Okay... as most of you know... that is the ones that have been keeping up with me. I've got all kinds of "ground" problems going on with the truck. (interior lights don't work.. ALL of them, back right tail light goes OUT when the brakes are pressed if the LIGHTS are ON or works fine if the lights are ON AND the right blinker is ON but works fine if the lights are off)

Bought a new battery on Saturday as the old one wasn't allowing the truck to crank.... wouldn't keep a charge. (it was a 2005 battery. can't believe it made it this long)

Well I go buy a new battery and a new positive cable as the old one was broken in half on the "clamp" that attaches to the pole/post on the battery. Put the NEW battery and NEW clamp in and the truck had some trouble cranking but it started it up. Drove it yesterday and it had the same trouble cranking.... like it just didn't want to turn over. Went out to bring it to work this morning and the battery is dead as hell. I haven't had the chance to test the battery to see if it was really dead or not but when I turned the key it only made one click sound which is usually the tell tell sign of a dead battery.

What should I tackle after checking the charge on the battery? The Voltage Regulator?

What do you guys think could be draining the battery? I haven't added anything new to the truck that could be draining it. All lights were off. I was messing around under the dash last week looking at what i will be doing when I replace the "Headlight Switch" as I was told that might solve my interior lights problem (dome light, and all dash lights are out... but both blinker lights will come on...SOMETIMES... but when they do come on. the left blinker light STAYS on and never goes out.) I figured I might have gotten a exposed wire touching the frame under there somewhere but then I figured that couldn't be the case as it would blow a fuse before it kept pulling on the battery.

I'm confused.....

 

I don't know if this will fix your problem but here I go. First I have bought a couple of batteries that have been bad from the get go so have it checked. Second have you checked you groud straps it is good to make sure everything is grounded together. I had a thunderbird that had all kinds of electrical problems and I made sure that there where plenty of ground straps ( actually I might of had to many ). I made sure the block was grounded to the frame and made sure I hade straps from either the block to the body or fram to the body. This will get rid of any static electricity. I had a electriction tell me that static electricity is like little grimlins they can ruin your electronics. Hope this helps

 

Yeah I need to check all grounds on the truck right now... I just haven't found the time to do it.

As for the bad battery I'll have to look into it... Thanks the options.

Anyone else?

 

After the battery is charged, stick an ammeter between the negative terminal and the battery ground cable. See if there is any current being pulled with everything off.

If you do see that something is pulling current, start pulling fuses until you can isolate it.

 

Thanks for the tip!

I'll try that tonight if this rain lets up.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

Assuming battery is good, it should read 12.5v across the posts, with cables disconnected. Cables hooked up and running it should read 13.5-14.5v's verifying it is charging. If not, could be voltage reg or alternator. If this checks out, hook a test light between a battery post and it's cable. With key in off position, light should be off. If it's on, something is draining the batt. You can check the fused circuits by pulling one fuse at a time till light goes out. This will isolate draw to a specific circuit. Try these things and let us know what you find.
Edit: Ammeter is good, but not everybody has one. Carefull of the range, most will handle only 10amp max.

 

^^^^ Thanks!

 

Bingo. Also sounds like you have alot more issues if the lights are acting the way they are. Did you just buy this truck? Sounds like somebody has been hacking into the wiring. Is it blowing any fuses?

 

My grandfather gave me the truck. "some guy" put in a radio for him (older tape deck style) that doesn't work anymore. I've got to get back there and put a new one in soon as is... that's when I was planning on checking the wiring behind the dash. But as for that problem being linked to the battery I don't think it could be... as i've been having that problem for a good 3 or 4 months now.... and that 2005 battery was in there the whole time and never died. now this brand new battery just died after 2 days.

as for popping fuses.... not to my knowledge. i'm checking them tonight along with the battery.... that is if the rain allows me to. can't put my fishing boat in the rain.

Someone in one of my other threads was saying the interior lights are due to a bad "headlight switch"

 

your interior lights could also be from that little push button switch that the door hits when you open and shut the door. Also my truck only has one ground strap on it and its from the engine to battery. theres not one going to bed nor the cab. So i couldnt see how that would screw up your lights the way it is.

 

UPDATE: It was storming yesterday when I got off work so I decided against messing with it in the rain. Sunny day today so hopefully I will get to check into it tonight. I'll update then.

 

If you do the isolation test (pulling fuses) and it still shows a drain, disconect the alternator. If a diode is shorted it'll drain the battery too.

 

One of my friends was swearing up and down that it was the alternator.

 

Before you drop $100 on an alternator, how much voltage are you making at idle? I had a similar problem and after methodical troubleshooting I discovered it was the VR. That might be what yours is, but first please check everything in sequence.

How many volts at idle across +/- terminals?

 

couple thoughts.

for the ammeter test, go buy an inline fuse holder and splice that into your test lead wires, and put in a 10amp fuse. that will protect your multimeter from a current greater than 10amps. keep in mind that your ammeter is unprotected on the 10amp setting.

if the wiring checks out, and the alternator is charging correctly (parts store can test the alternator for you for free) and you are still having problems starting, replace your starter cable with a 2awg wire from the solenoid down to the starter.

my 79 did the same thing, hot start problems, hard to crank. replaced both battery cables and starter cable with 2awg wire and fixed the problem.

also, check your solenoid to make sure that it is not shorted to the "i" terminal. i bought one new that was shorted out internally, and it was leaving componets on that were not supposed to be. replaced it with another new one, and again problem solved.

good luck!