me and the wife jumped in the truck to go to the dump. she fired up okay (a little sluggish) drove it about 100 feet and it died on acceleration from a stopped sign. got it back to the house and jumped it. it fired right up like nothing wrong. drove to the dump and around town to let it charge. got home and turned it off and tried to start it again and it just kinda tried half assedly to start. trucks a 2001 f250 auto and has a DP. it sounds like the solenoid on the right fender wall is clicking real fast. and the batt gauge shows it has a normal charge until you crank on it and it dives off fast. the battery terminal clamps have a lot of corosion and sometimes need a wiggle to get the truck started. i am thinking that the truck wont start because of lack of juice. however, would lack of juice make it just die when it was already running? how does that work. please educate me. side note, when we were coming back from the dump it felt fine but i couldnt get it to blow smoke like normal. could be me reading into things because i am scared something may be seriously wrong. thanks in advance.

 

For now, let's address those wiggly battery terminals. You will want to remove the cables and clean them inside and out - removing corrosion from the battery posts as well. Tighten the cables back on the batteries to the point where you can't turn them by hand (at least not without really reefing on them). If the battery terminals are that flimsy, three things can happen:

1. You can get an overvoltage to the system.
2. The batteries won't charge.
3. It won't crank. You need good, clean, strong contact to get good, clean, strong starting current.

 

The clicking relays are a dead giveaway for low voltage. You're on the right track.

 

Test the batterys.. We just went through this with another member. He had a place load test his batterys and they said they were good because the person doing the test didn't know how to do the test in the first place. after ripping his truck apart inside and out to find a short he thought he had. It turned out that both battery's were bad..

Im not saying that this is also your problem but do a load test on the battery's.
By the clicking of the starter and sluggish start. sounds like a typical dead cell on a battery

 

I myself am having an issue with this short of thing the only thing i can add onto this is i have cleaned the battery terminals and still having the issue after charging both batteries. so i dont know whats going on kinda weird that the truck loses power sitting off within an hour, i have checked for shorts and no arcing from the batteries when touching the negative bat. term.

 

It's been 9-13 years since these trucks were made and they're all due for the third/fourth round of batteries. My starter sounded like Pee Wee Herman in the morning with a wer-wer-wer. I replaced my batteries and now I hear Arnie under the hood going ACK-ACK-ACK. If that starter doesn't sound like it wants to leap out of the engine bay with 2000 CCA of batteries, something needs to be looked at.

The OP mention "the battery terminal clamps have a lot of corosion and sometimes need a wiggle to get the truck started". I say start with the terminals and find out where that leaves you.

alkru87 has taken this step with no luck, now it's time to pull batteries and have them tested.

 

so the truck needs 2000 CCA? as sand_fiend said about the other member, i took the truck in to get tested and the gal said both were still good with 875 CCA each but i have never had the problem with it cranking when the batteries were new about a year ago. but if you say it needs 2000 im a little off! im going to see if i can find my battery tester and do a load test on it this afternoon and let you guys know.

with much thanks

 

No, two good batteries with 875 cold cranking amp rating is more than adequate to start our trucks...It's when it is cold (real cold) and the truck hasn't been started for a few days that the larger CCA is preferable. I, as mentioned earlier, put in the largest CCA batterioes I can find. I lean towards your cables being the problem. The corrosion has probably spread down the cables under the insulation too. I'd just replace the cables with new ones and use corrosion inhibitors on the batteries. Corrosion is easier to deal with before it happens, after can be a bear sometimes.

 

When my batteries were getting weak i drove the truck to a local parts store. Pulled both batteries while the truck was running (taped up the "+"cable ends with duct tape) and carried in both batteries to get load tested. Both batteries were poop. Truck still running. After acquiring two new batteries i through them in the back and i drove home to install. Alternator carried the load just fine, while running.

If you start your truck and pull a connection on both batteries and it dies, That would lead me to believe your alternator is poop. Simple alternator test. Or it should be over 14v at the battery terminals using a volt meter without unhooking battery cables.

Getting batteries load tested at the autostore is free.. Won't hurt to rule it out.

 

Not sure I would of did it that way Dan, but thats to the point. Remmenber the gauge in the truck only show voltage in the system, not charging or not. That said, if the alternator is weak the voltage goes down.
Chet

 

I didn't have a choice.. Someone borrowed my Jeep, Wife was out shopping. When the truck barely started i figured it was battery time. When i got the the store i didn't dare shut if off. And after i bought batteries i figured i would drive home to install it nicely instead of doing it in the parking lot in 95 degree sun shine..

 

found my battery tester, with a load its pulling 10 1/2 volts so i think i found the issue. the gal at autozone didnt do it right i guess. ..... if you want something done right gotta do it yourself hahaha

 

You know with these Diesel trucks, They will run with NO alternator. you do not need the electrical to run the motor like spark plugs, or electric ignitions. Once the glow plug starts the truck it will run on it's own with No power output by the alternator . You can jump start the truck and nothing will work or show at the dash as power, but the motor will run on it's own, so it should not die when the battery's are pulled with the alternator not charging..

 

That being said, what makes the PCM work with no electrical? These are not mechanical diesel engines.

Chet

 

You should probably re-think that . Old mechanically injected diesels would run without electricity, but not a 7.3 powerstroke, or anything else that has been manufactured in the past fifteen years or so. The fuel injectors are electrically operated, as is the PCM that manages the entire engine.