Battery Drain!
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From: willamette valley ore
Battery Drain!
Hi All, Some recent vehicle history before I get to the current trouble. About a month ago I was having an intermittent problem with the truck ('66 F100, 352 3 spd) continuing to run after turning off the ign. switch or the starter continuing to spin upon starting the engine. In both cases, I had to kill the truck in gear and then try it again. That seemed to be obvious so I replaced the switch. A few days ago I had the same thing with not turning off but I turned it back to on and then to off and it shut down. Other than that, all was well until yesterday when I went to leave for work. The battery was "deader than a doornail". (When was the last time you heard that expression?) I'm thinking that it might be the solenoid but even if it were stuck, it wouldn't drain the battery unless the ignition was on, don't you think? Any ides or suggestions before I start replacing parts? thanks, Steve
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From: Sun River St. George
It is really easy to install an ignition switch and not properly index the key/lock cylinder. This can easily get you to the symptoms you described. Try a do over on the ignition switch install. And while the switch is out check to see that the tabs are tightly bent over the back of the switch. Even Carpenters switches can have this problem. Fully charge the battery on a charger for 24 hours. Turn everything off including the clock in the radio (if you have one). Then with the negative battery cable connected carefully install the positive cable on the battery post and look for a spark (tells you you have a drain) something is on or you have a leak. Pull fuses until you isolate the leaking circuit and fix that.
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From: willamette valley ore
William, Thanks for the reply. The new ignition switch moves to the correct positions (acc, off, on, start) and the circuits respond to this so I can't believe that the switch install is to blame althought my work is not above reproach. I do agree that there is a great possibility that there is a "leak" and will follow your instructions this afternoon. I put in a new solenoid that I had in the parts bin because it was free and felt compelled to do something. I will be driving it out of town today but I have a spare battery that I will take with me just in case. I don't plan on leaving it sit long enough to drain the battery. Again, thank you. Steve
