[Eric Montgomery]

Hey there guys so as the title says..I have an issue. I drive a 2013 3500 ram 6.7L crew cab dually.
Now I'm in canada , manitoba as a place and temperature reference. It started a few weeks ago, the key fob almost seemed like the battery was dying , key fob not detected when trying to start the truck while sitting in it so I went and got a new battery, figured it'd solve it. Well.... now the truck is sitting in my driveway and wont start.

Right now when i try to start it... it seems like it wants to try to turn over, I'll get the beginnings of a crank then all the power cuts out, and the red security light pops in, and the power comes back on...

I checked the batteries driver side has 12.2V pass side has 12.3V .
Truck is plugged in block heater seems to be working(feel some warmth from the engine)
A local tech said to try starting with the key in the back seat (the antenna for the security module is back there) did not change anything...


I'm not too sure where to go from here besides having it towed into the shop and paying their yearly rent bill by having them diagnose the issue....any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jhenderson]

Your battery(s) are toast. A fully charged battery is 12.6 volts. Disconnect them from each other and the truck and perform a load test. If they are left connected the good battery( if there is one) will mask the bad battery. The load should be at least 1/2 the rated amperage of the battery.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Sounds like one or both batteries is bad.

You can't go by voltage, that tells very little about battery health, they need to be INDIVIDUALLY load tested. Meaning that you need to disconnect one battery then with a proper load test unit, test each battery.

And, I don't know about your truck, but my truck won't remote start from the key fob, while I'm sitting in the truck, only from the outside.

 

[Eric Montgomery]

Ok fair enough , I'll try throwing them on a load tester hopefully monday and hope for the best.. thanks!

 

[Ltngdrvr]

When one of them (or both) comes up bad, be sure to replace BOTH with some good quality AGM batteries, might cost you a few bucks now, but will save you later.

I also now carry a pair of lithium ion jump starters, just in case...

 

[Eric Montgomery]

Yes , for sure if either are no good I was going to replace both it sucks but will be worth it .

 

[Eric Montgomery]

Just a quick update , load tested the batteries they passed, threw them on a charge, truck is back to normal.
Thanks guys

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Oh yeah? Hmmm...

I'd say get yourself at least one lithium ion jumper pack to carry with you for the next time.

 

[Eric Montgomery]

Never heard of one before you mentioned them I'll have to look into one .

 

[N of 60]

Just a quick update , load tested the batteries they passed, threw them on a charge, truck is back to normal.
Thanks guys

Was your truck sitting prior to this for any length of time like 3 to 4 weeks? If not and you have been daily driving it and this happened,
you will end up with a no start again. A good couple of -20 days with truck sitting with a cold start if those are original batteries from 2013.
A heads up.
If this does happen again wait 5 to 10 minutes and go straight to starting it without letting your grid heater cycle there should be enough juice trigger the ecm to let it turn over and get you home.

 

[DroschaFamilyDairy]

We have a 2013, Auto, Dually, I haven't Driven in 2 months, This past weekend I needed it out of the barn, stuck the key in like I always do and wouldn't even crank, Dash lights up, but that was all it would do, I purchased 2 New Batteries, installed them, same thing, dash lights only, had the dealer in stall a new battery in key fob, went home, placed key in the dash, same thing, dash lights only, can't put it in neutral, Steering column is locked! I can turn the Steering Wheel. For the heck of it I tried my wife's mini van key, same looking key, still nothing. We crawled under the truck, disconnected linkage to the transmission and pulled it out the barn. I didn't try putting the batteries on the charger, I assumed the Batteries being new that they had a descent charge. Any one have a good idea to try,
Thanks, Jim Droscha

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Never heard of one before you mentioned them I'll have to look into one .

I have two of these, one for each battery(probably overkill). Really bailed me out when I ran the batteries down one night.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumach...hguid=24e16d65-511-16685093739aaf&athena=true

 

[Ltngdrvr]

We have a 2013, Auto, Dually, I haven't Driven in 2 months, This past weekend I needed it out of the barn, stuck the key in like I always do and wouldn't even crank, Dash lights up, but that was all it would do, I purchased 2 New Batteries, installed them, same thing, dash lights only, had the dealer in stall a new battery in key fob, went home, placed key in the dash, same thing, dash lights only, can't put it in neutral, Steering column is locked! I can turn the Steering Wheel. For the heck of it I tried my wife's mini van key, same looking key, still nothing. We crawled under the truck, disconnected linkage to the transmission and pulled it out the barn. I didn't try putting the batteries on the charger, I assumed the Batteries being new that they had a descent charge. Any one have a good idea to try,
Thanks, Jim Droscha

Pull the batteries and have them tested, just a waste replacing stuff that hasn't been tested.

 

[N of 60]

We have a 2013, Auto, Dually, I haven't Driven in 2 months, This past weekend I needed it out of the barn, stuck the key in like I always do and wouldn't even crank, Dash lights up, but that was all it would do, I purchased 2 New Batteries, installed them, same thing, dash lights only, had the dealer in stall a new battery in key fob, went home, placed key in the dash, same thing, dash lights only, can't put it in neutral, Steering column is locked! I can turn the Steering Wheel. For the heck of it I tried my wife's mini van key, same looking key, still nothing. We crawled under the truck, disconnected linkage to the transmission and pulled it out the barn. I didn't try putting the batteries on the charger, I assumed the Batteries being new that they had a descent charge. Any one have a good idea to try,
Thanks, Jim Droscha

Batteries in your key Fob have nothing to do with the truck not starting you can take them out and your truck should start if your batteries in the vehicle are good. Your fobs have programmed chip to identify your vehicle in them that requires no power as your vehicle reads it with its own. Key Fob battery is to allow remote start and unlocking/locking doors.

 

[bigfish95971]

On third gen and newer trucks you should put a solar or plug in battery tender on them if sitting for over 3 weeks especially in your climate.

 

[DroschaFamilyDairy]

Thanks, We have been reading the past responses to the original post, This truck was parked in our machinery barn to have a

Extra good cleaning, The back seat and carpet was removed the steel floor was power washed, the doors were left open to dry out,

a small fan was placed in the doorway to help dry, 3 days later every thing was clean and Very dry, reassembled every thing.

The key fob was taken to the dealer because the parts counter guy told "us" the fob sends out a signal to start the truck.

Apparently he sells a lot of batteries for key fobs! I tried the truck this morning with the key laying in the back seat, a

Fresh charge on the Batteries, Dash lights turn on, Dome light Comes on, steering column still locked, We are into combining

Corn & Beans, this project will have to go to the back burner for a few days.

Thanks, Jim Droscha

 

[Jimmy N.]

Extra good cleaning, The back seat and carpet was removed the steel floor was power washed, the doors were left open to dry out,

Fresh charge on the Batteries, Dash lights turn on, Dome light Comes on, steering column still locked,

You did disable the dome light before letting it sit with the doors open, right?

 

[R4zr]

Hey there guys so as the title says..I have an issue. I drive a 2013 3500 ram 6.7L crew cab dually.
Now I'm in canada , manitoba as a place and temperature reference. It started a few weeks ago, the key fob almost seemed like the battery was dying , key fob not detected when trying to start the truck while sitting in it so I went and got a new battery, figured it'd solve it. Well.... now the truck is sitting in my driveway and wont start.

Right now when i try to start it... it seems like it wants to try to turn over, I'll get the beginnings of a crank then all the power cuts out, and the red security light pops in, and the power comes back on...

I checked the batteries driver side has 12.2V pass side has 12.3V .
Truck is plugged in block heater seems to be working(feel some warmth from the engine)
A local tech said to try starting with the key in the back seat (the antenna for the security module is back there) did not change anything...


I'm not too sure where to go from here besides having it towed into the shop and paying their yearly rent bill by having them diagnose the issue....any help would be appreciated.

Hello fellow 'toban.

As others have suggested, I'd start with the batteries. I had a no start issue a couple years back and it turned out that the passenger side battery had a bad internal connection between post and plates. Truck would start sometimes and just click others. This doesn't sound like your issue suffice it to say that these trucks are hard on batteries especially in the cold and short trips.

I'd do as others have suggested and get your batteries load tested individually and replace if you need to. Then do yourself a favor and buy an onboard battery charger like this one: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/noco-genius-gen-mini-1-on-board-battery-charger-0111937p.html#srp

It's a 4 amp trickle charger. What I did was re-route my block heater cord from the bumper, around the passenger side of the engine bay, across the engine to the brake fluid reservoir area, (securing the cord away from the engine itself and any exhaust tubing). There should be just enough block heater cord to get you to the driver side battery area. This is where I mounted the charger, in the space just behind the drivers side battery. I got a short outdoor extension cord and ran it from the bumper to the charger along the drivers side engine bay. Plugged the block heater and the charger into this cord and connected the charger terminals to the battery.

Now, when the block heater is plugged in, the batteries also charge. This is a necessary addition if your trips are short in the winter. The grid heater draws enough power to draw down your batteries and start the truck. Depending on your drive time, the alternator may not recharge your batteries before you get to your destination. Add in the def tank heater if your truck is stock and you have a recipe for a net loss of charge.

I have 2 of these chargers on my truck. One for the truck batteries as described above, and one for the deep cycle battery that runs my coolant and cab heaters, they do wonders for the life of the batteries.


Good luck.

 

[DroschaFamilyDairy]

Yes, We had a good charger on the 2 "New" batteries, I need to do a Leak down test on these new Batteries, We removed

The original 2013 Batteries from the truck, We have 670,000 miles on this truck, This Truck has always been Reliable!!!

Thanks, Jim Droscha