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BOTH Batteries dead in two years?

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ccmartin2

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I was just stranded in a parking lot due to no start. Lights worked and would just get a loud thunk when starting. Pulled the batteries the next day and one had failed and took out the other.

I purchased this truck in October 2022. Is this normal?
 
I got luck I guess… My 21’s batteries made it to this current cold spell before dying.
 
I think the battery issue is due to three factors. First the batteries are of poor quality probably because Stellantis accepted the lowest bid. Second, all the computers in these trucks are a constant draw on the batteries. I know most are supposed to go to sleep on shut down but that takes time and some don't shut down completely. Third, it appears that once the battery drops to a specific voltage the computer with not allow a start even though the battery seems to have some power left. Sort of all or none. I might be wrong. I replaced my batteries after just over three years. Now I plug in the on board NOCO charger if I leave it sit for more than three days. After spending over 700 on two new batteries I would like more than three years out of them.
 
Mine died in 1 year and caused my motor to knock....

Jokes aside, batteries are not what they used to be. All auto manufacturers are having issues and going to the store to get another brand wont really help. In today's world there are only a few battery manufacturers and are just rebranded.
 
I’m feeling lucky for a change. My 19 is still on the originals, try to trickle them when it gets really cold but doesn’t always happen. I have a 2011 Case farm tractor with the original battery too………jinxing myself o_O
 
Dinky503 said:
Mine died in 1 year and caused my motor to knock....

Jokes aside, batteries are not what they used to be. All auto manufacturers are having issues and going to the store to get another brand wont really help. In today's world there are only a few battery manufacturers and are just rebranded.
Click to expand...
Yup just like home appliances. Crap shoot fer sure.
 
Pre
Great White North Eh said:
I’m feeling lucky for a change. My 19 is still on the originals, try to trickle them when it gets really cold but doesn’t always happen. I have a 2011 Case farm tractor with the original battery too………jinxing myself o_O
Click to expand...

Pre-covid batteries..... anything after all materials were crap. I really hope we're past it but who knows how many manufacturers will stay cheap in production to save $$
 
Great White North Eh said:
I’m feeling lucky for a change. My 19 is still on the originals, try to trickle them when it gets really cold but doesn’t always happen. I have a 2011 Case farm tractor with the original battery too………jinxing myself o_O
Click to expand...
The battery in my 2012 Honda Accord last 11 years. The good old days. LOL
 
Just had to replace mine this weekend on my 2020 3500. Truck would not start (click) but everything else worked. Auto start using remove sounded a single horn beep. They made it to 114,500km.

Oh my freaking lord that passenger battery was a nightmare to remove. Had to pull remove the front top shroud to remove the angle bar to remove the air box lid… then I almost had enough room. The stupid positive terminal is a large assembly and won’t move very far at all. Took two of us to get everything held out of the way without breaking too much plastic (ugh) and finally got it done.

Replace both with new AGMs. Damn that was expensive, $748 CDN for both.

partsource.ca

MPA94R Pro-Series XD Battery

Ultimate power and performance Ideal for extreme cold temperatures, vehicles with large electrical loads (infotainment, navigation, heated seats, power doors, etc.), vehicles used for frequent short trips or in stop-n-go traffic and, vehicles that sit unused for days or weeks at a time 2x the...
partsource.ca partsource.ca

The old ones appeared and sounded like old school flooded lead acid, surprised they were not AGM.
 
Thorvald said:
Just had to replace mine this weekend on my 2020 3500. Truck would not start (click) but everything else worked. Auto start using remove sounded a single horn beep. They made it to 114,500km.

Oh my freaking lord that passenger battery was a nightmare to remove. Had to pull remove the front top shroud to remove the angle bar to remove the air box lid… then I almost had enough room. The stupid positive terminal is a large assembly and won’t move very far at all. Took two of us to get everything held out of the way without breaking too much plastic (ugh) and finally got it done.

Replace both with new AGMs. Damn that was expensive, $748 CDN for both.

partsource.ca

MPA94R Pro-Series XD Battery

Ultimate power and performance Ideal for extreme cold temperatures, vehicles with large electrical loads (infotainment, navigation, heated seats, power doors, etc.), vehicles used for frequent short trips or in stop-n-go traffic and, vehicles that sit unused for days or weeks at a time 2x the...
partsource.ca partsource.ca

The old ones appeared and sounded like old school flooded lead acid, surprised they were not AGM.
Click to expand...
Just replaced mine preemptively after three and a half years . Truck sits a fair amount and saw the voltage drop too fast. Didn’t want to take a chance on getting stranded. Almost 800 CDN for AGMs from Costco Canada. IMHO the OEM batteries are of poor quality .
 
I turned on the battery PID and alert on my CTS3 now and wow even with new batteries it dips well into the low 12v when starting and sets all the alarms off but once up and running/driving it’s up to 14.4v.

I did notice something odd though, first couple of starts it would site idling at ~13.5volts and suddenly drop to low 12.x and then switch right back to ~13.5. Almost like a relay was going off/on disconnecting the second battery (or the AC Compressor kicking on to clear winter windshield). I’ll keep an eye on it. I did turn on the EVIC battery gauge and it was right in the middle (seems to be a thing with this truck, if any gauge is in middle, it’s in spec).

Needless to say my jump starter Noco GB40 that I keep in my old Jeep could not boost it… lol. It didn’t even try. I’ll need a bigger one to jump this thing if it ever dies on the road.
 
CdnHO said:
Just replaced mine preemptively after three and a half years . Truck sits a fair amount and saw the voltage drop too fast. Didn’t want to take a chance on getting stranded. Almost 800 CDN for AGMs from Costco Canada. IMHO the OEM batteries are of poor quality .
Click to expand...

I looked up your trailer on a whim, not used to seeing people towing 2008 trailers. Wow that thing is a beast! 17k dry! Looks like solid wood throughout. I didn’t know Newmar made fifth wheels. Guess they made them better back then if you still have it.

 
Thorvald said:
I turned on the battery PID and alert on my CTS3 now and wow even with new batteries it dips well into the low 12v when starting and sets all the alarms off but once up and running/driving it’s up to 14.4v.

I did notice something odd though, first couple of starts it would site idling at ~13.5volts and suddenly drop to low 12.x and then switch right back to ~13.5. Almost like a relay was going off/on disconnecting the second battery (or the AC Compressor kicking on to clear winter windshield). I’ll keep an eye on it. I did turn on the EVIC battery gauge and it was right in the middle (seems to be a thing with this truck, if any gauge is in middle, it’s in spec).

Needless to say my jump starter Noco GB40 that I keep in my old Jeep could not boost it… lol. It didn’t even try. I’ll need a bigger one to jump this thing if it ever dies on the road.
Click to expand...

Grid heater cycling?


Sent from me
 
Glad it’s not just me.

Yesterday went to remote start the truck, cold temps so grid heater will cycle at start up. Didn’t hear the start so I tried again via remote start and heard the ‘click’.

Went out to the truck, figured maybe something was up with the fob so tried to manually start and got the same thing. At this point the grid heater had cycled several times. Dash showed 11.9 volts with ignition on.

Jumped the truck, voltmeter went up to 14.3 as expected and off I went. Got to my destination about 15 minutes away from home. Came back out 1.5 hours later to leave, dash showed 12.4 volts with ignition on. Started up without issue.

Part of me thinks the no start was due to the multiple grid heater cycles, but I’m also leaning towards crap batteries already.

Even though my truck is garaged I’ll likely run the block heater to keep the grid heater from cycling and draining the batteries on start up.
 
Costco has Interstate batteries. I just replaced mine in the 2022 for 249.00 for both. I asked my service advisor about AGM batteries and was told that Cummins doesn't recommend them. ?
 
Thorvald said:
I looked up your trailer on a whim, not used to seeing people towing 2008 trailers. Wow that thing is a beast! 17k dry! Looks like solid wood throughout. I didn’t know Newmar made fifth wheels. Guess they made them better back then if you still have it.

Click to expand...
I still have the trailer. Newmar made trailers up to 2013 and stopped as people were not buying them at the price of Class A motorhomes. Also their fifth wheels were really heavy. This one has two 10 thousand pound axles with dual wheels. The pin is over 5000 pounds loaded. Yes, all that wood is solid oak in mine. And the 7K generator and separate washer and dryer don't make it any lighter. Crazy. Some people tow these rigs with Class 8 tractors. This is my third Newmar fifth wheel and will hang onto it until I stop traveling. I did buy this one used in 2016 after owning a 2004 Mountain Aire that was new. It had only been used a couple of years and stored inside. No fifth wheel on the market today is built as well. We full time it; spending winters in South Texas and summers back in Canada.

IMG_3128.jpg
 
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