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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 12:06 PM
  #1  
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From: George West, Texas....
Angry starting isues

yesterday it was around 50 degrees and my truck turned over great but wouldn't start. I put the battery charger on the drivers side battery and after about 20 minutes is started right up.
today it's 42 degrees and cranks great but no start. I re cleaned the battery termnals and checked all I could. I let it sit for an extra 3 minutes with the key on to check and see if it could be glow plugs, still no start.
I've got the battery charger back on the battery so i'll check shortly.
after it starts it runs fine and re starts with no problems.
I've heard that if it's the cps then your rpm gage won't move, is that correct or not. no colder that it is it shouldn't be glow plugs plus I had it plugged in over night.
I'm at a loss as to what could be causing this problem. I've got a new cps and may put it on just to see.
any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 12:18 PM
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From: George West, Texas....
up date, after having the battery charger on the drivers side battery for approx. 20 minutes it started right up with no issues.
like I said earlier it cranks great but can the battery on the drivers side be going bad or what ? I'd hate to have to charge it every morning to get it started.
maybe get on of those battery tenders and put on it.
what do you all think ?
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 12:31 PM
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Yes have the battery tested
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 01:10 PM
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Have both batteries tested. When voltage is too low, the engine will still crank but will not fire the injectors.
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 01:48 PM
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Replace batteries in pairs, otherwise the weaker will suck down the stronger. Most CCAs you can get.

If you have a battery tender I think that would be fine short term, but testing the system or replacing the batteries is the fix.

I have a cheap voltmeter in the cigar lighter so I can eyeball the voltage. Should be 12.2ish engine off, then drop a volt or so when you key the GPs on. And back up a volt when they turn off. Cranking will drop another 1.5v or so, and as Paul mentioned the injectors will not fire if PCM sees less than 10.5v, according to the literature. I saw 9.8v and mine fired right up on a 33* morning two weeks ago, so YMMV. Up to 14v when engine on, GPs off, and alternator is alternating properly. If the voltages drop too much the batteries or the cables or the connections are bad.

How old are the batteries? Cables look OK?
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 06:16 PM
  #6  
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From: George West, Texas....
The battries are about 5 years old and I've cleaned the termanls and the cables all look good. It may be that I need a couple of new battries.
Is there any one brand better that the other ? What about cranking amps ?
Just what should I look for in a battery so I won't need to replace them every year or so ?
 
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 06:21 PM
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Look for the highest cold cranking amps. I have had good luck with Motorcraft batteries and interstates. I am curently running NAPA (made by interstate).
 
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 01:59 PM
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From: George West, Texas....
The battery's in there now are Bosh with 850 cold cranking amps.
But I still have to hook the charger up to the drivers side battery to get it to start.
It cranks like crazy without the charger but won't start unless the charger is hooked up.
Are Bosh good batteries or is another brand better ? 850 cold cranking amps seems pretty good to me. Is there anything higher ?
It looks like I'm going to need two new batteries..
 
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:13 PM
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Bosch batteries are garbage. I've been through several sets of them, and so far they've all failed before the free replacement part of the warranty has expired. It's been a real pain, and when this set finally gives out, I'm not even going to bother with the warranty. I'm gonna find a place to mount a pair of 4Ds or 8Ds.
 
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 07:23 PM
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Believe it or not Wal-Marts "Ever-start Maxx" is a top ranking battery. Consumer reports completed a test about three years ago and the Ever-Start (made by Delphi) came in strong. I run them in my heavy equipment and used to have them in my 01 SuperDuty. The batteries were 7 years old when I sold the truck and were still cranking hard. This truck sat for weeks at a time which is not good for batteries but I never had any problems.

-Bobby
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 01:42 PM
  #11  
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From: George West, Texas....
OK, I put the battery tender on today. Drivers side battery.
As per Bobby, I google for the best battery and the WalMart Battery is on the top of the list. CCA and all..
I wouldn't have believed it but according to Consumer Reports it is the best battery out there.
So if the battery tender doesn't help i'll be heading to wally world and get a couple..
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 04:39 PM
  #12  
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Good thing about Walmart is they are easy to return under warranty. They don't even test them haha. Plus they have Walmarts everywhere.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2014 | 04:45 PM
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Yep, 3 years and the guy at the counter told me once when we were buying them for my fathers old early '99 to wait until 35 months and bring them back for another set.
 
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