Ok well I have a 2001 dodge ram auto. The girlfirend and I took it to a friends house and when we came out 8hrs later the truck was dead. The FASS didn't even prime and the starter just clicked. The interior lights would come on when I open the door when when I turned the key to the run position they would dim and almost go off. Then they would slowly come back on until i tried to start it then they would go off. We had someone pull up with a Rav 4 and and we tried to jump it (just one battery). The lights were brighter, the fass would prime, and i would get a crank or so out of the dodge and then the starter would click again. The truck currently has two optima red tops in it which were purchased on 2-4-05. The truck has always seemed to crank a bit slow, but that could me being to ****. The temps were in the high 20's and low 30's for awhile but today it was in the mid 40's.
So the main question is, do you think it is possible to for the batteries to give up to ghost that quick, or should I be tracking down a short or even the started contacts? I am going to take the batteries out and get them load tested tomorrow and see what the results are. I still have the receipt from pep boys but i didnt buy them so we will see what happens. They do have a three year replacement. I am just looking for advice to see what yall think. I didn't check voltage as the truck is in the middle of no where and I didn't have a volt meter. I appreciate all the help and apologize for the long post.

Thank you very much...happy holidays

Paul

 

well from the symptoms you're having i would say time for batteries or find someone with a powerful truck and boost off of that. rav 4 probably does not have enough power.

either the batteries were slowly dying or you have a drain somewere. maybe you left an interior light on.

 

Yeah i was wondering if the Rav would have enough moxy to do it...I appreciate the information.


Also, apologies for the title to this post. It has been a long day...

 

yes i agree with the above.

one other thing, may sound dumb but was it in park? i had a buddy have the same thing done was stranded at a bar and was a no go. light's dime starter clicked. hauled an hour to get to him got a new battery still nothing. as i was confused sitting in the seat i looked at the shifter for some reason, it was in drive. slamed it into park fired right up.

 

Yup.

Have Santa bring you a couple of new batteries and all will be good again.

Rav can barley get out of its own way. What made you think it might start a Cummins?

 

gunny - I was hoping for a miracle LOL. I appreciate all of the help

 

Replace the brushes in your alternator, and the contacts in your starter.

http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm

Here is what the starter contacts look like after 5 years.


Blame it on the girl friend and make her pay for it.

 

I would start by cleaning the battery terminals. And, later, replace the starter solenoid contacts as Geico266 suggested.
Optimas can go bad too, I dare say. Maybe it is time for new batteries.
-P

 

A tow truck will give you the proper boost you need, but most likely it will die in 15 mins or so after boosting it and have it running. You Altenator is most likely the culprit here, this is what you need to change, there is a test to see if it is still charging that you use a quarter and try to stick it to the housing of the Alt and if there is a magnetic pull that clings the quarter to it then it works and is charging, if it does not have any magnetic pull then you alt is dead and time to gtet another, I used to tow for many years and that was the most problem out there is dead Alt's!!!

 

when you get the truck running if you leave the old batteries in there whats you're alternator charging at? if the alternator is overcharging that can also be a sign of sulfated batteries. meaning they are no good. you could always try removing the old batteries and attach em to a trickle charger. might save them.

oh and of course check to see if you're battery contacts are tight. ran into an almost similar situation. turns out one of the battery posts were loose lol.

 

also remember, to turn off all your interior lights when getting a jump

turn off the jumping cars HVAC, radio, lights (shut door)

and you usually need to rev the jumping vehicle to ~1500 RPM to kick the alternator into charging RPMS.

you prolly know that, but i saw a guy jumping a chick off, yesterday at work.
prolly an engineer

he has his heat & radio on,
they were laughing & joking,
she had her door open (interior lights)

they were still there 30 minutes later.

 

i want to see the quarter that will stick to a magnet

 

Yea, me too. The way I always heard that wives tale: stick a screwdriver to the end of the armature to see if it's magnetic. Fact is it will be magnetic at the end of the armature whether the alternator's charging or not.

Biggest problem I've had with jumping a diesel truck is getting jumper cables heavy enough to carry that many amps. Best I've seen was a set made up from 00 Weldflex with custom clamps.

 

There's more than one way to "get her engine running". So to speak.

 

Just get the batteries load tested first and if they're OK, then move on to the alternator and so on. IF the batteries are junk, then you should have the alternator tested too just to make sure that's not the cause of the dead batteries.