2012 T&C Battery drainage
Asked by Jim Apr 08, 2016 at 01:17 PM about the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a 2012 T&C with 3.6L engine. The battery will drain overnight. Replaced battery (twice) Checked with ammeter, will jump to 10 amps every couple of minutes then drop down to normal .25 or less. Removed all fuses 1 at a time to see if I could determine drain source, no effect. I'm thinking maybe a coil is turning on somehow. Is this possible?
2 Answers
Same problem here, found that the fuel pump is staying on and drawing 10 amps
That is correct. I just repaired my wife's 2012 Chrysler Town &Country and will now be offering this repair service as part of my electronic repair business. We've been battling this issue for quite sometime and isolated it to the fuel pump relay after hearing the pump running one night after the vehicle was shut off. We had been experiencing intermittent start conditions where the vehicle would only start if we timed the turn of the key just right. Often times the pump would not even fire at all. We also experienced a shut down going down the interstate the other day which was scary and unsafe. Essentially what is going on is that the relays are burning up and overheating causing them to be erratic as to whether or not they are in the open or closed position. As soon as we are able to source the relays we will be bringing this service online. Chrysler is implementing an external fuel pump relay process however once this is installed the factory intended design is null and void because this external pump relay circumvents the intended design of the TIPM. It is a bandaid approach if you will. I understand that dealers will replace the TIPMs for $1,000+ however we will be offering this service for a fraction of that price. Sorry if this seems spammy or salesmanship like but I was so relieved to not have to pay the exorbitant price the dealerships are charging to swap out the TIPM. When this all started a new battery was our first suspicion too and then we replaced the battery and it happened again. Hopefully this helps and if you need more info please let me know.