Battery Saver Mode

[MarcT]

I was wondering if an alternator with more amps would help with this problem?
I wrote to Fiat Chrysler Canada a few days ago, but got no reply. Hopefully I matter to them as a customer and I will get a reply.‍♂️

 

[g00fy]

Mine seems to have worked itself out, but it could just be that the weather warmed up a bit. I'll see what happens when winter comes back.

 

[MarcT]

Mine seems to have worked itself out, but it could just be that the weather warmed up a bit. I'll see what happens when winter comes back.

It depends where your at, it’s still -9C here (upper Quebec) and mine is still doing it today. It stops during warmer weather.

 

[Rammer]

I was wondering if an alternator with more amps would help with this problem?
I wrote to Fiat Chrysler Canada a few days ago, but got no reply. Hopefully I matter to them as a customer and I will get a reply.‍♂️

Mine has dual alternators and as I mentioned I was watching the battery voltage on the EVIC and up until the time it went into battery saver mode the voltage was holding steady at 14.2 volts, so the alternators didn't seem to be having any problem generating sufficient current to keep the voltage at rated running voltage.

 

[g00fy]

Mine has dual alternators and as I mentioned I was watching the battery voltage on the EVIC and up until the time it went into battery saver mode the voltage was holding steady at 14.2 volts, so the alternators didn't seem to be having any problem generating sufficient current to keep the voltage at rated running voltage.

I also have dual alternators. I bet it's some sort of stupid firmware issue in one of the canbus modules.

 

[fuchsroehre]

Just started her up at 0F. Grid heater/ coolant heater is cycling the voltage between 12-14V. Suddenly after about 2 miles driving 10.9V steady and the red battery light came on. At that point I was at a stop light and the condition was for 20 seconds. I revved the engine to 1500rpm and the voltage did not go up. 10.9V.
Started driving at the green light for another 2 minutes until I was back home. Voltage never recovered but the battery light turned off with 10.9V.
Engine off, I measured the 2 batteries and they are at 12.2V, not something I'd consider full, rather 50-60% full.
Put a charger on for the night, hope for the best.

It is confusing to me that the driving or revving the engine does not change the voltage.
I have the upgraded alternator with 220 amps in the truck and I am running heated seats front and the heated steering wheel.
Does anyone have experience with voltage steady at 10.9V? Maybe time to get to the dealer?

Thanks.

 

[takopecky]

Add me to the list. I have a 2019 2500 Laramie. New batteries in Feb 2021. I have the grid heater power removed from the relay on the grid heater side. I still get the battery saver darn near every cold morning even with the block heater plugged in overnight. I tried using a battery tender several times, but that causes the clock to lose time, and doesn't eliminate the battery saver mode. I have 50,000 miles, so the warranty is expired. I've done searches and tried to adjust the IBS values, but nothing works.

I'd love to find some way to eliminate the battery saver 'feature'. It's a first-world problem, but it's truly maddening!

 

[g00fy]

Weather got cold and mine started giving me the error again. It's gotta be some sort of glitch in the canbus somewhere that they fixed in newer trucks cause so far it seems everyone with this problem has a 2019. Been seeing people complain about it in Facebook groups too, also 2019's.

 

[BamaStar]

Another 2019 with the problem. Did fine until January of this year, now I am getting the Battery Saver messages and radio and phone connectivity shuts down. I am seeing 11.1V to 12.5V after start then quickly rises to 14.4V. Message comes on usually after a very short time of driving. Now I know at least I am not the only one.

 

[g00fy]

Another 2019 with the problem. Did fine until January of this year, now I am getting the Battery Saver messages and radio and phone connectivity shuts down. I am seeing 11.1V to 12.5V after start then quickly rises to 14.4V. Message comes on usually after a very short time of driving. Now I know at least I am not the only one.

Yea i got the same problem, what's weird is when it was REALLY cold last week no issues, this week the weather got a little warmer and all the sudden it's back. I reported it to the NHTSA, i figure if enough of us complain they'll look into it. I'd put my money on a canbus module firmware glitch since it's ONLY the 2019 models so far. When the ambient temperature is in X range it causes an error and all it needs is a firmware update to fix this glitch.

 

[BamaStar]

I never had this issue till recently tho. I drove all winter last year with zero problems.

 

[takopecky]

I don't want to jinx myself, but I may have found a solution--at least for my truck. I took a closer look at the IBS sensor on the driver's side neg battery post. The wiring harness to it was pulled pretty tight, and I found where it looks like the pigtail had been cut off and a new one soldered on. I figured that could be a 'cold-solder' joint, so I cut the soldered section out and installed some heat shrink butt connectors. I rerouted the wire so it's not so tight and added some dielectric grease to the connector. I also took a wire brush to the ground wire connection points on the sensor. Knock on wood, but I haven't had the message in a few days. Fingers crossed!

 

[MarcT]

Mine went in to the dealership and they were able to read a code. They found that the truck had a 0.85 amp power loss. Apparently a wire was grounded, they repaired the wire and sent me on my way. In the last month I only got the message twice, and this was after driving about 8-10 miles, parking the truck for 45-60 minutes and then driving again. The truck had time to cool some (-25 to -28C ) and when I restarted and drove away it appeared. It appears when engine temp reaches 87C (188F). Will finish winter and if not more than what I’m seeing now will not go back to dealer.

So as mentioned by g00fy, could be Canbus related?

Weird truck. Otherwise I love it.

 

[Toprad]

This happened to me for the first time yesterday. Wasnt really cold... Lower 40s. Remote started and drove to the store. Couple minutes into the drive the radio cuts out and the EVIC pops up the "battery saver mode" message which I'd never heard of. Checking online for this issue, finding it's happening a lot with 2019 HD Rams, but can't find a specific cause and fix for it... Causes seem to be all over the place. I bought this truck used three months ago with 19,000 miles on it. I'm at about 20,000 now. Haven't checked the batteries yet, but suspect the used car dealership may have put old batteries in the truck. I'm gonna check those and see what I've got, and go from there. Voltmeter indications seem to be fine, so I'm gonna keep an eye on it, make an an appointment with my dealership so they can take a look at it... See what happens. I'll post an update when I have one.

 

[takopecky]

Revisiting my post above. My battery saver mode would come on reliably every cold morning at about the same distance from home. After I did the steps above, I haven't seen the message again.

 

[Big G]

Hey guys same thing here, 2019 HO.
Mine comes up with battery saver mode once daily after first start of the day no matter what outside temperature is.
Been to the dealer four times, every time the tell me battery’s pass load test, they update or install new flash, but doesn’t fix anything.
Tech found amp draw on abs module and said he suspected that to be the problem. So I asked if they replaced it.
He said no he just rebooted it and that if it happened again they would replace it.
Next day same issue! Took truck back again.
When I picked it back up for the fourth time asked if they replaced abs module as they had told me they were going to do. Was told (no we can’t just throw parts at it) we rebooted it.
Fed up! They have no clue!

 

[madmax4073]

coming up on 3 years with this problem, i lost count of the times its been to dealer, even had FCA involved last year and it still goes into "battery save on "mode....dropped it off at dealer sunday night for a monday apt. for a water leak in rear window area and on the way to dealer the "battery mode on" came on so i again added it my list of what needs fixing.. this dealer is one that i didnt buy ram from but they have been really nice to deal with and seem to know trucks better than the stealer ship i bought ram at... POMOCO ram in newport news virginia. (they are absolutely the epitome of bad service)

service adviser call me this am and they fixed the water leak (third brake light gasket) and we talked about the "battery saver on" mode and he asked me more details about how the problem starts. he said they tested batteries and they are within specs but on low side and they tested the alternator and it was within specs BUT the tech noticed a slight smell of electrical smell in alternators area. i told him i have been having this for almost 3 years no thyme or reason when it decides to flip out, i told him the alternator gauge reads 11.3 upon start up and i turn on the heated seats etc and the volts on meter still stay at 11.3 and then for no reason it will decide to start to increase voltage. ( i told him that i have mentioned that i have told dealerships about the smell and most looked at me like i was crazy, i told him im retired firefighter and i can tell electrical smells over paper etc, ) he said there were no codes stored and i said well i have the pic of the mode on and the milage sitting at their bay sunday night when i dropped off truck. he said he believes me. but after this whole ****show a tech finally said he smelled an electrical smell ) i told him i hope the truck catches fire, he said they were gonna run it and drive it to see if they can get it to duplicate it. he said FCA is a pain to deal with and he agrees the engineers at FCA/ram need to actually work and turn wrenches on these trucks. finally a service guy who agrees with me. sooooo in the mean time im hoping the ram burns up and is a total loss. i sure do miss my 2004 ram 2500 4x4......it had 0 issues. this POS on the other hand....well i just hope it burns down to the ground.

 

[MarcT]

coming up on 3 years with this problem, i lost count of the times its been to dealer, even had FCA involved last year and it still goes into "battery save on "mode....dropped it off at dealer sunday night for a monday apt. for a water leak in rear window area and on the way to dealer the "battery mode on" came on so i again added it my list of what needs fixing.. this dealer is one that i didnt buy ram from but they have been really nice to deal with and seem to know trucks better than the stealer ship i bought ram at... POMOCO ram in newport news virginia. (they are absolutely the epitome of bad service)

service adviser call me this am and they fixed the water leak (third brake light gasket) and we talked about the "battery saver on" mode and he asked me more details about how the problem starts. he said they tested batteries and they are within specs but on low side and they tested the alternator and it was within specs BUT the tech noticed a slight smell of electrical smell in alternators area. i told him i have been having this for almost 3 years no thyme or reason when it decides to flip out, i told him the alternator gauge reads 11.3 upon start up and i turn on the heated seats etc and the volts on meter still stay at 11.3 and then for no reason it will decide to start to increase voltage. ( i told him that i have mentioned that i have told dealerships about the smell and most looked at me like i was crazy, i told him im retired firefighter and i can tell electrical smells over paper etc, ) he said there were no codes stored and i said well i have the pic of the mode on and the milage sitting at their bay sunday night when i dropped off truck. he said he believes me. but after this whole ****show a tech finally said he smelled an electrical smell ) i told him i hope the truck catches fire, he said they were gonna run it and drive it to see if they can get it to duplicate it. he said FCA is a pain to deal with and he agrees the engineers at FCA/ram need to actually work and turn wrenches on these trucks. finally a service guy who agrees with me. sooooo in the mean time im hoping the ram burns up and is a total loss. i sure do miss my 2004 ram 2500 4x4......it had 0 issues. this POS on the other hand....well i just hope it burns down to the ground.

Sorry to see your having trouble sorting this out. Mine did the same for more than two years. Finally at the beginning of 2022 I brought my truck to dealer and it actually had a stored code. It turns out a wire was grounded, they repaired the wire and sent me on my way. In the last two months I have gotten the message three times, and each time it was after driving about 8-10 miles, parking the truck for 45-60 minutes and then driving again. The truck had time to cool some (-25 to -28C ) and when I restarted and drove away it appeared. It appears when engine temp reaches 87C (188F). Winter is almost over in my part of the world (northern Quebec, Canada) and I haven’t had any real problems since, so I haven’t been back to the dealer.
Have your dealer look for a short or a loss of amperage, in my case it had a 0.85 amp loss in the system that seemed to cause the problem.

Good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out.

 

[madmax4073]

Sorry to see your having trouble sorting this out. Mine did the same for more than two years. Finally at the beginning of 2022 I brought my truck to dealer and it actually had a stored code. It turns out a wire was grounded, they repaired the wire and sent me on my way. In the last two months I have gotten the message three times, and each time it was after driving about 8-10 miles, parking the truck for 45-60 minutes and then driving again. The truck had time to cool some (-25 to -28C ) and when I restarted and drove away it appeared. It appears when engine temp reaches 87C (188F). Winter is almost over in my part of the world (northern Quebec, Canada) and I haven’t had any real problems since, so I haven’t been back to the dealer.
Have your dealer look for a short or a loss of amperage, in my case it had a 0.85 amp loss in the system that seemed to cause the problem.

Good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out.

much appreciated on the info ill get this info to my service advisor when he calls me.

 

[jpaeth]

Revisiting my post above. My battery saver mode would come on reliably every cold morning at about the same distance from home. After I did the steps above, I haven't seen the message again.

Can you show some pics of what you did? I have been having this issue for 3 years now and I am at the end of my rope.