Battery drain
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Tuned
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 371
Likes: 16
From: Upstate SC
Battery drain
I'm waiting on Christmas shopping to be over to replace the ICP and IPR on my '01 F250. In the mean time I have been going out every few days to crank it and let it run up to temp. Now, however, my batteries have slowly been getting drained over the past month, to where it finally wouldn't crank yesterday. So I'm wondering if I now have a drain somewhere, or is running it at idle for about 20 mins just not sufficient.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 173
Likes: 3
Do not know what you got but in my truck I found that one battery was NG and was draining the good one. Not sure if this helps__replaced the bad one and everything is OK now. funny but the good one had acid on top corroding away the battery holder, the bad one had nothing, dry on top. now they are both dry
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
Keep it on a charger till you get it sorted out. About 20 amps is a nice slow charge. Mismatched cells (or battery) draw mismatched current and will constantly gas. That's why the corrosion.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,748
Likes: 118
From: Tallassee, ALabama
Generally at idle, on any vehicle with alternator, is not adequate to recharge/maintain a battery. The truck takes a lot of amps each time you start it due to glow plugs and then turning the starter to crank over the engine which has 16 to upwards of 20 to 1 compression ratio. Best to get a trickle charger to maintain the batteries till you can do the repairs.
I use to keep a schmidt 1.5 amp trickle charger on my 96 7.3L when not in use.
If you had an AIC (auxiliary idle controller) you could raise the idle to say 1300 rpm to possibly charge the batteries.
I use to keep a schmidt 1.5 amp trickle charger on my 96 7.3L when not in use.
If you had an AIC (auxiliary idle controller) you could raise the idle to say 1300 rpm to possibly charge the batteries.
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Tuned
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 371
Likes: 16
From: Upstate SC
Thanks guys. I was looking at a trickle charger/maintainer. I also searched and found out how to test for a parasitic drain due to a switch being left on or something. I did change the ignition lock right before this happened and the "key in ignition" chime never goes off. Not sure if that'd turn something on or not.
Former Vendor
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Central Ohio
Once you get the time, diagnosing a drain isn't too hard. Just time consuming. You want to drive the truck for a bit to make sure all the modules are awake. Shut the truck off and let it sit for about an hour (giving the modules time to fall asleep again). This is the tricky part, you need to disconnect the negative battery cable, but keep continuity from the post through the cable using the leads on a DMM. Failure to keep continuity at all times can wake a module up. If a module (like a GEM module) is awake, it will skew your readings. Set the DMM to DC amps, anything over 50 mA is too much. Keep the DMM hooked up and start pulling fuses, amps will drop when you pull the fuse on the drawing circuit. Now that you have narrowed it down to a single circuit, start at the furthest away part of the circuit. Start unplugging components, working your way up the circuit. When you unplug a component and the draw drops on the DMM, you have found the problem.
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Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2013
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Idle wont cut it.
battery age is a factor on how well they recharge
cold cold weather is another factor
battery age is a factor on how well they recharge
cold cold weather is another factor
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Elder User
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you need to disconnect the negative battery cable, but keep continuity from the post through the cable using the leads on a DMM. Failure to keep continuity at all times can wake a module up. If a module (like a GEM module) is awake, it will skew your readings. Set the DMM to DC amps, anything over 50 mA is too much.
Former Vendor
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Central Ohio
Using fuse voltage drop is easier, I still like to use an ammeter to confirm draw. I have the charts for all the different types of fuses, and what the voltage drop will be if any one is interested.
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