Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum - View Single Post

TC_So Cal · 12-15-2007, 08:42 AM

Thought I would share this...My new '08 Ram Laramie, 2500 4X4, 6.7, with only 800 miles developed a radical and fluctuating voltage drop when cold starting (California cold 55 degrees) not the common slight drop with heater grid activation, but appeared possibly related.

The volt meter would drop to the peg at the 8 volt mark and then slowly work its way up to 14.5 in about 20-30 seconds, headlights, interior lights dimmed and then turned off and would not recycle for over a minute, any additonal load ie: heater fan, seat warmer, fog lights, caused the same events to reoccur. The truck was undriveable during the event time. Stepping on the electronic accelerator to increase RPM caused the same above result and made the diesel run roughly, diesels run no matter what I thought. The "problem" went away after what seemed like forever but in reality was three to four minutes and did not replicate during the rest of the day.

When I talked to the dealer they said it was normal operation due to grid heater cycling. Being new to Dodges, I thought they can't be serious, not at those prices!

I compared my truck with other like trucks. The drop was not even close to what I experienced which was almost total electrical failure. Left it overnight so dealer so they could see the problem first hand and the next morning they were able to see the same problems. They troubleshot and discovered; No fault codes, batteries checked very good as did alternator output. The bottom line: "We don't know what's wrong," and called they called the Tech guru @ Dodge factory. No help there, they too said normal for grid heater operation.

I wasn't convinced and started feeling big time Buyer Remorse. The Service Manager noticed Recall #G30 had not been incorporated into my truck. G30 was basically replace o2 sensor module and reprogram the ECM/PCM. We didn't see the relationship to my problem and the recall but.... the work was done and I drove off into the afternoon gloom.

It's been four 36 degree mornings now and no cold start problems. (36 degrees is cold for Southern California). I don't know if the G30 was the cause or maybe just the reprogramming of the ECM/PCM fixed the problem.

12-15-2007, 08:42 AM	#14 (permalink)
TC_So Cal Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 4 TC_So Cal's Truck Pics	I suspect your right about G30 Thought I would share this...My new '08 Ram Laramie, 2500 4X4, 6.7, with only 800 miles developed a radical and fluctuating voltage drop when cold starting (California cold 55 degrees) not the common slight drop with heater grid activation, but appeared possibly related. The volt meter would drop to the peg at the 8 volt mark and then slowly work its way up to 14.5 in about 20-30 seconds, headlights, interior lights dimmed and then turned off and would not recycle for over a minute, any additonal load ie: heater fan, seat warmer, fog lights, caused the same events to reoccur. The truck was undriveable during the event time. Stepping on the electronic accelerator to increase RPM caused the same above result and made the diesel run roughly, diesels run no matter what I thought. The "problem" went away after what seemed like forever but in reality was three to four minutes and did not replicate during the rest of the day. When I talked to the dealer they said it was normal operation due to grid heater cycling. Being new to Dodges, I thought they can't be serious, not at those prices! I compared my truck with other like trucks. The drop was not even close to what I experienced which was almost total electrical failure. Left it overnight so dealer so they could see the problem first hand and the next morning they were able to see the same problems. They troubleshot and discovered; No fault codes, batteries checked very good as did alternator output. The bottom line: "We don't know what's wrong," and called they called the Tech guru @ Dodge factory. No help there, they too said normal for grid heater operation. I wasn't convinced and started feeling big time Buyer Remorse. The Service Manager noticed Recall #G30 had not been incorporated into my truck. G30 was basically replace o2 sensor module and reprogram the ECM/PCM. We didn't see the relationship to my problem and the recall but.... the work was done and I drove off into the afternoon gloom. It's been four 36 degree mornings now and no cold start problems. (36 degrees is cold for Southern California). I don't know if the G30 was the cause or maybe just the reprogramming of the ECM/PCM fixed the problem.