Battery Goes Dead in Four Days

[Greenleaf]

My 92 dies in four days time setting. It tested an amp draw of 6. 1ma and the test light "test" will illuminate a test lamp buld dimly. It will not start even on a warm summer day after setting four days.



The battery is of a national top brand and is five years old.



Any idea if the amp draw is too high? After two days time the battery voltage is 12. 6

 

[B.G. Smith]

6. 1 ma should not run the bat. down in four days. Check the voltage while truck is running and see what the alternator/regulator is putting to the bat. It should be in the 14. 5 volt or slightly higher range when cold. Will taper off when the system warms up but should stay above 13. 5 volts with engine running. bg

 

[PToombs]

Pull fuses until the test light goes out. Then leave it for 4 days and see if it starts. Mine will go dead, but it takes about a month. 4 days is nothing for it. I'm not sure if 6ma is a lot or not. We have loaders at work that will suck the battery dead in 2 weeks. The 24v to 12v converter draws power constantly. I'll ask the other tech how much it draws.

 

[Jgolden]

Five years for a modern battery can be "old". A daily use batt might not have a problem,but short trips under load (fans etc. ) might be leaving it under charged, or it may no longer take a full charge.

 

[MMeier]

Why are you letting a first gen sit for 4 days in the first place??? Get out and drive that poor thing !!!!

 

[ChrisWilliams]

At full charge, your battery should read 13. 2 volts with each cell providing 2. 2 volts. Charge the battery fully, then remove the surface charge. You can do this with a load tester or unhook the battery cables and let it sit overnight. Now, check the voltage. This is a good way to check for bad cells on a sealed battery. You really need to check the amp capacity and to do this, you need a load tester. If the battery is bad, it won't carry a load for long. I suspect, with a 5 year old battery, it has lost most of it's amp capacity. The starter on a CTD pulls a pretty good load from the battery, just not for very long. I would expect the battery to hold around 12. 8 volts after a 30 second load test, depending on the amp draw of the load tester.

 

[JLEONARD]

Five years for a modern battery can be "old".

5 years is actually GOOD battery life. Might be time to break down and replace it.

That said MY battery, new in March, went belly up last weekend here at work. Was sitting here for 6 days... (did some business travel, then wife picked me up for the weekend of boating).

Would not come close to turning over. Had to push it to get it going downhill and pop start it.

When I got home all was up to snuff and seems fine now...

The culprit... . my underhood light was not turing off when the hood was shut.

Was probably like that for a month since I had the hood off to paint it.

Now that light will never bother me again...

 

[Greenleaf]

First off I have two diesels and can only drive one at a time.



Short trips? I have to drive almost 3 whole miles to work!



The battery is showing 13. 7 volts when engine is running. Fan on or off and lights on or off it remains the same.

 

[JLEONARD]

13. 7 is a little light IMO. I always see above 14 in just about any application... . sometimes 15.

Not sure what the min spec is though... I'd have to look it up.

But if you are only putting back 13. 7 and doing very short trips then you are never charging your battery back up.

Take trip and go bug Tugger... . your battery should be charged by then.

 

[ChrisWilliams]

Drive for an hour or two and then check it. It should be 14 to 14. 5 volts once the battery reaches full charge. The alternator charges at higher than battery voltage to overcome internal battery resistance, usually a little over 1 volt. If your battery internal resistance it too high, you will never see 14 volts and will eventually lead to premature alternator failure. You may be able to wake-up your battery by putting a high amp charge to it for an hour or two. This can boil some of the sulfur off the plates and sometimes wake-up a fading battery. Use the Boost setting for 20 minutes, then 20 amps for an hour. Be careful not to boil it dry or get it too hot.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Greenleaf, get the bus garage to buy a smart charger and use it on your truck battery. (Vector was selling them but I think Black and Decker may have them now) They have a rejuvination cycle on them that removes the sulphates from the plates or at least is supposed to. I have one and they definitely work. Be extremely careful about putting a high charge rate (boost) on a battery for any length of time, good way to dsrench old faithful with acid. On a side note, I had a 89 Ramcharger that only charged 13. 5 volts and batteries didn't last long in it as it was my short trip vehicle, I found the wire that fed voltage to the computer and put a variable resistor in the line, I was able to fool the computer and raise to top charging rate. Good luck. bg

 

[JLight]

Greenleaf, I assume the battery is clean on top? My pappy taught me to make sure no dirt and moisture is on top of battery as it will draw the juice out of it. My thought on this matter is pull the battery and take it to a auto parts store that will charge and LOAD TEST the battery (usually for free!) Them there cells will go bad without warning! Let us know how you make out! JLIGHT

 

[Philip]

6. 5 ma is a little higher than I would like to see. I prefer down in the 4. 5 range or less. But that shouldn't drain a battery in 4 days.



It takes three weeks for my battery to die when I leave the CB on. :-laf



Have you unhooked the battery for that same 4 days and then rehooked it and tried to start the truck? That would take the truck electrical system out of the equation.

 

[tugboatphil]

Scott, I thought one of those Dodges was supposed to be for the Missus?? Stop being so greedy!

 

[Greenleaf]

I use the shops ultra cheap battery tester and it said that battery will pull a load for ten seconds and remain above the limit.



I tried to clean the battery terminals but the positive was so buggered up it wasn't worth it so I cut the end off and crimped another on. Also had to make all new ends for the other wires that fasten to the pos. terminal.



I changed the ends ober to the 3/8th inch threased stud and installed a new Decka Group #31 w/threaded posts.



I will save the other battery for the farm tractor.



I agree that the batery isn't getting fully charged in the short trips but then it takes nothing from the battery to start the engine when all it does is turn the engine 1/4 turn and it be running.

 

[Jgolden]

Put a hand crank on it.

 

[Greenleaf]

Put a hand crank on it.

I felt compelled to assist a stranded motorist @ a farm show w/a dead battery. This guy dad a GM Dura-stud engine in his truck. That thing has to crank for like 5-7 seconds to fire. It took me at least an hour to charge his battery enough to turn the engine over long enough to fire that diesel of his. Stupid HEUI fuel systems... .

 

[Jgolden]

It is amazing to see how little rotation it takes to start a 5. 9.

Being a resident of "geezer world" I have memories of many hand cranked gas tractors, and a small (GM i think) diesel sawmill engine that would crank start on gas (compression release) then shift to Diesel when warm. I think it must have had plugs and carb for the gas cycle, but can't remember the details.

I was always wanting it not to start but it generally did.

 

[JLEONARD]

It is amazing to see how little rotation it takes to start a 5. 9.

Yes but it needs speed for that little rotation

 

[dpuckett]

..... GM Dura-stud engine..... Stupid HEUI fuel systems... .

FORD has the HEUI. GM has the same pump (or did in 02-03) as the new HPCR Cummins.



DP