Gawd Dammit...Truck Ate Another Battery!!

[tliss]

I started the truck one week ago and I went out to fire it up tonight and there's no juice! I'm beginning to think the alternator might need replacement. Terry, what are your thoughts? How much to put in a new alternator?

Tom

[Silver_2000]

Tom

Mine did the same after sitting for a week - It registered 0.3 volts when I checked it - My simple batt charger woudlnt charge it - BUT after it was jumped it recharged - Ford tested the Batt and charging system and it was fine
Do you have any aftermarket electric stuff thats plugged direct to the battery ?
In my case it was likley caused by light under tonneau that was wired into the amp in the back seat ( closest power ) which goes direct to the battery. Need to rewire it to go to fuse box to accessory circuit - Fuse box has batt saver relay to prevent his crap ...

Doug

[Tex Arcana]

Tom, do what Doug says, take in to Ford for an electrical leakdown test. I'm thinking, considering your mega-maxi-supar-dupar-stereo system, you might have a unit that's constantly on and is draining the battery. DO NOT REPLACE THE ALTERNATOR WITHOUT TESTING IT!

[tliss]

Tom

Mine did the same after sitting for a week - It registered 0.3 volts when I checked it - My simple batt charger woudlnt charge it - BUT after it was jumped it recharged - Ford tested the Batt and charging system and it was fine
Do you have any aftermarket electric stuff thats plugged direct to the battery ?
In my case it was likley caused by light under tonneau that was wired into the amp in the back seat ( closest power ) which goes direct to the battery. Need to rewire it to go to fuse box to accessory circuit - Fuse box has batt saver relay to prevent his crap ...

Doug

That may be it! I've got the amp running directly off of the battery. Any instructions on where to wire it up to the fuse box accessory circuit? I'm not sure where this is and don't want to blow everything up when I do it. I'll drop the battery off at Auto Zone to recharge it and rewire the amp....hopefully this will fix the problem.

I've also seen postings about testing to see if the alternator is bad by firing the truck up and and disconnecting the battery. If it dies then we have alternator issues and if it keeps running things are good. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Tom

[Alpine]

That may be it! I've got the amp running directly off of the battery. Any instructions on where to wire it up to the fuse box accessory circuit? I'm not sure where this is and don't want to blow everything up when I do it. I'll drop the battery off at Auto Zone to recharge it and rewire the amp....hopefully this will fix the problem.

I've also seen postings about testing to see if the alternator is bad by firing the truck up and and disconnecting the battery. If it dies then we have alternator issues and if it keeps running things are good. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
TomYou want the amp running directly off of the battery. The remote on/off wire, the blue wire, needs to be on a key on circuit. Make sure the small blue wire that turns the amp on and off is not hooked up directly to the battery. If it is, that would be the problem. Your stereo/LCD should have the blue wire for the amp that is labeled.

Jeff.

[tliss]

You want the amp running directly off of the battery. The remote on/off wire, the blue wire, needs to be on a key on circuit. Make sure the small blue wire that turns the amp on and off is not hooked up directly to the battery. If it is, that would be the problem. Your stereo/LCD should have the blue wire for the amp that is labeled.

Jeff.

Yep...did that. The remote blue wire runs off of the A/V receiver unit that has a remote that runs off of the head unit. The amp is grounded directly to the frame, so I don't think that's the issue. When I get the battery recharged I'll see if the remote is actually working or if the amp is always on. I think I checked this when I installed it, but I don't recall. I've had the amp in there for a long time...this battery draining issue has only really started happening since I was traveling and not driving the truck too much. This is really starting to piss me off.

Tom

[Silver_2000]

Jeffs right the amp HAS to go direct to the battery - double check the remote wire - Im my case it was another device that I was lazy enough to run off the same circuit ...