2000 7.3 Wont STarT

[nate8809]

So I started my truck this morning seemed a little weak but cranked up and let it run about 30 min b4 i left my house in Lubbock Tx. and i jumped in the truck to com to work in Andrews Tx. approx 110 miles from my house....and about 30 min into my journey to work my battery light starts flashing so now im like great my altenater is going out but then it clicked off so then i stared keeping an eye on the battery gauge it went back up a little bit and then the light clicked back on and it started draining the battery real slow but it never died on me stopped in at the ez mart in andrews kept the truck running and then got to work left it running for about another 45 min to an hr my battery gauge getting lower the whole time. then im like ok lets kill it and see what it does BAD IDEA now it wont start when i hook the battery charger to it it says both batteries are charged fully....so i go and turn the key over everything goes dim and windsheild wipers start up trucks clicking if u have a 00 7.3 you know what im talking about...so then i leave the key on for about thirty more seconds and everything gets bright again and the battery gauge jumps to normal but does the same thing everytime i try to start it....i noticed when everything gets bright again the glow plug relay clicks right b4 the brightness but its the same thing every time im stumped at 1st i thought it might be that relay but i dont know if that would cause that malfunction.....any help would be extremely awesome thanks guys

[NoRalPh]

FIRST - DUDE - You gotta learn to make a paragraph, OMG!!! Is your post hard to read

I read through it Six times, I think I'm understanding some of what you're saying. So, how old are the batteries? If you put a good charger on it and it acts like they're charged I don't know why your gauge would go "lower the whole time" as you drive...

Maybe you could get them load tested, one at a time to be sure.

The GPs do draw almost 200A so, I wouldn't be surprised that you can see the change in brightness when click off but, if everything was it should be (batteries/connections) it should be able to handle it all.

How about all those connections, including the wires on the back of the alternator? Make sure they're all Clean, Tight, and Greased.

Could you have water in your Gem module? Has it been raining a lot? (windshields are prone to leaking in the bottom corners and dripping into the Gem)

[goats]

sounds like one of the battery dropped a cell or 2

[mcuffe1]

JUST WENT THRU ALL THAT UP HERE IN N DAK. SOUNDS LIKE BATTERIES TRY JUMPING IT. IF STARTS GOOD ITS BATTS IF NOT IT THE RELAY. THE ALT SOULD BE CHECKED TO. 14.7 VDC IS A GOOD OUT PUT