Weird no start

[BoeingDiesel]

Went out to start my '99 this morning and something really strange happened. The truck hasn't been driven for 10 days and I checked the batteries which are reading 12.51-V. Anyhow, turned key on let it go through the wait to start etc and turned the key. It grunted once when the starter engaged and then everything shutdown. No dash lights, no lift pump no overhead console, no headlights etc.
Anyone experience something like this? I'm at a loss.
thanks for ideas and suggestions
gregg

 

[BSeyler]

I would load test the battery. A neighbor called me a few weeks ago and his big Kubota tractor wouldn’t start. He’d had the charger on it for quite a while and it read 12+ volts. When I put my carbon pile load tester on , it would only get to about 100 amps and crash the battery. This battery was rated 1000 CCA and should have been capable of 500 amps for fifteen seconds. Seems like the best place to start to me. Maybe the grid heaters killed what power it had.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

I see where you're going with that and it makes sense but even with a residual amount of power wouldn't you think the dash lights would come on?

 

[BSeyler]

The cab light on the Kubota would only dimly glow after trying to crank the engine. When the headlights were switched on, everything went out. The starter would roll the engine barely until it came up on compression and everything would die - dash lights, gauges, etc.

The neighbor told me he couldn’t see why it wouldn’t crank, since it showed 12+ volts. But, it couldn’t hold it under load.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

I'll let it set for another hour and retry. I don't have the equipment to do the load test but I did buy the batteries from Napa a couple years ago. I would think they could do the diagnostic.

 

[BSeyler]

Is it a sealed battery?
An old school farmer method to check for a bad cell:
Remove the caps and have someone engage the starter, but don’t release it. If it has a shorted cell, it will start to boil after a few seconds.

 

[DavidC]

Got a voltmeter ?. Hook it up facing the cab, hit the go switch and see what it shows. Bright headlights ?

 

[NIsaacs]

It grunted once when the starter engaged and then everything shutdown. No dash lights, no lift pump no overhead console, no headlights etc.

gregg

This indicates to me you have a bad battery post to cable connection. I would check and clean them all, but most likely the positive end on the driver side. I would pull it off, clean the cable end and battery post, then try again.

 

[BSeyler]

Good point, Nick. I went through this very thing last night with my wife’s F-150. She had it outside and was cleaning the inside with the doors open. When she tried to start it, no go. Checking the terminals was the first thing I did. But, after 7 1/2 years, the battery was shot. Sitting with the doors open and the interior lights on zapped the battery. I charged it for awhile, but it flunked a load test.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Is it a sealed battery?
An old school farmer method to check for a bad cell:
Remove the caps and have someone engage the starter, but don’t release it. If it has a shorted cell, it will start to boil after a few seconds.

They are Napa Legend AGM.
I let the truck sit for a couple hours yesterday afternoon and tried again. Everything came to life until I turned the key to start...Ugh. It's been about a year since I cleaned the terminals and I'll do that today.

 

[Gearclash]

What NIsaacs said . . . clean your battery connections . . . look for a scale like build up also on battery and cable terminals. Will be so hard that a terminal brush won’t take it off--need to scrape or grind it off.

 

[Jim W]

I had a two year old Napa that failed last month (Feb). Went to start the truck everything seemed OK and the truck was plugged into the block heater overnight. Tried to start the truck and all I got was a click, than everything went off no dash lights or anything. Took the batteries back to Napa and the sales clerk put a volt meter on the batteries and try to talk me into just charging the batteries. One battery was reading 12.4 and the other was 12.9, the sales clerk read the voltage at the store. He thought they were good and the alternator wasn't charging the batteries, I said no way LOAD test them. That is when they found one battery had failed.

I knew that the alternator is working since I have a readout in the truck providing me with the voltage output when the truck is running.

I purchase two new batteries and truck started right up with new batteries in the truck.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

I removed the batteries today and the connectors were dirty so I pulled them out and connected to the charger. Passenger side read 12.5 V and Driver read 12.1 V.
I called Napa to inquire about my warranty, which is 18 month full replacement and prorated for 75 month thereafter. I asked if they had the equipment to do a load test and the best they can do is a crank test. Would that be sufficient to show a problem other than voltage?

 

[DavidC]

So you didn't do what I suggested. That's about as easy of a test there is. Mine showed 12 something till i tried to start and it immediately went to 5vdc.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Sorry David. Yes, I did but the sun was glaring through the windshield and I think it was showing around 9 but it was such a momentary readout I'm not totally sure.
The passenger side charged to full in about 15 minutes but the driver side is still hovering at about 70% and that's after about 2 hours on the charger.

 

[brucejohnson]

Sorry David. Yes, I did but the sun was glaring through the windshield and I think it was showing around 9 but it was such a momentary readout I'm not totally sure.
The passenger side charged to full in about 15 minutes but the driver side is still hovering at about 70% and that's after about 2 hours on the charger.

Sure sounds like time to visit you NAPA dealer for an adjustment...Find a place that can do a load test. Not sure if your NAPA store would do an exchange/adjustment for the pair if one is checking good, but I would sure make the attempt to pair them up for best performance.

 

[DavidC]

Yeah, sure sounds like battery time, if it dropped to 9 there's at least one bad cell

 

[petersonj]

The truck hasn't been driven for 10 days and I checked the batteries which are reading 12.51-V. Anyhow, turned key on let it go through the wait to start etc and turned the key. It grunted once when the starter engaged and then everything shutdown. No dash lights, no lift pump no overhead console, no headlights etc.

Whenever you have an electrical problem such as this - DON"T mess with the electrical connections right away. Why? Because poor electrical connections can and will change their behavior, especially if twisted, tugged, pushed or pulled upon, or even attempted to clean. Just because a connection is tight and appears to be clean does not mean that it has good electrical continuity.

DO use your multimeter to perform a form of a voltage drop test. This will give you immediate and accurate information.

In your case, I would have a second person hold your multimeter (set on DC volts, appropriate scale) with one lead on the positive battery post and the other lead on the negative battery post of the driver side battery. The leads must be on the posts - NOT the wires clamped to it.

Attempt to crank the engine. If your symptoms are the same and the battery voltage remains the same (within a tenth of a volt or so of static voltage), then the batteries are not the issue. This strongly suggests that you have a poor connection somewhere in the circuit.

If your symptoms are the same and the battery voltage drops dramatically, then the batteries are very discharged or need to be replaced.

The multimeter will not lie.

I think @DavidC was trying to get you to do something similar to this.

You have the best resource on your truck to perform a battery load test. Once your problem is repaired you can perform a voltage drop test using your starter for the electrical load. The starter draws approximately 400 amps while cranking.

* Remove the fuel injection pump relay (stops the engine from starting)
* Hook up multimeter to the driver side battery in the same manner as before.
* Crank over the engine for 15 seconds (the voltage should stay above 10.2 volts for the duration)

- John

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Wow... thanks to everyone for the information and procedures. It's going to be a couple days before I can address this with the '99 as it's month end and they need me (really?) to close the month...in actuality, it's to sign checks. On the side, I've had some unreal offers on this truck, and just maybe, it's getting near that time to let her go to some youngster that has the energy required to maintain and enjoy this 2nd Gen 'A" model. I'll report back in a couple days when all of this is resolved.
Thanks
gregg

 

[NIsaacs]

On the side, I've had some unreal offers on this truck, and just maybe, it's getting near that time to let her go to some youngster that has the energy required to maintain and enjoy this 2nd Gen 'A" model.
gregg

I have found, used trucks are stupid expensive. I guess part of it is, the new ones are so expensive. I have been looking at '10-'13 Ram 2500's, $35k for high mileage and $45k for low mileage. That's just nuts!