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Also check the terminals. You may have one battery doing most of the work.
I almost replaced the batteries one time due to a slow crank but noticed one of the terminals was suspicious while taking it off. Repaired the terminal and returned the batteries.
Please excuse my jaded outlook on FLA batteries. Hundreds of millions of people have good experiences with FLA batteries, I am not and never have been one of those people.
That said, if I were going to purchase another FLA battery, it would be a CAT. Some friends of mine have had good experiences with them, so there is that. The ONLY reason I would purchase a parts store battery is because it was my only option.
Good luck with your choice.
If your cables are in substandard condition, then that could be your problem. The system is only as good as the weakest link.
Even the new batteries coming out of the stores today can fail well before they are supposed to. I was getting 2 - 5 years out of parts store/Walmart batteries and finally gave up on flooded lead acid batteries. All of my vehicles have AGM and the truck is Northstar. I don't buy parts because of the warranty, I buy parts because of the quality.
If a battery dies after 3 years and I get a replacement under warranty, that is still a loss in my opinion.
Not all AGM are created equally. Pure lead AGM like Odyssey and Northstar are superior to others.
Even my JD riding mower dies not have a FLA battery.
I haven't tested each battery individually but I can do so later tonight after I left the truck settle for a little while.
Resting voltage before turning the truck on and before turning the key at all is 12.1 volts. That's what's coming to the cigarette lighter. When I get home I will test each battery individually after I let the truck sit for a while and let the batteries settle.
Also check the terminals. You may have one battery doing most of the work.
I almost replaced the batteries one time due to a slow crank but noticed one of the terminals was suspicious while taking it off. Repaired the terminal and returned the batteries.
I hate the terminals that are on my truck right now. Do you know of any good battery terminals that I should get? I'd like to replace the ones I have.
That would explain the 12.1 resting volts coming into the cigarette lighter as well. I'll check it when I get home.
I have one AGM battery that I got for free at the parts store that wasn't even a year old that tested bad because it was discharged fully. I trickle charged it for a couple days and the battery has been working great on my big diesel mower. It came off a truck but I put it in my lawn mower because my lawn mower needed a battery..... So if I decided to get new batteries I might can take that battery and put on my truck and just buy one AGM battery to go with it. The parts store wants $300 plus for optima ATM batteries, and 450 Plus for the Odyssey AGM batteries. That's a piece. I can get a flooded lead acid battery with a 3-year warranty for 200. Each. I just don't want to pay between 6 and $800 for batteries. But if that AGM battery that I put on my lawn mower is big enough I will only need one battery. This is all assuming I don't have bad connections at my terminals or a bad cable. I don't suspect it to be the cable because the cable looked fine other than a little spot on the casing. My voltmeter broke the other day so on my way home I'm going to stop and pick up a new one. They tend to break when you get mad and throw them on the ground...... I'll post an update in a little while.
Just for comparison, I run the best of the walmart batteries, in sub zero weather, including my plow truck, which runs more electric demand then a 230amp LN alternator can keep up with. They last for years and will start my trucks fine even after sitting for long periods in the cold, or even after sitting for months waiting for the next snow fall
Same here. I've ran the Walmart batteries since I've had my truck. Usually get 4-5 years out of them. Can get them replace anywhere and one of the cheapest.
I hate the terminals that are on my truck right now. Do you know of any good battery terminals that I should get? I'd like to replace the ones I have.
That would explain the 12.1 resting volts coming into the cigarette lighter as well. I'll check it when I get home.
No I do not have any recommendations. That was on my old OBS and I used whatever heavy duty terminal replacement part they had at my favorite part store. I believe it had 4 bolts clamping it to the wire. I preferred the factory terminal style but it was junk and I needed one that was easy to bolt on.
To check, you may try the voltmeter on each battery individually directly on the posts. If one differs from the other it could point you a direction. I wouldn’t go buying anything expensive without some more testing.
AGMs are probably really nice but I’ve never used one. I just can’t justify the price when batteries fail randomly. Some seem to last forever but others go poo with no warning. AGMs may not fail prematurely like the others though, I’m not one to know. 🤷♂️
My father-in-law has been in the parts business forever and says dual battery systems seem to have quicker battery failures for some reason.
Tristan, I am not saying you should spend $600 - $900 on AGM batteries. I am saying that I was never as lucky as Eswift or Tpayne when it came to FLA batteries.
AGM batteries can and will fail as well. The link I provided above shows that just like FLA batteries, not all AGM batteries are created equal. Some use recycled lead, some do not. The brands like Optima used to be pretty good, but have declined a bit in recent times.
My point is that just because something costs a lot does not mean it is reliable.
As for terminals, something like in the link below has been recommended many times.
You need to ensure your lugs are good and the wire under the sheath is good too though. It seems to me either one or both of your batteries are failing. You should not rely on the voltmeter in your dash to be 100% accurate. You need to use a multimeter and test the batteries individually after they have been disconnected a while.
It's not good to have mismatched batteries best to have a fresh pair. On the 450 we had FLA motorcraft batteries that lasted 10 years. Currently on my rig I have AgM and for the boat going lithium. Just as a reference point my truck started like a gasser at 55 engine oil temp today at 45 took some cranking/the plugs were heating while cranking. I was purposely not waiting for the glow plugs to compare to my friends truck who is having similar issues. His truck puts out decent white smoke and fires up ASAP when plugged in. Would recommend plugging in as a test. As for my friend I told him to ohm the plugs you might as well ohm them as well. Then you can eliminate or confirm that part of the system. Another easy check open the HPOP oil cap and confirm there is oil present in the reservoir.
Turns out, my batteries are 3 years old. I've had my truck longer than I thought. It feels like it was just the other day that I bought it. It doesn't feel like it's been 3 years. Anyway, the passenger battery ground was loose. Well it was tight but I could just grab it and twist it and it came off. Same thing with driver side positive. Tight but able to twist it and pull it off. These terminals that I have are junk. Somebody replaced them and this is what was on the truck when I got it. It does not hold this many big cables worth a crap. Also was able to grab my starter wire and wiggle it and pull it out of the clamp which is most likely due to having so many cables going to such a small terminal. From the looks of this I assume this is not the original OEM starter cable. But this is what I have going to the starter. I'll try to post pictures of the mess up in the middle of the cable in a little while
Resting voltage of batteries. Passenger side battery after unhooking both terminals. 12.81 v.
Driver side battery after I'm hooking the terminals. 12.84 v.
It's been about 30 minutes after my drive. I don't know how long it takes batteries to settle. But I feel the batteries are fine. I will be able to test in the morning if my hard starting issue is resolved by fixing the loose battery terminals. I will order some new battery terminals tonight. I will get the military style ones. I will probably also order a battery lug kit because I will need quite a few. And I don't know what size wires I have on any of this stuff because most of it is probably not factory. I will record my cold start in the morning and hopefully it will be a easy start.
Wow, I have not heard my truck turn over that fast in a while. I forgot just how fast this high torque starter turns my motor over. I fix the battery terminals for now until I get new ones in, and voltage dropped only to 11.4 volts when cranking instead of 10.2 and the truck turned over wildly faster. It was definitely a problem. Going to order new terminals in a little bit. We shall see you in the morning if it fixes my hard start issue.
Sounds like you’re on your way to a resolution. 👍 (edit: sounds like you’ve got it now)
This is the style I used back in the day. I’m sure it was the “best” of what was in stock at the store and recommended by the parts guy. I’m not saying to use this one, just showing this option. It is a lot better than the 2 bolt style in your photo.
2-4/0 Ga. No-Crimp Three-Way Positive Lead Battery Terminals (1 per pack) https://a.co/d/4Zrcxsc
Tristan, I am not saying you should spend $600 - $900 on AGM batteries. I am saying that I was never as lucky as Eswift or Tpayne when it came to FLA batteries.
AGM batteries can and will fail as well. The link I provided above shows that just like FLA batteries, not all AGM batteries are created equal. Some use recycled lead, some do not. The brands like Optima used to be pretty good, but have declined a bit in recent times.
My point is that just because something costs a lot does not mean it is reliable.
As for terminals, something like in the link below has been recommended many times.
You need to ensure your lugs are good and the wire under the sheath is good too though. It seems to me either one or both of your batteries are failing. You should not rely on the voltmeter in your dash to be 100% accurate. You need to use a multimeter and test the batteries individually after they have been disconnected a while.
Well, my terminals are definitely crap. I don't know who put these on but I'm going to order some of the ones you linked. Those exact ones have been in my wish list for a while.
As it turnsout it seems like I won't need batteries yet.
Both of my batteries tested good individually with the results being 12.84 on one and 12.81 on the other after completely disconnecting from the truck. I let them sit for 30 minutes and that's what they were still at. Maybe after sitting overnight they would go down below that but that's what they stayed at for a half hour. Truck is cranking awesome now!
My cables don't have lugs. The bare wires are held down by a plate with two bolts. It sucks.
I know you weren't telling me to spend that much money on AGM, I was just sharing my thoughts on how expensive they are and my reasoning for not wanting to purchase them at least in my area. I meant no disrespect by any means.
Anywho, we shall see you in the morning if I need to ohm out glow plugs or not! I appreciate yours as well as everyone else's help!
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I'll post an update in a little while.
