relay culprit?
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From: St. Peter
relay culprit?
At work we have a 94 F150 with the 302 in it thats having problems starting, i've previously posted there about what could be the cause. What happens is it wont start, its not the starter, alternator, or batt. Just today i may have discovered the problem, as it turns out, there is a relay hooked up to the cb radio, but whoever installed it was probalby trying to hook it up off the ignition, but they wound up hooking it up off of the dome light fuse or somthing, so in other words, the relay is constantly on. My question is this, will a relay draw enough power to kill the battery, if the battery is allready down, like, if the battery is dead, and the truck wont start, and we jump start it, drive it 3 miles, and let it sit for 10 min, and come back out, will the relay draw enough power to have killed the battery?
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From: Virginia
if the battery is allready down, like, if the battery is dead, and the truck wont start, and we jump start it, drive it 3 miles, and let it sit for 10 min, and come back out, will the relay draw enough power to have killed the battery?
Put it on a slow charge, check the water if possible, and cross your fingers.
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From: St. Peter
I personally think that this battery is shot, and hopefully that relay was the problem, because we hooked a battery charger to it (may also have been shot) and let it sit for about 4 hours, and it still clicked just like before. But we jumped it off of the F350 sitting next to it and it fired up. The thing is is that when i put my meter on the battery it says 14.xx volts, and i think the battery charger shuts off at this point (so it doesnt overcharge) But just because its putting out 14.xx volts doesnt mean that it will put out the ampreage needed to turn the starter, right? LIke i said, i think this battery is done for.
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From: Virginia
But just because its putting out 14.xx volts doesnt mean that it will put out the ampreage needed to turn the starter, right?
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From: St. Peter
Thanks for the info on the load tester, i'd make a suggestion but its only my 3rd day of the job and i dont want to act like i know it all (plus i'm only 18, so age doesnt help). So far i've only been kinda hinting at what i think the problem is. But i bet if we put a new battery on it, or maybe even just charge that old one, it should cure things, with that relay unhooked and everythign.
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From: Virginia
I am sure the relay was probably putting a load on the battery, but just to make sure, you can do the test below. If the testlight lights up bright, then you still haven't found the drain problem.
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From: St. Peter
I know that the relay was taking power, because when i unhooked the signal wire to the relay it would click on and off, but i just wasnt sure if that relay could drain that much power from a truck, but over time, i suppose. Thanks alot for that test, i'll try it.
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