I have a 2000 excursion 4x4 v-10. A couple weeks ago I had to replace my battery. No issues until tonight. I went to start the truck and when I turned the ignition everything went dead. There was a clicking under the drivers side dash even when I remove the key. Eventually the dome lights come back on and the warning lights light up when the key is turned to the on position but if I try to start it everything dies again. I had to disconnect the battery to stop the clicking under the dash. Totally at a loss where to check first

 

Check your body/chassis ground.

Also, you're sure your alternator is functioning correctly?

Stewart

 

Check all the battery connections too, did your battery light ever come on? I'm with Stewart, sounds like you're not getting a good charge from the alternator.

 

I'd pop off the alternator (15 mins), run it over to the auto parts place (in the wife's car) for their bench test.

 

A bad alternator would not be the cause of a no start condition.

 

But it can cause the slow death of a new battery, and a weak/dead battery would cause the no-start.

That reminds me though, to the OP, check your battery cells to make sure there is sufficient water in each cell.

Stewart

 

Well yeah...ya know I reread the original post. Didn't realize that he replaced the battery 2 weeks ago. Sorry wpnaes!

 

Will it start with a jump from another vehicle ? If so, it is probably not charging properly. These Fords can act real strange when the battery is low. You may also have gotten a bad battery, I just had this happen on my Lincoln MK 8. Had me going around in circles for a few days, I just assumed the battery was OK, 2 months old. Returned it for a replacement and everything was back to normal.

 

Hi all,

Been a registered member for a while, but also a Master Tech for about 15 years. Ive seen many instances of an alternator that will still charge cause a parasitic drain on the battery. easy test: charge the batteries and ensure vehicle will start as expected. Once verified, shut off engine, and disconnect the large cable that charges the battery, as well as the smaller electrical plug. allow vehciel to sit for a length of time (generally 24 hours). If the vehicle battery is still well charged and ready to go, replace the alternator, even if it DOES charge. The failure is in the circuits that shut the alternator down after the in=gnition is turned off, essentially leaving the field windings powered up, draining the battery (batteries). Hope this helps!

 

Sorry for the mis-spells and other errors, I type faster than I read!

 

I am with Jepavek. Just had my wife call me this morning about the truck being dead. It would barely crank over. It did this a month ago. I already knew the GPCM was bad (CEL), so I had replaced that last month and charged the batteries on a trickle charge. Been great for the last 3 1/2 weeks...until today. I had chalked the dead batteries/parasitic drain up to a shorted out GPCM. Turns out, I had a bad GPCM and a bad alternator. The alternator was only producing 10.8-11.5 (depending on RPMs) volts after I jumped the X off today. Enough to "slowly kill the batteries" as Stewart stated. Good news is it is an incredibly easy part to find and replace. Took 10 minutes to get it off and 15 to put it back on. Local alternator shop sold it to me for $150 (new).

 

That's why they invented proof reading and editing.