No start-“unknown driver”

[Michigan]

So finally had time to get to the truck. I had fully charged the battery while I had it out the truck.

I replaced the battery cable bolts with the new ones. Hooked up the battery and everything started normal. Alarm went off but I was able to disable with the key fob.

Showed driver 2 in the dic and no more mysterious “unknown driver”

Also I cleaned up the cables.

Not sure what is causing my battery to drain like this and make my voltage drop. Maybe the alarm system or just corrosion connection issue


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[SnowDrifter]

Some of the modules flip shit at low voltage. Had an issue with mine a couple years back where the radio was stuck on and the thing thought it was in reverse

d/c battery, stomp on brakes, reconnect, good to go.

 

[OR VietVet]

It may be more of a failure to charge fully because of the corrosion and crud at the battery cable ends. I would get some new cables and install and make sure the other ends are attached securely with all crud/corrosion cleaned off. By the way, the battery cable bolt is designed with the shoulder so that they stay in the end, instead of falling out, when you disconnect them. I lived in cold weather before and just applied a small amount of grease on the shoulder of bolt or edge of rubber cable end and used a ratchet wrench, 5/16", and while spinning it in I pushed at the same time and it always popped right in, even in below zero weather. Since you did not say I can only assume that the cables are OE and really should have been replaced before. Maintenance work like that in the cold sucks hind *** but so does frustrations in the cold. My dad always said, "Maintenance pays and breakdowns cost".

When all is said and done, check alternator output under load conditions.

 

[Big Mama]

As Ron stated let it cycle through for a few days before diving too deep. Once you have good connections you may find all is well but I’d test the alternator for sure.

 

[Doubeleive]

So finally had time to get to the truck. I had fully charged the battery while I had it out the truck.

I replaced the battery cable bolts with the new ones. Hooked up the battery and everything started normal. Alarm went off but I was able to disable with the key fob.

Showed driver 2 in the dic and no more mysterious “unknown driver”

Also I cleaned up the cables.

Not sure what is causing my battery to drain like this and make my voltage drop. Maybe the alarm system or just corrosion connection issue


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all that corrosion is 50% of the problem or more, I would invest in new cables, especially now that we are heading into winter, after you put the new cables on then check your voltage at the battery with the engine running you should have 13v+ if that checks out then you should be good to go. It's going to suck if you go somewhere and get stranded when it's freezing cold and raining and windy in the middle of the night, just saying......been there it sucks. at the very least get a $2 wire brush and scrub the hell out of it then get those little green and red terminal protector pads that help prevent corrosion.

 

[Michigan]

all that corrosion is 50% of the problem or more, I would invest in new cables, especially now that we are heading into winter, after you put the new cables on then check your voltage at the battery with the engine running you should have 13v+ if that checks out then you should be good to go. It's going to suck if you go somewhere and get stranded when it's freezing cold and raining and windy in the middle of the night, just saying......been there it sucks. at the very least get a $2 wire brush and scrub the hell out of it then get those little green and red terminal protector pads that help prevent corrosion.

Great tips. Thanks. I’m going to check the voltage with engine running soon. The change reads about 14 volts or so on the cluster if that’s reliable. I’m going to look into the protectors your talking about. I have a yellow top optima by the way. Advance auto said it checked out fine


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[Michigan]

So I just went out to the truck after about 20 hours of it not being started or driven. It last had read 12.6 20 hours ago. Just now before I started it, it read 12.1 volts. I started the truck and it read 14.8 volts so I guess that means alternator is pumping out the juice. Problem is I have been letting this truck sit lately because I’ve been driving another vehicle. Something is taking some juice from it.

Is it common for an aftermarket alarm/remote start system to do this? It’s a viper alarm remote start system. Or it can be issues mentioned above with corrosion or connection but I’m suspecting the viper system for some reason. I think the led blue light in the control unit flashes all night long. The control unit for the viper system which they placed on the rear view mirror but would that be enough juice to cause the battery to drain?


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[Big Mama]

ive Only had one aftermarket alarm and it drained my battery too. It was a Viper if that helps. Question for you is do you need it? My old truck didn’t have an alarm so I put up with it. You may not need to.

 

[Michigan]

I don’t need the alarm as I live in a nice neighborhood. I work in Detroit but I park right in front of my work and I have access to cameras.

I didn’t want the alarm. They sold me on the alarm/remote start system. If I can do it over I would have just bought the remote start. Guess I will look into having the alarm disconnected


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[Doubeleive]

sounds to me more like a combination of the corrosion and battery getting weak, I have had viper alarms in pretty much all of my vehicles and normally they can sit at least 3 weeks before needing to be started and ran a bit, this is also in California and the heat will eat a good battery up in less than 4 years. I live in a very good neighborhood but I still wouldn't dare leave my alarm off I've had to many break in's in the past, with the alarm blinking they just pass it up, they don't look for camera's they look for alarms, i see facebook post's all the time of "my camera caught this" well they didn't catch the thief though.... just a nice video of what happened after the fact.