Well that's not what I wanted...

[Boatsnjeep]

Didn't think this would be the next picture I posted on here...

I work overseas usually for three to four months at a time. Just got home yesterday and when my girlfriend picked me up at the airport she let me know my truck was completely dead. I usually have her drive it every few weeks to keep the battery charged. Worked last year but didn't work this go around. Checked the main battery and it was at four volts. Yes, I know I could have pulled the batteries to try charging them but since the truck is under warranty still I figured I'd just let the dealership handle it. My dealership is pretty good and I haven't had any problems with them yet.

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[Mr._Bill]

These have a bit of a parasitic draw. You can get by with that for a while, with fresh batteries, but they need a long drive at least once a week. If they are not driven regularly, they need a battery maintainer connected.

 

[Boatsnjeep]

These have a bit of a parasitic draw. You can get by with that for a while, with fresh batteries, but they need a long drive at least once a week. If they are not driven regularly, they need a battery maintainer connected.

Yeah I'll set one up next time I go to work. I've got battery tenders on both my bikes, just figured the truck was getting driven often enough to not need one.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I usually have her drive it every few weeks to keep the battery charged.

Looks like sadly, you found the solution the hard way.

I even keep battery tenders on my classic cars and there's no parasitic draw - especially if I disconnect the modern radios in them.

Good luck - hopefully they'll throw a proper charge in each, test them, and handle it all under warranty.
Nice to see the truck was properly trucked and not towed.

As far as driving to keep things charged - Even every few days is iffy unless it's driven for an hour each time.
it takes a lot more than people realize.

 

[Boatsnjeep]

Looks like sadly, you found the solution the hard way.

I even keep battery tenders on my classic cars and there's no parasitic draw - especially if I disconnect the modern radios in them.

Good luck - hopefully they'll throw a proper charge in each, test them, and handle it all under warranty.
Nice to see the truck was properly trucked and not towed.

As far as driving to keep things charged - Even every few days is iffy unless it's driven for an hour each time.
it takes a lot more than people realize.

AAA tried jumping it and it started but it definitely was not happy about the low voltage. I shut the truck off when I saw 14.7+ on the dash for battery voltage and just told them to tow it to the dealership. The voltage was all over the place with the alternator overcompensating for the low voltage then swinging the other way. Didn't want to damage anything. I'm also lazy after constantly fixing things the last several months. Hence having the dealership deal with it, especially when it comes to the aux battery

 

[ShadowsPapa]

AAA tried jumping it and it started but it definitely was not happy about the low voltage. I shut the truck off when I saw 14.7+ on the dash for battery voltage and just told them to tow it to the dealership. The voltage was all over the place with the alternator overcompensating for the low voltage then swinging the other way. Didn't want to damage anything. I'm also lazy after constantly fixing things the last several months. Hence having the dealership deal with it, especially when it comes to the aux battery

14.7 would be very normal for a very low battery. Mine runs that after sitting for a few days.
In the winter it will see as high as 15.0
Normal voltages range from 12.6 to 15.0 depending on the battery state of charge, ambient temperatures, load on the engine, battery temperature and other factors.
In fact, my higher-end battery charger on one of these AGM batteries will be in that range for a while during one of the charging phases.
Anyway, if you saw 14.7 to 14.8 it's not anything to worry about. It just means the system was operating normally and seeing a low battery condition. These don't regulate at set voltages any more.

 

[Koolcarguy]

Didn't think this would be the next picture I posted on here...

I work overseas usually for three to four months at a time. Just got home yesterday and when my girlfriend picked me up at the airport she let me know my truck was completely dead. I usually have her drive it every few weeks to keep the battery charged. Worked last year but didn't work this go around. Checked the main battery and it was at four volts. Yes, I know I could have pulled the batteries to try charging them but since the truck is under warranty still I figured I'd just let the dealership handle it. My dealership is pretty good and I haven't had any problems with them yet.

Thats to bad I only drive my 21 Gecko JTRD about once a month have not had this issue so far always charged up and ready to go bought new in 21 only has 2100 miles. I did have my JTSD go dead once the very first winter when we hit 38 below had to jump it after that always been good its my daily most days

 

[Boatsnjeep]

Thats to bad I only drive my 21 Gecko JTRD about once a month have not had this issue so far always charged up and ready to go bought new in 21 only has 2100 miles. I did have my JTSD go dead once the very first winter when we hit 38 below had to jump it after that always been good its my daily most days

My previous work trip I didn't have any problems, but during my last vacation I added a bunch of electronics. They probably added a bit a parasitic draw with out me noticing.

14.7 would be very normal for a very low battery. Mine runs that after sitting for a few days.
In the winter it will see as high as 15.0
Normal voltages range from 12.6 to 15.0 depending on the battery state of charge, ambient temperatures, load on the engine, battery temperature and other factors.
In fact, my higher-end battery charger on one of these AGM batteries will be in that range for a while during one of the charging phases.
Anyway, if you saw 14.7 to 14.8 it's not anything to worry about. It just means the system was operating normally and seeing a low battery condition. These don't regulate at set voltages any more.

If it was holding 14.7 I wouldn't have had an issue but it was dropping down to almost 10 volts and the truck would almost die then jumping up to above 14.7. I have enough experience with electronics to have seen what's happened when they "brown out" multiple times so to speak.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If it was holding 14.7 I wouldn't have had an issue but it was dropping down to almost 10 volts and the truck would almost die then jumping up to above 14.7. I have enough experience with electronics to have seen what's happened when they "brown out" multiple times so to speak.

That's definitely problematic. Bad for things and also shows there's something else going on beyond low batteries.

The voltage was all over the place with the alternator overcompensating for the low voltage then swinging the other way. Didn't want to damage anything.

It wasn't overcompensating. The real issue was the voltage dropping, indicating that there's perhaps a battery loading the alternator to the point of shutting down, or some other issue.
If it had hit 14.8 and stayed there, for example, it would have been ok to run it, but not dropping down below 12 volts. Still, alternators are not meant to be battery chargers so starting with a battery with basically 0% charge and trying to drive through it - not good at all.

Thats to bad I only drive my 21 Gecko JTRD about once a month have not had this issue so far always charged up and ready to go bought new in 21 only has 2100 miles.

Extremely hard on batteries, cycling them that way. Cuts life way down, cuts capacity very fast. Alternators are horrible battery chargers, especially for modern batteries. They are 'top-offers", not meant to resurrect batteries on the brink and sitting for a month - they'd definitely be on the brink due to parasitic draw and self-discharge.

 

[SargeDiesel]

These have a bit of a parasitic draw. You can get by with that for a while, with fresh batteries, but they need a long drive at least once a week. If they are not driven regularly, they need a battery maintainer connected.

Some of the draw is by design (isn't it ?) from my understanding for example , the system wakes up every hour and when doing so , it reaches out to your key fob (if you have one). Also, I believe it looks for system updates as well. Probably even more functions are also active.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Some of the draw is by design (isn't it ?) from my understanding for example , the system wakes up every hour and when doing so , it reaches out to your key fob (if you have one). Also, I believe it looks for system updates as well. Probably even more functions are also active.

It's not really by design, but is a result of the design. The computers are always on, they just turn off the user interface when the truck is off. The radio receiver is always on and watching for the FOB to be in range. The alarm system is active with the doors locked. The head unit, for those equipped, is always listening to the cellular connection for remote start commands and OTA updates, and periodically sends health updates to the servers.

Every time the technology gets upgraded, the parasitic draw goes a little higher.

 

[Boatsnjeep]

Figured I might as well post what ended up happening. Dealership took a look at it and both batteries were deader than the dinosaurs. It took several hours of charging to get enough juice in them just so they could fully verify that they were dead.They replaced the batteries and everything is working fine now. All covered under warranty

 

[Boatsnjeep]

Fun little side effect of my batteries dying and getting replaced, the GPS started reading the wrong location, middle of the ocean wrong. Has the dealership look at it two weeks after changing the batteries while doing my oil change, verdict was they needed to completely change the radio. I don't use the GPS a ton but I like having it in case I lose cell service. Well they just swapped it out today so I'm happy to say this mini saga is finally done.

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