bad battery issues, I believe they’re all failing when the truck is OFF. Everything was good on the prior drive, and completely dead on the next startup. I don’t recall reading any that failed while driving.

Mine is down into the lower 12s if I go to ON position without starting the vehicle, but goes up over 14v immediately after starting. I’m in between 13.4-14.4 when driving from what I’ve seen.

 

[Deange2001]

I don’t work for a dealer but I think this is common and expected.

From what I’m gathering on the bad battery issues, I believe they’re all failing when the truck is OFF. Everything was good on the prior drive, and completely dead on the next startup. I don’t recall reading any that failed while driving.

Mine is down into the lower 12s if I go to ON position without starting the vehicle, but goes up over 14v immediately after starting. I’m in between 13.4-14.4 when driving from what I’ve seen.

I honestly think I might buy the 3rd party batteries, keep a little kit in my car with the required tools to replace, and make sure I have this on me when going on longer road trips. Around town I am not worried about the car dying, though it would suck/be embarrassing. But if I take this truck on a 4-5 hour road trip, into the mountains, I think having the spare is a good idea with the RHOs.

 

[MattH89]

I have done 10 hours of driving in a day with only gas stops. Dropping below 13.8v is not something I have seen regardless of how long the trip is.

 

[jmill012]

Went out today… started the truck and it’s sitting at 14.2V for the whole 30 min drive.

 

[Faze]

Okay so I’m now worried about my battery. While driving I’m hovering around 13.5 but when I brake it goes up to 14.5. As soon as I hit the gas it drops back to 13.5.

When the start/stop kicks in and it shuts down I’m at 12.6v.

With the truck off and not running I’m at 12.4v.

Thoughts?

mine goes to 12.1v during start/stop.. 14.2 when driving..

 

[Deange2001]

Went out today… started the truck and it’s sitting at 14.2V for the whole 30 min drive.

for shorter drives I have the same. the last time I drove for 2hours or a little more, I had the battery start out high(14v+), stay there for a while, then it started slowly dropping and got as low as 13.2-13.3. Not sure if it is an issue, also not sure why the alternator wouldn't kick back on or when it should kick back on but I am concerned if it was a longer trip that it would keep dropping and cause some wonky shit.
Ultimately I hate that I even have these concerns with a new $80k truck.

 

[MattH89]

I really am not reading a lot here that is abnormal. I think we're all just hyper fixated because it's been a problem for some. These fluctuations almost certainly existed on every car we've driven, we just weren't staring at the monitor to notice

 

[eltaco]

I really am not reading a lot here that is abnormal. I think we're all just hyper fixated because it's been a problem for some. These fluctuations almost certainly existed on every car we've driven, we just weren't staring at the monitor to notice

Yes, precisely. Nice picture describing what we’re talking about here. That’s exactly how mine functions today.

And 100% agree, I’ve never once paid attention to this on another vehicle. I now have it as one of my 5 primary gauges on the instrument cluster… front and center for every second of my drive.

 

[gram10]

I was a very early dead battery casualty(thread below). I had these exact symptoms. Came outside to a dead battery one day, got it jump-started after trying multiple options, finally had it sit next to a running car on jump cables for about 20 minutes. After that, I had low voltage when driving, anywhere in between 12.8 to 13.8 volts. Sometimes when I took my foot off the gas and coasted, it would go up to 14.5 for a little while, then drop back down when I hit the gas or on its own after 10 seconds or so.

I went to multiple dealerships who either didn't have batteries in stock or couldn't see me for a week or two. I said screw it. Instead of waiting for a dealership to get an appointment around Christmas time, I went to AutoZone and bought batteries myself.
I have not had any of these voltage issues since, the lowest I'll see is usually 14.1, but generally always 14.5-14.5. It will drop to 14.1 sometimes, but I'm tihnking this is only when the A/C is working fairly hard.

I'm not saying this is the solution and everyone should go by their own, but it worked for me. I've seen people with dealers replacing batteries multiple times, I have not had that issue.

Battery Dead

I've seen many have had the dead battery or battery drain issue. I noticed my truck had the dash still on about 30 minutes after I ha locked the truck with the key nowhere nearby. Woke up this morning to a dead truck. Does anybody have a service report from their fix or any other information...

www.ram-rho.com

Another note, in terms of installation, I disconnected the main battery, then aux and installed the aux, then the main. No special sequence, just what made the most sense since the aux is buried behind the main.

Also, I saw someone post about a warranty fear, I don't think buying a non-Mopar battery can void warranty, similar to how using non-Mopar oil won't void your warranty, as long as it meets spec. Plus, the burden is on them to prove your battery caused issues.

There's my 2 cents/experience.

 

[jmill012]

I really am not reading a lot here that is abnormal. I think we're all just hyper fixated because it's been a problem for some. These fluctuations almost certainly existed on every car we've driven, we just weren't staring at the monitor to no

I really am not reading a lot here that is abnormal. I think we're all just hyper fixated because it's been a problem for some. These fluctuations almost certainly existed on every car we've driven, we just weren't staring at the monitor to notice

I now agree with this... I bought a noco to charge the RHO even though I haven't had issues. I connected it and it had one solid light and the second blinking. Within 2 hours I was fully charged. I figured I would do my wife's Navigator. Well... 2 hours later and it just made it to the second light of 5 on the charger So... I am thinking these fluctuations are more than normal and we are all just a little paranoid because of the horror stories. With that said after charging with the noco my RHO has held at 14.2 - 14.4. So maybe it does help

 

[Deange2001]

I think the only real test is that you check your battery with a DVM before turning the car on. I checked mine over the weekend and I was right at 12.41VDC. Which is a healthy battery but not a fully charged battery. I will check it again next weekend on saturday and see what it says...if still at 12.4 I am done paying attention, if it is less then I do think I need to look into it because I don't think I should have to use a trickle charger every few weeks on my daily lol.

 

[Steadi]

I leave to go to Italy on Sunday. I’ll be gone for 2 weeks. I’ll charge the batteries the night before and leave it unplugged while I’m gone and report back.

So far, I’ve not had any issues with the truck and I’ve charged the batteries a handful of times, just kind of sporadically.

Alllllrighty. So I just got back from Europe, was gone for a total of 15 days. Charged up the batteries on the Noco charger the night before I left and unplugged the truck for my vacation.

Got home yesterday late afternoon and first thing I did was meter the main battery before turning on the truck. Metered at 12.23. I didn’t bother metering the aux battery, now I wish I did.

Went back in the house and about 30 minutes later had to leave to run some errands, remote started the truck and I heard the engine turn itself off after running for about 5 seconds. Went back to the garage, fired it back up and sure enough, CEL. Though this time the engine stayed running.

Scan tool showed the following permanent codes.

P068A - ECM/PCM Power relay de-energized performance - too early

U0418 - Implausible data recorded from brake system control module 1

Went about my errands, truck ran fine, went back home and I charged the batteries on the noco overnight.

Left this morning and after a short drive to the coffee shop before work, CEL gone and codes cleared themselves.

Strange battery gremlins but everything seems to be running fine after a charge up!

 

[eltaco]

I’ve been paying more attention to my battery gauge and noticed sometimes the truck runs the entirety of my drive between 14.0-14.4, and other times the entire drive is 13.5-13.8. It is a roll of the dice which it starts up with, but I haven’t found any way to predict which it will show.

No ill effects thus far, just a note on what I’m seeing day to day.

 

[Adub]

I just get nervous as I watch over the course of a few days. After charging 14v+, after driving a few days 13.6-13.8ish. Then, it starts trickling down to 13.2, 12.8, etc

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

Alllllrighty. So I just got back from Europe, was gone for a total of 15 days. Charged up the batteries on the Noco charger the night before I left and unplugged the truck for my vacation.

Got home yesterday late afternoon and first thing I did was meter the main battery before turning on the truck. Metered at 12.23. I didn’t bother metering the aux battery, now I wish I did.

Went back in the house and about 30 minutes later had to leave to run some errands, remote started the truck and I heard the engine turn itself off after running for about 5 seconds. Went back to the garage, fired it back up and sure enough, CEL. Though this time the engine stayed running.

Scan tool showed the following permanent codes.

P068A - ECM/PCM Power relay de-energized performance - too early

U0418 - Implausible data recorded from brake system control module 1

Went about my errands, truck ran fine, went back home and I charged the batteries on the noco overnight.

Left this morning and after a short drive to the coffee shop before work, CEL gone and codes cleared themselves.

Strange battery gremlins but everything seems to be running fine after a charge up!

I'm Headed to Italy for 3 weeks for my honeymoon in September so we will see how the RHO does sitting! I've never put a charger on her , she sits 4 days a week at home while i work and use my daily driver then driven all weekend, never had an issue. knock on wood!

Electrical gremlins, SMH.