I drove my 2005 Excursion all day, up a mountain, down a mountain, around town. Restarted fine all day until I turned it off in a drive up fast food joint so the people didn't have to listen to it. Was shut off for 20 seconds max, wouldnt crank, and everything was dead. Jumped it, it started, the I argument cluster wouldn't work, it died shortly after being jumped. Jumped it again and moved it to a parking lot, it died. Jumped it again and left the cables on for a while, battery light was flickering. Took cables off and it died fairly quickly. Batteries are 3 weeks old. Alternator was new before it sat for a year and a half. What could be the issue? I read somewhere fuel pumps may cause a no crank. Please help me!

 

Batteries or battery connections are either not tight or corroded. Did you clean and put dielectric grease on the terminals. Battery connections are CRITICAL on a 6.0. If that not problem, load test batteries.

Ed

 

The driver's side ground was loose, but I tightened it, they were all clean, no corrosion. The batteries were installed by the shop I bought them at, but it doesn't look like there was any grease applied.

 

should we assume it is fixed now ?

 

I am curious to, problem solved? I drive my Ex less frequently in the winter and as I drove it today to work, had a little sluggish start this morning drove 40 minutes from home to the store before I hit work, came out after about 10 minutes in the store and the beast would not start. Instead it slowly turned over at first no ignition, then the two following starts no crank just a couple clicks? I eventually found somebody with a Diesel truck to jump start me, and initially it did the same no crank first two attempts, then waited a few minutes and it begrudgingly turned over. Drove the extra 10 minutes to work, shut it down and immediately tried to crank it and it fired and started no problem. Came back out after 10 minutes and it started no problem. Another 15 minutes I came out and and it started but slower?! Batteries are 2 yrs old, starter I don’t know if it’s ever been replaced? There is some green build up around both positive terminals I plan on going out in a bit and cleaning the terminals, testing battery, and seeing what I can figure out.

I scanned codes and there was a p1211 which I have gotten before, I also have a 6 position chip on it.

I did notice a leak recently from what I believe to be coming from the front crank pulley/seal... oil on dipstick is showing full.

It has new ICP, HPOP.

 

I've had to replace the batteries in my 6.0 every 2-3 years pretty consistently. Diesels seem to be pretty hard on the batteries.

 

These things are so hard to address without gauges. Since it starts when jumped then it only gets proper voltage when jumped. Suspect that the batteries are now discharged and that the alt is not keeping up with the voltage demands. You did not say which engine you have, but on my 1ton ford, the alt does not start to put out juice til the engine has been running a bit. I think it is supposed to warm up a little before putting load on the system, but if your batteries are discharged they may not provide enough juice to run the truck before the Alt kicks in. You need to fully charge the batteries and then, with the engine running test the voltage. It should be more than 12, probably closer to 13 or 14 volts at the battery. If not you have a charging issue.

 

That is not true. Your alternator is working as long as it's turning. What you are likely seeing is the voltage drop due to the glow plugs still being engaged during warm-up. Once the plugs are shut off after a few minutes of idling, the voltage increases to ~14V.

 

Its a 2002 7.3L diesel, sorry thought it was on my dig.

Agreed, I thought my batteries were 2 yrs old, sticker says 11/16 on them so a little older than 2yrs I reckon.

So i I came out to clean terminals, did so, in doing so I found my terminal on the positive of the driver side is fairly degraded so there is not a lot of positive terminal on the underside, needs replaced. I also hooked up the battery box/tender/charger and it read 11.5 right off the bat. So been charging for a bit and tried a few cranks and nothing but a slow crank. There is about 16 lights glowing right now between the running boards, interior, under hood, so I am going to disconnect the batteries from the truck and charge them fully before trying again. I also noticed my brake controller was on in the truck before I had unlocked it so maybe that’s a sign the batteries are pretty low? I disconnected it.

Could it be a bad starter having a big draw and creating the no start? Need to get batteries charged to figure it out.

 

I should probably start my own thread... sorry OP.
Nonetheless, I got it started with a jumper box before disconnecting the batteries, came out to look at the read out on the jumper box as I was letting the truck idle, and it read 11.2, then 11.1, and was dropping so I shut the truck off as it was discharging, according to the crude gauge readout on the jumperbox, alternator? Or hard to tell with not fully charged batteries? Freaking electrical dogma.

 

What I mean to say is that , when the engine first starts, the volts are at 11 something, and in a few moments the ALT regulator kicks in, there is a noticeable load put on the engine, and the voltage jumps to 13 or more volts. Not to quibble, an alternator is working while it is turning, but it is not necessarily putting out voltage or putting drag on the engine unless or until the voltage regulator determines that there is a need. If the Alt worked at full capacity all the time it would boil the batteries on a road trip. In my case, if I have dead batteries, my truck will not stay running until the regulator kicks in and starts the charging process. The point is that if his Alt is not charging the battery, he will not necessarily get the engine to stay running below a certain voltage threshold. Don't know about a 6.0 but my V10 will not run below 10 volts. By contrast, my old chevy small block would get me home on 7 or so, but had to push start it to get there. (many many years ago when batteries were cheap and I still didn't have money for a new one)

 

Could be ALT or bad wires, I would start by getting the batteries fully charged (may take hours on a two battery system) and then, with the truck running check the voltage at the Alt positive terminal and then also at the batteries. After a few minutes do it again. The Alt should show above 12 volts, probably closer to 13. If not I would have it tested. If the batteries don't show the same as the ALT I would look at bad wires or connections.

 

I understand what you are saying, but you are 100% incorrect. The voltage is lower right after the engine starts because the glow plugs are still on. It increases only after they are turned off. It has nothing to do with the voltage regulator or the alternator. Your belief is a very common misconception though.

 

Copy that, I will be doing that before I leave work tomorrow morning, isolate the batteries and fully charge them. I will have the batteries and alternator tested on my way home from work, I know the batteries have a 3 year full replacement warranty, and the alternator is a lifetime warranty, so I might just replace them all prophylacticly!

I also noted the positive battery cable terminal is pretty chewed up on the driver side and needs replaced, so I will be doing that.

Oddly enough I just looked out the window of my station and my truck lights were on? Odd?

 

agree to disagree. Your theory does not explain why the voltage jumps from 11 or so volts to nearly 14 volts at the same time that more load is put on the engine. Your explanation would actually result in the opposite. When the “load” of the glow plugs is removed the engine would be under less load from the alt not more.