I have a 2006 F250. Past two winters my batteries have died. Last yr., bought 2 new batteries and a new alternator. This winter, battries have been replaced twice. I only drive the truck maybe once a week, about 5 miles total. I live in Indiana and we have had many sub zero temps this yr. Its been in the shop all week, the mechanic states that they are finding an extremely small draw but cannot find where it is coming from. The mechanic is wondering if I am driving it enough. Any thoughts on this? Also my batteries came from auto zone, the mechanics thought it was bad that I had bought them from auto zone.....not sure if that should even be a factor....

 

I buy the yellow top AutoZone batteries on purpose. Generally I have gotten good service out of them. Over the years, the couple that did give me problems had a very liberal warranty. 50mA is the generally accepted max for parasitic draw. It can change a little depending on options and aftermarket accessories. If you plan to continue driving the truck so little, a battery tender would be an excellent idea. A weatherproof one mounted under the hood would be convenient. I actually charge my properly working batteries sometimes using a smart charger on a low amp setting.

Welcome to FTE

 

Thanks. I will look into the tender. Just a bit frustrating.

 

Ditto everything Rusty said. I also have the gold AZ batteries and they really have been good. I lost one about 2 years after getting them and they had no problem replacing both. I had to replace them again about 3 years later and thought that was it for AZ. Then I realized my alternator was the problem that time when I lost it and realized although I had been keeping the batteries on a tender because they started going dead/weak, the batteries are what was powering the truck. I was driving short distances at the time so full batteries would last a little bit......until I drove it at night with headlights on.

Did you put an OEM alternator in it? With your infrequent driving and harsh weather, I'm not sure I'd trust an OEM alt to keep the batteries charged the few times you have it running. I replaced mine with a DC POwer 185 replacement but puts out up to 120 at idle. If I recall, the truck itself needs around 100 at idle and with an OEM that leaves little to nothing for charging which explained a lot in my case and I'm not in a harsh winter environment.

Battery Tenders are great though. I have a 2 bank Battery Tender on my boat with the connectors on the batteries and when I want to toss it on the truck I just use the clip on's at home. It's kept a couple of Optimas in my boat healthy a lot longer than they should be and they've gotten little use in the last 3 years. 1 battery stuggles to hold a full charge but it's also over 10 years old, but can still start a 540cid cold at the beginning of the season easily but needs to have a charge ready to keep it going. I thought they were expensive for a little trickle charger until I got one and didn't know what I hadn't bought it sooner.

 

I don't care what type of battery or alt. you have, 5 miles once a week, esp. in cold weather won't even restore the power that your glow plugs are pulling. All modern cars have a small parasitic drain as stated. That's why your radio and clock stay updated and if you have an alarm system that too uses power. As Rusty stated up to 50 ma is acceptable.

 

Per spec your allowed 50 miliamp. Thats really a rather large draw, what is the value you tech is seeing.
The kam will have a small draw at all times.

 

I don't drive mine that much in the winter either, and I put a 6 amp charger on it once every 3-4 weeks. It cranks over great afterward.

 

I am unsure of what kind of alternator was put into the truck. However, I did talk to the mechanic today. States the draw is at 2 amps, and they still cant figure out where it is coming from. They had me take the truck home today so we could drive it to Michigan this wknd, then they want it back Monday.

 

They are getting a 2 amp draw.

 

That's a lot. Just for reference if you don't know, 50mA is 0.050 amps (or 50/1000 of an amp to be more accurate (sorry, joke from another thread)) I'm sure they've tried it but simply pulling fuses one at a time until it drops significantly should get you on the right circuit. If that doesn't work, time to start disconnecting fuseable links until you get a drop (Try starter and alt separately-alt is a common culprit). It can get confusing if there is more than one issue going on.

Just another tip- some of the trucks modules stay on for several minutes after you turn key to off. They must all be asleep when testing. If you have the under hood light, leave the hood up until it goes off before testing. If you open a door the under hood light will come back on and you'll have to wait again. Someone else may have a work-around for this but I've just waited.

 

You do not drive it enough. Put a battery tender on it. That will solve your battery issue. But I suspect that you have a whole pile of carbon buildup issues on the horizon. Unless you are hauling or towing something serious over those 5 miles, you might consider a different vehicle as a commuter. -Mike

 

Ok, so this seems very suspect to me. I called the shop for an update. They said they changed the air filter and test drove it and it ran great with no dashboard emergency lights or anything. Am I wrong in thinking that the air filter would have zero affect on the parasitic draw? And why would they be test driving it, thinking there would be emergency lights when there never were any to begin with? This seems like that almost don't even know why the truck is there. Am I wrong?

 

The previous post showed up now, after I tried to repost because the site errorred while posting the first time. But...it's there now.

 

You said they found a 2 amp draw. I would use a battery tender as mentioned for now while sitting. What after market accessories have you installed that would use electric if any? Take a day and go fuse by fuse until you find the 2 amp draw change.

Shop time is expensive while chasing a ghost, all diagnostics to my Jeep pointed to the Gem Module.... turned out I had a bad tail bulb after doing some research. We pin tested and followed the string.... Lol that cost me and hour shop time for a $1.50 fix.

 

I can delete those posts if you want