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PLEASE HELP battery problems!!!!!

2K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  symbols 
#1 ·
Ok I really need some help here. I have posted a few times with electrical problems and really haven’t received much advice but I think I am narrowing down the problem so maybe it can trigger something now.

I have two new batteries and a new alternator in my truck and when out there at lunch today and it was deader than hell. I’m not leaving anything on but here is the tricky part. If I drive to work and park my truck like any normal person it’s fine but if I go back out there to get something out during the day and shut the door and walk off without starting it both batteries will be dead in a couple of hours. I can’t see that anything is staying on like cargo light or anything. This only happens when I open the doors after my truck as been sitting there for a couple of hours. I do not know what all comes on when you open the door like Cargo light and stuff or when I shut the door could it be rattling something to close or open that doesn’t do it right after turning the truck off. What gets me is it has to be a pretty big power source to drain the batteries in a couple of hours.
The only fix I have is I carry an extra fully charged battery in my truck to change out with it happens.

I only have to change one battery and it starts right up. I change the passenger side one if that matters to anyone. Everything I have done to my truck is in my sig.
 
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#2 ·
Well, I don't know why or what is doing that but I can tell you how to figure it out if you want.

All I can think of is something is coming on that is triggered by the door circuit. First things first. In all my years of electrical diagnosis these issues are almost always caused by aftermarket installations. If you have a stereo, amp, or anything like that then you need to unplug that first and see what happens. If you want to know the procedure to find out what is causing it after that I will be more than happy to help but it's a lot to type so I don't want to waste my time if your not going to follow through with it.
 
#4 ·
I want to start by saying that 99% of the time these issues are aftermarket related. I am not saying you didn't wire your stereo or whatever correctly, it's just a fact. So if you have something that was installed aftermarket then I would start there.

Go to whichever battery is easier to use and loosen the negative cable and get ready to take it off. Put one lead of the meter on the battery post itself and one lead one the battery terminal. Now slowly and carefully take the terminal off the post without losing your connections to the meter. This is easier to do with helping hands or a special tool but you can do it if you take your time. The reason you don't want to lose the connections is that you could "wake something up" and that will give you a false reading. Now your going to need to clamp the meter leads onto the post and terminal somehow if you plan on doing this yourself otherwise you can get your buddy to do the rest. See what your meter reading is and remember that. If it's less than 1 amp you probably have another issue. If it's over 1 amp then you need to start pulling fuses one at a time. Once it drops you need to stop there and mark it and also remember what the drop is (probably best to write all of this down). Continue until you've pulled all of the fuses. If you have more than one which I am sure you will, I would start with the largest amp drop and go from there.

Now that you know what circuit you need to look at you need to know what all is on that circuit. Once you know that, start unplugging things on this circuit and continue until you find the problem.

I hope this helps.
 
#5 ·
I had the pcm for the lights and other stuff that would WAKE itself up and drain my batts on my other truck,replaced the pcm but that truck had gremlins
 
#6 ·
getting crazier

Put a new battery in it about 2 hours ago and everything was great let it run for about 15 minutes turned it off and went inside. Just now went back out there and both batteries are completly dead. What in the world is going on and what could drain the batteries that quick
 
#9 ·
still broken

We'll we worked on trouble shooting it last night and ended up blowing a fuse in the meter but the problem is getting worse so maybe that means easier to find or some good ideas if anyone has any.

Now if I unhook one of my batteries right after I turn my truck off you can watch the light under the hood go dim in about 5 minutes. Whatever is cause this is a BIG drain and I can't think what could be draining it that fast. I drove it to work this morning and got out and unhooked the passenger side battery waited about 10 mintues and the other battery was completely drained

:dunno::dunno::dunno:ANY HELP ANYONE?????????:dunno::dunno::dunno:
 
#10 ·
I did some research last night and I found a way to measure the current draw without blowing fuses. Only problem is I don't really understand it so I'm going to have to think about it for a while. I'll look at the schematics later. My fuse is 10 amps and you are obviously pulling more than that:hehe: Glad you made it to work this morning!:thumb:
 
#12 ·
We did but I don't remember exactly when we tested it. If you have a meter you can check those two big wires. One will have 12v all the time and the other should not with the truck off.
 
#15 ·
I hope you've got an extra battery

How about a back drain through the alternator? Don't even know if that's possible. Might try unhooking the wires to it after you park it. Another thing to keep in mind is that your batteries have got to be taking a hit from all of this super low draining and will probably need to be replaced (as a pair) once you get this all figured out.
Yea, it is possible. I am thinking it is going to have to be something like that because pulling fuses didn't do anything. I think it has to be something directly connected to the battery unless we missed a fuse.
 
#14 ·
How about a back drain through the alternator? Don't even know if that's possible. Might try unhooking the wires to it after you park it. Another thing to keep in mind is that your batteries have got to be taking a hit from all of this super low draining and will probably need to be replaced (as a pair) once you get this all figured out.
 
#18 ·
Brand new doesn't mean anything other that you just bought it
 
#17 ·
I would test both the GPR and the AIH relay for constant power on both sides of the relay. If those test out, trace out your battery leads and see if you have a dead short on a frame rail/block/or in the starter area under the exhaust manifold.
 
#19 ·
ok well the GPR tested good.
I had them test the new alternator and it test bad so I put another new one on there and it tested bad so he tested the the one I took off on one of there machines and it tested good. So what on my truck could cause a low output reading from the alternator?

:mad::mad:
 
#21 ·
I guess if the brushes where totally shot and grounding out it could,However, I would think that it wouldnt start to good though.:dunno:
 
#23 ·
I have a 04 replaced 1 battery do i need to replace other one. also why do they have 2? also i live in b.c.. starting to get cold any tricks i need to do when starting in cold weather?
You should start a new thread dude, your hyjacking Tims.

oh and :ORG welcome::ORG welcome:

Here is the forum. Just click on the "start new thread button" close to the top and on the left. Oh and just FYI....you'll get more responses if you introduce yourself
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/general-6-0l-discussion/
 
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