I've got a 97 250 that I use for a farm truck mostly. It has two nearly new batteries but has recently required a boost to start if it sets more than 2 days. Last weekend after an hour on 40 amp charge it started and I drove a quarter mile down the road and it quit. It was electrically dead and no dash lights and no response from the starter, the electric windows did work but slowly. When I turned the key off it would make a strange winding down noise (unknown source). We towed it home and left it parked for a while. When I came back out to it it wouldn't turn over but would make a ticking sound similar to the noise the turn signal would make when I opened the door. I put the 200 amp boost to it and it started and ran. I shut it down and came back an hour later and got nothing, again no wait to start or any other dash light. When I hooked up the charger before plugging the charger in to the ac source the voltage showed 20 volts. After about 5 minutes the voltage went back to the 12 volt range. I just left it and haven't touched it since. My brother in law has a 2001 250 power stroke and he said he had very similar issues. It took a trip to the dealer and $1800 for a something they described to him as a computer that controls the 12 volt system. His works fine now. Mine is four years older and may have a different computer system but can anyone give me a clue as to whats happening. One problem is even if I get it started I can't trust it to drive to the dealer if that's whats required. Thanks for any insight.

 

There is no computer that controls the charging system. There's a regulator built into the alternator.

Slow charge the batteries, then LOAD test them, in isolation. If you can get the truck to start again, let it run until the glow plugs have shut off (1-2 minutes), then check the charging voltage at each battery.

You might also want to test for a parasitic load when the engine is off, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

Edit: Madpogue has got you. Below is the process for testing parasitic load if you get that far.

Yeah, the Super Duty trucks (99 and up) have a different wiring system altogether.

Unless you have no mechanical ability whatsoever, I don't recommend taking it to the dealership. Seeing as how you're in the agriculture business, I am betting that you're not afraid to turn some wrenches and get your hands dirty. If that's the case here's where I would suggest you start.

Disconnect both batteries completely from the truck and charge them individually overnight. Then check them both for voltage. I'm not sure why you were getting a reading of 20 volts, unless the meter wasn't on DC or something. You should see 13-14 volts from each battery. If that is good, then you need to have the batteries load tested. One bad battery could be draining the other one down, or if it is shorted internally it could actually be killing the truck while it is running. Don't assume that just because they're new they're good.

Assuming you get a good reading from the batteries, connect the grounds on both batteries. Then with the key off, measure between one of the batteries and the positive cable with your multimeter set to the amps setting (one lead on the battery one on the cable). If you see more than about a half an amp of draw you have a wiring issue in the truck somewhere. If this is the case, pop the cover open on the under hood wiring distribution block and remove all the big fuses. Test the amperage again. You should get a reading of zero. Then, one by one, replace the fuses checking the readings each time you replace one. The one fuse that you replace that causes the voltage to spike is the circuit that has your problem in it. You'll likely see a little draw on the fuse that powers the internal fuse block since the radio and things take a little power, but if you see more than a half an amp draw (500mA) total with everything hooked up, you have a wiring fault somewhere in the system.

That's a place to start at least...

 

Thanks for the input. I'll start on that tonight. I have a full time job to support my farming habit so this may take a couple days. Sure glad there isn't some demon computer I have to replace. Madpogue, you got any ties to the U of W. I graduated there in '71. I know that sounds like a long time ago but it was really only yesterday.
Again, thanks.

Nick

 

Nate has you pointed in the right direction. 71 was a good year, I graduated high school that year. Yep it seems like it was yesterday.

 

Nope. Wife & I moved here ("Escape from Detroit") in '91, both kinda expecting to go to grad school. But we both already felt "old" on campus, so we became instant "townies".

So you were here for Sterling Hall & all, eh?

My full time job supports a sort of farming habit, but no "crop". It's a prairie restoration.

 

"Sterling Hall", I'm trying to remember. Is that the physics building they blew up with a fertilizer bomb. I know I had classes in Sterling Hall and that's the only significant event I can remember that got national (including Detroit) attention. That happened in the summer before my last semester I think. I remeber things like the Kollege Klub much clearer.

 

Yup, place that was bombed. Friend of mine actually used to date one of the perps.

Kollege Klub was still running when we moved here; I think it's closed now.

Eek, sorry for the hijack....

 

subscribed...

 

Batteries both checked out good. i did the ammeter check and of course got unusual results. it showed an instant draw of 200 ma but after 3 or 4 seconds it pegged out the 250 ma scale. That's all my cheap little multi meter had. I did this many times while putting fuses in. the culprit was number 1 audio control or something like that. I apparently burned the ammeter out by leaving it hooked up for approx 10 seconds but I don't know how big the draw was. I left the #1 fuse out. Right now the truck starts and runs. He's probably trying to sucker me on to the highway so it can strand me again. The only real difference between now and when I was having the problems is that fuse being left out and the battery terminals are cleaner than they were, but they weren't bad. Any suggestions other than drive it and hope?

 

Factory or aftermarket radio?

 

There may be a fuse in your multi-meter that is blown. A lot of them have an internal fuse to protect against damage from too much amperage when testing like this.

And this is fuse 1 under the hood or fuse 1 in the cab?

 

It's an aftermarket radio with a removable front. The fuse is #1 under the hood. I still don't have turn signals and have a burned out left brake light but I'm going to replace the flasher and bulb and hope that's all that is.

 

Try removing the radio all together and see if you still get a draw on fuse 1. You can test it with a test light if you have one. Put the probe in one side and the wire in the other side and if the lamp lights up, you still have a draw. At that point, if the radio us unhooked, you have a wiring issue, but I think it's probably your radio.

 

I've just left the under the hood fuse out. The truck cranked much better than usual after a two day sit so I guess that was my drain issue. Don't use the radio anyway and this way the grandkids can't either. Not all bad. During this problem my turn signals quit working and the left brake light quit working. The brake light resumed working as soon as I bought a replacement bulb (without changing it). The turn signals still don't work but the flashers do. Is that the round thing in the corner of the cab fuse box. It's a little silver two pronged thing. The parts store says I should have a black 4 prong one that goes in the hood fuse box. He said the silver inside one hasn't been used since 92. It's there and the owners manual says it should be there. The way things come and go I feel like there has to be something loose somewhere. I haven't found any blown fuses so I don't think its shorting anywhere. Due to the hard starting issue I suspect that my glow plugs are faulty but it doesn't seem like that should cause other issues. By the way, how hazardous is using starter fluid. I've been told not to use it but sometimes a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do.

Thanks for all the help

Nick