Truck has been slow to start last couple of days, just drove it home and now it won't crank. Battery meter shows low voltage but after checking battery connections I found a loose ground. Tightened it and the volt meter showed normal starting voltage. Cranked it for a split second, truck goes completely dead and I get a buzz under the dash that I haven't heard before.

Batteries 1.5 years old but have had a lot of crank time on them in two slow starting winters. Starter is 6 months oem and relay is under a year old. Thoughts?

Was hoping to make a 3 hour drive to interview as a aviation mechanics assistant by noon tomorrow.

 

It is easy to be fooled by having volts but no cranking amps. See if you can have them load tested by a parts house or battery shop. Even a local mechanic may have a load tester. I've been told that when trying to crank your truck and the colt gauge drops below 11-12 volts bad batteries and if it stays above 12 volts when cranking bad starter. I think that's the right concept but I may have the volt's wrong.

 

I held the key down and after two seconds it began turning over but then I realized that she wasn't going to fire without more than 10.5 volts. Im guessing truck has been on one battery for the couple days I noticed the slow starting. She drive about 3 miles each way which gives the batteries no charge time. Guessing one of them gave up just now.

Update: truck was jumped, gonna drive to walmart and buy two batteries to tie me over until I can warrantee my two interstates from October 09.

 

Alex,

You have found out a secret: Grounds are just as important as the "hot" connections.

Next time you're near a Home Depot drop in to the electrical department and get some NoAlOx or Penetrox. It's like a grey, goopy silicone grease. It's primarily used to prevent oxidation of aluminum conductors, but it's just as effective to cover connections (both hot and ground) after you have buffed them clean with a wire brush.

Clean connection, goop up real good, re-assemble tightly. It keeps water and mud from getting between the connection, causing it to get corroded, loose, or intermittent.

However, DON'T use it inside an electrical connector on individual pins, as the chance of shorting adjacent conductors is pretty high. It's kinda' conductive. That's where you would use dielectric grease, as it's not conductive.

Pop

 

Made it an hour to walmart and bought two replacements. Truck is starting fine and will get another 2 hours of charging on my drive today and again tomorrow. Gonna run the truck till it wont start and then use the new batteries when needed. If I make it through the weekend, then I will take my interstates in for testing and maybe try to replace both under pro rated warantee. I will make this job interview.

 

be careful running it with bad batteries, i did that and just took my jump pack, but driving down the freeway hours from home the car just died while doing 100 clicks.
had to roll into a truck stop and then had my dad who was behind me hunt down 2 new batteries from the closest servos, that were to high and didnt fit properly but got me home. so the moral of the story is it cost me 5oo bucks twice to replace the batteries. and now i have the engine warning light on all the time with a code that has got me stuffed.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I have two brand new walmart batteries in the back seat if I need them. Should get me through the weekend.

 

cool man
just remember that all power is lost when the engine stops, hopefully your not going down a hill or round a bend. not trying to scare you by any means.
but just dont want to hear about a cool truck written off
cheers mate
josh

 

'

you need them now...

and listed above is why.

With all the other situations you'd been through up there, I'd have hoped by now that you'd start planning ahead a little more. Is it really worth the risk?

Think of it this way: Do you think your potential future employer would be impressed to find out that you put marginal parts in your own vehicle when good parts were readily available? They'll wonder... "Will he be repairing airplanes like that?" And that answer will be no...

Wisdom comes in several ways. One is living through mistakes, the other is figuring out how not to make them in the first place.

 

Come on Alex,I have followed the saga of you and mugly,that truck has really carried you through,I wouldn't start scrimping on important stuff now...just my.02 worth..

 

If you are in a place where you are able to plug in a block heater, you might want to consider getting a Battery Tender or Battery Minder, or the like, to keep your electrical storage topped off at all times. That's good advice for the summertime as well as winter.

Pop

 

You probably have a good enough battery, but the connections are no good.

 

Made it back home tonight safely. I had not at the time thought of the risks of the truck dying while driving, I was thinking solely of the "problem" which was a slow start. Everyone here has raised multiple good points and I will swap them tomorrow. I was just in a rush and not thinking about the bigger picture. Determination to overcome something will do that. I will bring my two interstates into Anchorage and have them load tested.

If they find a bad one and offer to warranty it for a reasonable price should I do it? The only reason I hesitate is because I would assume it wouldn't be smart to put a brand new battery in along side the other one which is significantly older. Thoughts?

I could just put in my two wally world batteries and try to sell my one good interstate battery on Craiglist?

Thanks for the help guys.


P.S. I have had on and off issues with poor battery connections since I got the truck. The previous owner really wrenched the hell out of cables onto the batteries. Am I looking at an arm and a leg to replace both this summer?

 

I would keep the Wally World ones whereas you have them. I just bought 1000CA batteries from there this winter and have been more than happy with them. Plus their 3 year no BS warranty is great.

You might be able to get a little more life out of your cable eyes Alex, I used to to this 'Poor Mans Fix" years ago. The problem is that the lead is stretched and the 3 ends are touching thus not being able to be tightened up. I have taken the bolt out of the clamp and cut with a hacksaw or filed with a rasp, about and 1/8" from each side. You have to be careful not to bend it to much so it dosent break. I used a dremel with a cutting disk once too.

Like Pop said use Noalox on the terminals. I swear by the stuff,

 

OEM quality positive cable for both batteries.
6 guage charge lead cable and 2/0 to the starter. Just like factory OE.
$71.58

Quick~Cable: Ford Diesel Battery Cable ~ All Battery Sales and Service

And then a couple of new ground straps for $8.57 each.

Browsing Store - Deka: 27" Ground Strap (fits up to 3/8" stud)