Starting problem
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Joined: Feb 2003
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Starting problem
My 2002 supercrew F-150 will have a dead battery within a week of not being driven, has anyone else experienced this problem? it only has 12000 miles on it and otherwise runs just fine.
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 772
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From: White Sands, NM
Starting problem
Well, I'd say there are two immediate possibilities. The most obvious is a bad battery (I'd dump the factory battery for a DieHard anyway), and the second is excessive current draw from some accessory that gets power while the ignition is off.
WITH THE IGNITION OFF, use an ammeter between the battery cable and battery to determine current draw. If it's an abnormal amount, you'll need to figure out what is drawing current by pulling fuses one by one and seeing which one shuts off the current draw.
If no abnormal current draw is found I'd suspect the battery. If driving your truck throughout the week keeps the battery from going dead, then your charging system is probably fine, therefore the battery is suspect. Short of putting a new one in, you might try trickle-charging it to see if you can bring it back to life.
That's how I'd go about troubleshooting the problem, hope it helps.
WITH THE IGNITION OFF, use an ammeter between the battery cable and battery to determine current draw. If it's an abnormal amount, you'll need to figure out what is drawing current by pulling fuses one by one and seeing which one shuts off the current draw.
If no abnormal current draw is found I'd suspect the battery. If driving your truck throughout the week keeps the battery from going dead, then your charging system is probably fine, therefore the battery is suspect. Short of putting a new one in, you might try trickle-charging it to see if you can bring it back to life.
That's how I'd go about troubleshooting the problem, hope it helps.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 12,679
Likes: 15
From: BC, Canada
Starting problem
The first thing I would suspect would be a bad battery too. I'd take the truck to the dealer and get it checked. If that's not it they can do more testing and see what they can find. The truck's GEM has a built in battery saver that should shut everything off if there is an excessive current draw for more than 30 mins I believe.
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