Ford Powerstroke 99-03 7.3L Discussion of 99-03 7.3 Liter Ford Powerstroke Turbo Diesels

Batteries keep dying

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Old May 19, 2011 | 10:08 AM
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Default Batteries keep dying

get your mind out of the gutter, you perverts!

back in January/February time frame my batteries in my 1999 F250 died. So my wife went out and bought brand new Interstate Green Top Batteries. She got them installed. No problem for a few months now for the last few weeks she has come out to a dead truck. She would get it jump started, and the truck would show that it is charging the batteries, but alas a day or 2 later the batteries would be drained. She did notice the last few times she was hearing a buzzing sound as she would try to crank it over.

We were kind of leaning towards a bad Glow Plug Relay or possible bad grounds. AND YES MY ALTERNATOR IS NEW, AND SHOW THAT THEY ARE CHARGING THE BATTERIES!

Any suggestions or thoughts on where to look. I hope i dont have to replace $250.00 in batteries already...
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 11:02 AM
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I'd get the batt's load tested...

Sounds like a possible draw somewhere.
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 11:32 AM
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I go thru the same thing myself... About every 9-12 months I have to put batterys on again.

Not sure what is causing it, but I can go out right now and start my truck and it will start fine. Two hours later it will be dead as hell.

One of these days I will find the cause, but it shows 14v when charging so...
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 11:44 AM
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does it sound like something caused by the glow plug relay?
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 12:06 PM
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I doubt it... Install a glow plug light and find out if its coming on when not commanded...

But I very much doubt it.
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 12:50 PM
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hmmm so what do you think could be causing it? i read around and there has been some reference to the relay causing batteries to drain... what else do you think it could be? where should i start?
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 01:25 PM
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LOL... I wish I could help ya, but like I said, I have been living with it for years now. Just always have a pair of jumper cables...
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 01:27 PM
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the answer has to be right in front of our faces... what could it be, what could it be.... hmmm
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 01:29 PM
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Finding a draw is no fun...
 
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Old May 19, 2011 | 08:03 PM
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the way i find draws on the things that i work on is to unhook the batery and put my meter inline to see the amp draw key off. then take fuses/relays out one at a time untill there isn't a draw, seems to work 99% of the time to find the cause of it.
 
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