NEed quick advice please

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Jul 12, 2008 | 10:04 AM

tndiesel

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NEed quick advice please

Sorry to post about the same problem but I need to try and get this fixed today. After my truck sits over night it will not start in the morning. If I jump it off it will start fine and run fine. And the volts will slowly come back up if I drive it for awhile and it will start after sitting for a couple of hours. But after sitting over night it will not start, the engine turns over and gets weaker and weaker. Is this a battery or alternator problem? Should I take both to get checked? If it's the alternator where is an acceptable place to buy one for these trucks? Also, what should I expect to pay for an alternator? I guess I should hope it's the battery or batteries?

Thanks!

Jul 12, 2008 | 10:13 AM

c00nhunterjoe

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Joined: May 2007

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From: Belair md

disconnect the batteries and load test them, if they check out then you need an ammeter hooked inline with the batery cable to check for parasitic draw, if you verify the darw then start by disconnecting the alternator, then work your way through the fuse box removing each fuse one at a time until the draw stops, when it stops that is the circuit killing your batteries, diag from there.

Jul 12, 2008 | 10:13 AM

farmert

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Joined: Mar 2006

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From: western SD

How old are rhe batterys? My vote says the are getting old and tired. I would have them chrcked.

Jul 12, 2008 | 10:41 AM

tndiesel

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Quote:

Originally Posted by farmert

How old are rhe batterys? My vote says the are getting old and tired. I would have them chrcked.

They both have the date 9/05 on them and they are duralast batteries. I think they were treated poorly before I bought the truck.

Jul 12, 2008 | 10:22 PM

IDMooseMan

Cargo Master

Joined: Jul 2006

Posts: 2,756

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From: Nampa, ID

Three-year-old batteries and you think they were treated poorly before you bought the truck? I think the batteries should be replaced regardless.

Still check for a parasitic draw, but make sure your batteries are NOT the problem, first.

Have the alternator checked, too. These are probably the most likely causes. Once you verify these items are working properly, you can go from there.

Jul 13, 2008 | 12:00 AM

884x4broncoII

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probably need new batterys take them out and have them load tested, even if they come back on the low side of ok replace them, these trucks take alot to start

Jul 13, 2008 | 02:46 AM

RubberDuck

Logistics Pro

Joined: Jul 2001

Posts: 4,137

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From: Marble Falls, Texas

3yr old Autozone batteries. I'm gonna say that's the problem. Your gauge comes back up because the alt finally starts catching the batteries up. But they are discharging over night. Get you some interstate batteries and call it quits. If you don't have the glow plug relay on an switch, these trucks are hard on batteries. I find spending the money on good batteries is worth it for us. But by all means, have them load tested.