I isolated one battery and hokked a test light between the pos cable and the pos post and removed every fuse inside the cab and every relay and fuse from the PDC and my fuse blocks.

It has got to be something so simple because the lamp never went out.

 

One of the odd things I found in mine through all my problems was that I could disconnect the Negative terminal from the primary battery. As I always understood things, that would shut down all juice because the negative from the secondary only went to the primary. But in my case when I unhooked the primary battery negative cable I still had juice.

Maybe I just misunderstood through the times and this is normal, don't know.

 

Ive got similar issues with my truck.


Dev, did you check the wiring on your CD player? (its aftermarket isnt it?)

 

Shane,

No i didn't. The harness is a sony harness for dodge and it has been in there trouble free since 2002. What would I look for and how would you fix it?

 

If its been there that long its probably not the problem...was just thinking it may not been have been wired correctly

 

Theres a Ton of Grounds Over the entire Vehicle

 

Well, I may have found something. while i was tracing grounds i found something odd - the engine to battery ground was loose on the drivers side near the air intake horn (manifold). Both sides and all around the grid heater to boot. I traced that back to the bit that rests under the drivers side battery and it too was a little loose. Not sure why but they are tight now.

Still waiting for the second battery to charge the first one is holding a noload voltage of 12.6V and the other is still around 12V.

This is really starting to get to me though.

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Well it started but there still is a draw there somewhere.

 

If its like my 01 there are three ground wires on the passenger side,two next to the battery tray,and the big one.
The drivers side has 4 I think,one that goes to the frame in front of the tire,one that goes to the core support on the corner,and another big one,and one to the fuse box.

DM is right,I've fixed lots of rigs by fixing the grounds also.

 

Just my $.02

When I bought my truck it was used.
The dealership had it for three days after I purchased it, chasing a "battery problem". They solved it, by putting in a new battery. Two days after I picked up the truck, while towing my 5th wheel the whole truck started dying. Speedo went haywire, tack died and came back, everything went bonkers and finally shut down completely at a traffic light.

All due to a fuse that handles the connection between the two batteries. It's a maroon 140A fuse in the drivers side fuse box, over the wheel well (in my 99). Sorry I don't have the technical names and circuits and such. Hope it helps...

 

Might help, both may lead to dead batteries if left sit for a while. Idk, if its even close but heck its worth a shot id say.

Excessive current draw with key off (high IOD) - Seat Belt Control Module keeps seat belt solenoids engaged which draws almost .5A continuously. If the solenoids remain activated for more than 20 minutes, replace the module with a revised part..

Battery is dead due to glove box light staying on - TSB 08-35-97 Install spacers on glove box lamp switch.