parasitic battery load on 2004 F250 Superduty

bl73 · March 14, 2010, 12:29:54 PM

had a old Ram Power Wagon do this about every 6 months, finally figured out after charging the battery a few times it was the negative connection, that old cummins had a way of rattling things loose.

olyman · March 14, 2010, 04:02:29 PM

and another one. alternators can short three different ways. that being said,disconnect the heavy charge wire, and charge the batts full up. if the batts dont drop after a day--internal short in alt--and yes, the alt will still charge correct,but a internal short of three diff kinds will drop a batt. and some shorts real quick..............

Jeff · March 14, 2010, 04:09:31 PM

I've had another issue, that could be a short, but have not found a cure. We thought we did, but it still doing it once in a while. You can here the blinker flasher blinking after the blinkers are turned off. The blinkers no longer blink, but the flasher continues to click. Also, the horn blows a fuse usually within days of replacing it. I'm scared to death of a short in the steering column.

Raider Bill · March 14, 2010, 04:19:15 PM

Now that you mention it my horn has never worked long either. I generally use my finger so forgot all about the horn issue :D

stonebroke · March 14, 2010, 07:00:21 PM

Quote from: Jeff on March 14, 2010, 09:56:57 AM
I might add, this is a 1999 chevy with 330,000 miles and we have NEVER had to replace the battery. Its still the original. Unbelievable.

So are you going for the record?

Stonebroke

Jeff · March 14, 2010, 07:34:44 PM

I set a new one every day.

Hilltop366 · March 14, 2010, 07:48:18 PM

The electrical on 99 GM's and other years near there are real bad around here, we have lots of salt in the air all year and on the roads in the winter, might just take a few extra years to show up out your way.
The rust is so aggressive around here that if you don't spray something on a Kia gas filter it will rust out before it needs to be serviced.

On the battery thing I have seen batteries go dead over night and need a boost every morning until the top of the battery was wiped off then it worked fine for years after that. It was dirty enough to draw a bit of current from + to the -.

johnjbc · March 14, 2010, 08:54:39 PM

QuoteI set a new one every day.

I might have you beat! My 94 Ram wouldn't start when it was 5 years old.

So I went to Montgomery Ward's and bought 2 new batteries. Last fall I noticed that it took a couple extra cranks to start and I didn't want to get stranded in the woods hunting.

I unhooked one battery and it still started :D but when I tried the other one it wouldn't start. :

Last week I charged up the good one and will be replacing the one in my Case 580 that was bought in the early 90's. Looks like were having a contest. smiley_horserider smiley_horserider

PineNut · March 15, 2010, 10:42:05 AM

I have had sudden battery failure. Stopped at a shop and when I came out, the battery was totally dead. Thought it was probably a connection but a volt meter on the battery showed zero. Best I could figure was an internal connection inside the battery broke.

Jeff · March 15, 2010, 11:20:07 AM

Truck has been setting a couple days now. I just went out and tried to start it and it fired off no problem. I guess the loose terminal was the culprit. Maybe it never was dead, just not making a connection.

tyb525 · March 15, 2010, 08:36:55 PM

That has happened more than once with my truck, the side post terminals are prone to coming loose.

mr T · March 16, 2010, 07:38:13 AM

One thing you might want to check is alternator plug ins for corrosion Ford reccomends using dielectric grease on them Can short out & cause fires according to napa instuctions which i read after installing

Jeff · March 16, 2010, 02:06:12 PM

I went out to drive the truck today for the first time. Put it in gear and it wouldnt move. No forward, no reverse nada. When I would move it back to park I would get a strange noise like something not going into gear. OH CRAP!

The clock was several hours off as well and the radio presets were all gone. I eventually noticed that the push button switches for 4 wheel drive functions had a red neutral light on between 2 high and 4 high. I pushed the 2 high button and the green light came on. All I can figure is if you have a complete power loss, that even blanks the clock and radio, that the electric shift switch for 4wd goes into neutral as well. There is no button to put it in neutral, only a red neutral warning light I had never saw before today.