# 2004 dodge ram 1500 battery drain



## dss56 (Feb 25, 2006)

I have the dreaded battery drain every 2-3 days.
2004 ram 1500 with 4.7 motor.
The drain will kill the battery in 2-3 days. I traced to the fuse 51, if removed will not drain the battery. Everything in truck works as it should, no codes.
My fix for now is a relay on the fuse 51 slot so when truck is shut off the fuse is out of circuit and when truck started fuse back in circuit.

Problem is in this configuration it resets my radio time and station every time I shut off the truck.
Also it will not work the electric door locks, truck has to be started or fuse 51 in circuit to work the elec. d-locks. There are many other forums out there with many people with this fuse 51 problem and just can't seem to find a fix for it.

I changed out the fuse box nothing
I changed out the front control module connected to the fuse box nothing.
I removed the dash cluster and it stopped the battery drain.
Everything on cluster works and also did the test for cluster holding in the odometer and turn on key only all is good. 

Anyone here have this problem?

thanks dss56


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## CARDOCTOR (Nov 29, 2002)

unplug the radio


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

CARDOCTOR said:


> unplug the radio


I have a drain in my 92. Same radio drain for the clock, I guess. Fresh main battery fixed it for me. 1000 cca Napa did the trick.

How old is your battery? Ever get it tested?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Have you connected a meter to the battery to see how many amps is drawn when the truck is shut off. And I think I remember about a dash cluster drain issue on those trucks.


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## dss56 (Feb 25, 2006)

Brand new battery replaced 2 times thinking it was the battery until I found fuse 51 drawing current. I dont know how much amps its drawing but enough to kill the battery in 2 days. So I have a relay set up to take out the fuse 51 when truck is shut off. Only big deal is electric lock don't work if truck not running and I loose the radio time when I shut the truck off. I know its in the cluster but everything works on the cluster and radio.
I disconnected the radio and nothing still drawing power.

If you go to all the dodge/ram and Chrysler forums many people have this problem and I have never seen and good fixes. So now I can let my truck sit 2 week and will still start no problem.


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