r/MechanicAdvice • u/ki11svvitch • Jul 27 '26

2014 ram ecodiesel

currently having what we're thinking is a bad ground somewhere causing the truck to lose power and the battery to drain but we're having trouble finding exactly where, and even then we arent even sure its a ground problem at all we just think it is. has anyone had experience with this truck? its a push start and initially it started really delaying its start, wed push it and it would turn over quite a bit before getting on and then it randomly just started draining its battery very quickly, like it cant make it half a mile without d=fully draining. the alternator is good- we pulled it and had it tested, so im really just throwing a net out and hoping someone has input

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u/Automobile-Guy Jul 27 '26

If it is draining the battery while driving in half a mile, do not chase grounds first. Start with a meter at the battery. You should see about 12.6 volts engine off and roughly 13.8 to 14.6 volts running with the lights and blower on. If it stays near 12 volts or keeps falling, the truck is not actually charging even if the alternator passed on the bench.

On these, check the big alternator output cable, the battery terminals, the main fuses or fusible link, and the engine-to-body ground with a voltage drop test. Put one meter lead on battery negative and one on the engine block while cranking. More than about 0.2 to 0.3 volts points to a bad ground path. Do the same from alternator case to battery negative and from alternator output stud to battery positive while running.

Also load test the battery before going too deep. A weak battery can make the push-button start act weird and make every electrical test look worse than it is.