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We are privately owned, with access to a professional Diesel Mechanic, who can provide additional support for Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel vehicles. Many detailed information is FREE and available to read. However, in order to interact directly with our Diesel Mechanic, Michael, by phone, via zoom, or as the web-based option, Subscription Plans are offered that will enable these and other features. Go to the Subscription Page and Select a desired plan. At any time you wish to cancel the Subscription, click Subscription Page, select the 'Cancel' button, and it will be canceled. For your convenience, all subscriptions are on auto-renewal.
Being a new Dodge owner (past 3 months) I have never been more impressed with the rig. I have used a lot of machinery in my days, but this thing is quite impressive. However on Monday I noticed the check gauges warning light came on during heavy towing, immediately I shifted to the the following checks checks and corresponding results as I was driving:- Oil Pressure Gauge: Holding Pressure- Engine Temperature: Steady 200 degrees, Good- Edge Computer EGT: 900 degrees, Good- Edge Computer Coolant Temp (ECT): 850 degrees, Good- Battery Voltage Gauge (Dash): 12V while driving and engine running...............UH OH!The Battery volts normally exceeds 14 V when the engine is running, so all of a sudden I assumed there was a power loss, maybe alternator??? Either way, I finished the towing I needed to and took the truck home and parked it. It was 11 PM, deal with it in the morning, battery showed 12 V when parked.The next morning going out to my truck I had the assumption that my alternator had potentially gone out and that my truck would probably start. Going to the truck, I tried to start it and the batteries were smoked. How could this be? We are definitely looking at something more than an alternator now.........yikes. But, whatever I am looking at now somehow drained the battery overnight while it was not running; just sucking juice.I had enough battery life to run the Edge Tuner and pulled the codes out of the diagnostics application. The following codes were displayed on my Edge Tuner:P2609P2509P2503P2502Checking all the ground connections for cracks in wires, looking at battery terminals for corrosion, and the like where first checks I performed. Everything here came out clean, nothing crazy caught my attention and I scoured over everything pretty tight. Again, what's draining the battery??!?!??Doing more homework I came to the understanding that (at times) the grid heaters can become stuck on and suck so much amps and voltage that it zaps the battery, even when the truck is turned off. Now before going any further, Michael from M1973M totally acted as a great sounding board and helped me with the diagnostics. The truck is new to me, so diving into this was a little intimidating at first; but I owe all of the progress to Michael, thanks again for helping me through this.With the new established confidence I headed out and looked under the hood again. Stepping back to a more understanding mindset, I looked and saw two wire terminal connectors on the passenger side of the truck on the positive battery terminal. One wire went directly to the alternator, the other hit the a sort of solenoid/relay. This relay was for the grid heaters, the unit which controls power to the heaters and turns them on and off. If this burns out, then the heaters are stuck on and stay heated. Since the truck batteries were dead, I disconnected all the batter terminals, pulled the batteries, pulled the alternator (cause I was going to napa for a surge charge anyways), grabbed the fuseable link wire from relay to batter, and headed to the parts shop. Alternator tested fine, fuseable link tested fine (ohm meter, no resistance which is want you want), and charged the batts up.Returning home, I reassembled everything, with the exception of the fusable link to the solenoid for the gridheaters, and fired up the truck. You can start the truck without the grid heaters up until about 30 degrees without any harm per M1973m, so I was definitely comfortable doing so. Looking at the battery gauge, it jumped right back up to where it should be, upwards of 15 Volts where I normally see it.....good to go, for now.Where am I at with all this, the truck runs, the battery's are being charged, and things look good. Went to the truck this morning, turned the auxillary on, battery gauge is good, truck started. I have the solenoid being delivered to the stealer (dealer) today and should have it installed without issue. One thing I should mention is no where in this process has the check engine light come on. HOWEVER, once I ran the truck without the fusable link, the light has come on but no new codes have come up on the diagnostic test.The check engine light is probably on because the solenoid is not connected. I have a good feeling once I reconnect the entire system, it should go away. I will let you all know.Hope this helps, happy Dodging.Dave