Dead , Dead , Dead ...
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Junior User
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
From: Edmonds , WA
Dead , Dead , Dead ...
Hopped in the truck after work and batteries are dead . thought I had left the door ajar and maybe the dome light had been on all day .... batteries where completly dead , wouldn't even take a jump start . Pulled batteries and charged them over night ......threw em in the next morning started right up ...made it home from work and back the next day, went to leave and batteries are completly dead again .
Took them to Les shwab to get checked but they said they couldn;t tell if they where bad till they charged them . I dont want to blow $200 on batteries if it's something like the altinator . going to check that tomarrow when I get back to the truck with the batteries .... any other suggestions on what my be wrong .... next I'm going to put a .45 hole through the engine block .....
Took them to Les shwab to get checked but they said they couldn;t tell if they where bad till they charged them . I dont want to blow $200 on batteries if it's something like the altinator . going to check that tomarrow when I get back to the truck with the batteries .... any other suggestions on what my be wrong .... next I'm going to put a .45 hole through the engine block .....
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Junior User
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
From: Edmonds , WA
OK ...so got batteries back from Les Schwab .. one was good one had a bad cell in it so I replaced it ...... thinking the bad battery was sucking the life out of the other .... nope ... made it home but watched the voltage gage drop all the way home ...... so it's not getting charged ..... to top it off I checked the voltage on the batteries when I got home and it was @ 4.1 ...... checked again a half hour later(truck not running) and it was .1 ... so I'm recharging the batteries again and in search of answers ... I'll check the altinator once I have juce to use...... but I'm afraid it's more than the alt. if I'm loseing voltage without any draw .......... Save the truck ... before I shoot it ..and buy a Jeep ......
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Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 9,399
Likes: 188
From: Norco,CA
Its the alt. While driving if voltage is going down it is not charging. The gauge shows votlage in the system. If it was charging it would stay put. Also when stopped, if it is bad sometimes it continues to draw off the weak batteries. Buy a volt meter or one that plugs into the ***. outlet it will tell what the out put is. Good luck, Chet
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,800
Likes: 52
From: Southern Colorado
Place an ammeter in series with the batteries and one terminal to check for a standing short or drain on your current.
If you don't have an ammeter, but see a significant spark when you connect the last battery terminal, then you have some drain going on. Remove the underhood light before you do this. This doesn't sound like it's all the fault of the batteries.
If you don't have an ammeter, but see a significant spark when you connect the last battery terminal, then you have some drain going on. Remove the underhood light before you do this. This doesn't sound like it's all the fault of the batteries.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 25,090
Likes: 1,111
From: Rio Rico, AZ.
OK ...so got batteries back from Les Schwab .. one was good one had a bad cell in it so I replaced it ...... thinking the bad battery was sucking the life out of the other .... nope ... made it home but watched the voltage gage drop all the way home ...... so it's not getting charged ..... to top it off I checked the voltage on the batteries when I got home and it was @ 4.1 ...... checked again a half hour later(truck not running) and it was .1 ... so I'm recharging the batteries again and in search of answers ... I'll check the altinator once I have juce to use...... but I'm afraid it's more than the alt. if I'm loseing voltage without any draw .......... Save the truck ... before I shoot it ..and buy a Jeep ......
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,712
Likes: 107
From: BoCoMo
A good charging Alt. would be 14.5 v.
If you had a volt meter (digitel) that plugs into the accessory port it would have shown you really fast what was up with your voltage.
Buy one from Wallyworld for around 15.00.
With your batts charged to 12.5 for one and 11.5 for the other with the low cell, when you hit the key and started it, the GPR will drain it down to 11 very fast using the glow plugs. You need 10.5 volts to run the truck..... see how close you are already? With no Alt., one or two 'starts' is all you will get out of the batts.
The one Bat. that had the cell gone will drain the other bat down to its level...... You just bought a new Bat.... Guess where the level will end up? At the lower charge level of the 'good' bat that you left in there. would have been better to keep both of your old Batts..., knowing one is bad and knowing that you need to fix the Alt. By keeping an eye on the voltage meter 'toy' that you plug into the accessory port you can monitor the 'loss voltage' over the summer and know that you will need to get two New Batts before winter.
imo
If you had a volt meter (digitel) that plugs into the accessory port it would have shown you really fast what was up with your voltage.
Buy one from Wallyworld for around 15.00.
With your batts charged to 12.5 for one and 11.5 for the other with the low cell, when you hit the key and started it, the GPR will drain it down to 11 very fast using the glow plugs. You need 10.5 volts to run the truck..... see how close you are already? With no Alt., one or two 'starts' is all you will get out of the batts.
The one Bat. that had the cell gone will drain the other bat down to its level...... You just bought a new Bat.... Guess where the level will end up? At the lower charge level of the 'good' bat that you left in there. would have been better to keep both of your old Batts..., knowing one is bad and knowing that you need to fix the Alt. By keeping an eye on the voltage meter 'toy' that you plug into the accessory port you can monitor the 'loss voltage' over the summer and know that you will need to get two New Batts before winter.
imo
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,079
Likes: 11
From: LA and CO
Why not take that alternator to Les Schwab to get tested too? Easy enough to do. If it's bad buy two new batteries while you're at it. It never fails that one old battery will kill the new one.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,712
Likes: 107
From: BoCoMo
Because one truck payment will cover the cost of an Alt and two batts....(if Needed)