Hey team,

Yesterday, I got in my truck that has NEVER had a problem starting and I noticed it "dragged" a little when I started it, sounding like low juice in battery. The gauge showed the needle towards H and I drove it about 18 miles to work. I was in work about 1 hour and when I came out it was completely dead. I jumped it with the work truck and ran a couple errands, keeping the truck running. I then went to a buddies house for about 2 hours and when I came out it started with no problem. So, when I got home, I took and cleaned the battery cables and the starter connections. Went to start it and it was dead again. I jumped it and checked the volts as it ran and got 14.5, good output. I let it run for awhile and shut it off and it restarted. I checked the volts when it was not running and got 12.0. I checked it this morning and it was at 5.0. I did a battery check, using a battery/alternator check meter and it shows 5.0. I would think that is normal, as things do run while the truck is not running and it is not a battery draw. So, my question is do you think the battery is shot? It is the original battery, a 2001 F-150 SuperCrew with 130,000 miles on it.

Thanks for your help,

-John

 

Yes it sounds like it is bad, the battery should be around 12.8 when the vehicle is off and should not drop much below that.

 

battery never reads below 12.5 or its bad.

 

Yup, your battery is gone after *only* 8 years and 130k miles...

I replaced the battery in my '02 E150 about a month ago...mine only went 7 years, 3 mos, and 76k miles.

George

 

Yea, I guess things don't last forever.

 

I also agree, it sounds like the battery. But is it the original? how old is the battery? If the battery is only a few years old, then maybe its a draw?

When you are putting the new battery in, conect 1 terminal, and run the other threw a volt meter, just to make sure you dont get any surprises in the A.M. Make sure all the lights are off. And you should ony read minimal draw .o3 or so...

I also might add, replace it with the biggest one you can fit in the box... I always replace mine with the Diesel one. What a world of difference on cold or hot days.

Run threw meter= touch cable to neg on meter, and pos on meter to appropriate terminal.( one cable would connect to. aka if test is run on pos then pos)

 

I'm looking at a Diehard with 875 CCA's. Original was 650CCA's , so this should be better. Also, I normally check this way= Disconnect the neg cable and touch black wire from volt meter to neg cable and touch red wire from volt meter to positive post of battery, with positive cable connected to battery.

Thanks for all your help,

-John

 

There you go... Just stay away from the TwilightZone garbage ect...

 

Bobtailfan,
My '01 is still on it's original battery at 120k.
Autozone Duralast, Sears Diehard & Ford/Motorcraft are all built by Johnson Controls. You can't go wrong with any of these three.
E.

 

Costco and Walmart batteries are also Johnson Controls made--they swept the Consumer Reports rankings, and prices/warranties are great.

George

 

Bobtail - I think Mustang was talking about checking for amperage draw rather than a voltage check. Hook up parallel to check voltage, but the meter has to go inline to see an amperage draw.

 

you can never go wrong with a optima either. a little more pricey but definitely worth its weight in gold.