Batteries? or something else?
Thread Starter
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More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 680
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Batteries? or something else?
Hey guys,
About a week ago, i noticed while starting my truck, it sounded noticeably slower on the first few cranks. It still cranks up every time and sounds the same, but i'm just trying to pinpoint the culprit here and avoid getting stuck on the side of the road.
Anyone?
About a week ago, i noticed while starting my truck, it sounded noticeably slower on the first few cranks. It still cranks up every time and sounds the same, but i'm just trying to pinpoint the culprit here and avoid getting stuck on the side of the road.
Anyone?
Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,659
Likes: 2
Charge up the batteries all the way and then have them load tested with a carbon pile load. This will tell you how much capacity there is and if it still meets specification. Low numbers will tell you to replace the batteries before winter when cranking loads go up and will show the poor performance of the battery.
Thread Starter
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More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 680
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Well, i went to autozone today and it looks like my drivers side battery is bad. I made sure they disconnected them so they were tested seperatley. Ill probably be replacing them with motorcrafts. I currently have the duralast goldtop, and got 5 years out of them. But i try to stick with motorcraft when i can.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 10,060
Likes: 491
From: Bristol, TN.
Well, i went to autozone today and it looks like my drivers side battery is bad. I made sure they disconnected them so they were tested seperatley. Ill probably be replacing them with motorcrafts. I currently have the duralast goldtop, and got 5 years out of them. But i try to stick with motorcraft when i can.
Steve
Thread Starter
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More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 680
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Well,
I picked up some Motorcraft batts today, the 850 to be exact for $126 a pop. I figure its a good investment though.
On a second note, I've never done reagular maintenance on batteries. Is there ant required other than keeping my teminals clean? What is the the sustance used to keep the terminals free of corrosion? Sorry for the newb questions.
I picked up some Motorcraft batts today, the 850 to be exact for $126 a pop. I figure its a good investment though.
On a second note, I've never done reagular maintenance on batteries. Is there ant required other than keeping my teminals clean? What is the the sustance used to keep the terminals free of corrosion? Sorry for the newb questions.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,624
Likes: 6
From: OR and UT
$126 doesn't seem like a bad price to me. Battery prices have spiked in the last couple of years where I'm at. I paid about $95 for a Die-Hard Gold in my wife's Corolla about 8 years ago. Best battery I've ever had. It was in it's third vehicle before it finally quit a couple months ago.
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Senior User
Joined: Sep 2004
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For me, it was the alternator.
A couple of Fridays ago, the truck turned over a little slow when I left for work in the morning, and then nearly would not start when I went home for lunch. I left it run when I got home and got out my meter. I was only getting 12.2 volts at either battery. This lead me to think the alternator was bad. I put the charger on the passenger side battery and went in the house and ate lunch. When I came out, I had almost 13 volts on the batteries. I went to the parts store and picked up a battery and came back to the house. The swap took about 5 minutes. I dropped the core off at the parts place on my way back to work. Everything has been fine since. Did I mention that I was leaving for a weeks vacation that Friday evening? I am glad I had this happen in my driveway instead of the middle of Nebraska. Since I am still running the original batteries in my 2003, I will likely get a new set before the cold weather sets in this fall.
Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,196
Likes: 120
From: Carstairs Alberta
they may have tops you can pry up and add water. once a year should be good. i have "unsealed" sealed batteries and also added water and got another couple years out of them. if you have a sealed battery and its showing low output but not shorted out, it worth a try