Archived Battery wont hold charge

[f.boyle]

my battery wont hold charge if truck starts it will continue to run but it is iffy. I am going or new terminals and battery.

Frank

HHHHEEEEEELLLLLLLPppppp:{

 

[jgallentine]

It sounds like the battery continues to discharge as you run the truck. Is this correct? What does your volts guage show? Could be a lack of alternator output. A repair/service manual should show a procedure for testing the alternator although I do not have one of these manuals.

 

[paccool]

Make sure the terminals and clamps are clean. Take apart and clean then put back together with a little grease to help keep the buildup at a minimum. Lots of wierd things can happen with dirty terminals.



Having said the above, next question is how old is the battery? If it is 4 years or older, I would probably just go ahead and replace. That what I did with mine and it has worked fine ever since. That was about 2 years ago.

 

[Missouri Mule]

All you need is voltmeter or multi tester. You can check volts at battery or check the large wire( B+ output terminal) on alternator (generator).



Alternator(generator) mite not be charging, but battery mite not be able to hold charge.



Batteries should have at least 14. 5 volts at battery terminals.

With engine running and as I recall lights/ac on.



Battery 12. 5 volts wiht engine not running.

 

[f.boyle]

Thank you both very much the battery is a '94 I think my fog lights where on. duhh!!! still need the terminals clean though

thanks again.

Frank

 

[Diesel Freak]

you could also check the electrolyte with a hydrometer.

 

[paccool]

If the battery is a 94, it's 8 years old. I wouldn't fool with it, just replace it. Some might argue that point but I would never trust a battery that old once it starts giving trouble.

 

[DieselDoghouse]

Additionally its a good idea to load test the battery, this uses a cheap tool that is a voltmeter with a resistive load—the voltage under load may not be what a simple voltmeter is showing you. A neighbor or your local garage should have one—takes 2 minutes to do. And I am with Paccool - when intending to fail, a battery has the innate sense to pick the worst time and the worst place!!

 

[BK]

The only two things I can add, to all the above good posts. .



1), when it's hot out, the alternator output can be as low as 13. 5 Vdc and still be fine, when cold, like near 0, it will be up at 14. 5Vdc.



2) your headlights will do a fine job of loading your batteries. with the engine off, your battery will float down from where the voltage WAS with the alternator charging them. They should float slowly down (the better the battery the slower this is, this is "self discharge from the float voltage to plate terminal voltage"), but never pass 12. 6Vdc.

No turn on your headlights, if your batteries hadnt floated down to 12. 6Vdc yet... with the headlights on, you should now be seeing a steady 12. 6Vdc. If the batteries go right down to something less, usually it will be at or less than 12Vdc... one or both of the batteries have a part of a cell bad.



If the voltage just slowly keeps discharging like a tire slowly deflating... the batteries are just out right weak and tired.



A good battery will stay at 12. 6Vdc for atleast an hour with your headlights on.

 

[Ron Bissett]

late but

Check each end of ground strap bad ground will cause many things to go bad. Ron in LOUISVILLE KY

 

[rhoads]

load tester

Fog lambs will kill a battery ,quicker if they are a 94's

When you load test you want to pull the ground on one of the terminals. That way it will tell you which one has a dead cell/broken internal conn. . then pull both cables off that batt. and load test again. thiss will tell you it is or not,a bad batt conn.

A nother way to load test with out the use of the tester is to pull one groune loose --hit the key monentarly and if it trys to crank, hook that one back up, and do the same to the other, If that one just clicks ,or the first one did you have found the "Weakest Link" Mind you best done after charging up the batterys--and turn on the head lamps to remove the surface charge as stated. . DON't hang on the key Just bump enough to see the responce. Low amp's can cause an ark and stick the starter sol contact plate to the said contacts and remain in the crank position. If this ever happens in your rig at any time if life a heavy hammer and a kill er rap to the starter frame will put you back into good standing. .

And If your lights were left on ,put the battery charger on for min. a half hr ,10 min on low then flip too hi for 20 if you need to go soon. It will take 7 hrs to charge up a dead battery on low ot its max. (The correct way) also you have two.

If you have noticed these new alt'rs are small and light thy can put out 120 amp's for a short time but not to recharge dead batt's. They are designed to maintain a charge to good batterys only. . A new alt with a expected life of two yrs min will fail in one year being used as a charger,do it over and over again you do the math$$.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Battery cleaning

Too add to the pile of info here, it is a good idea to keep the top of your batteries very clean. A dirty battery top can also lead to discharge over time. Just take a tester and place one lead on one of the terminals and the other lead on the top of the battery in a dirty spot near the other terminal and you will be amazed when you see the needle register some voltage. Some batteries stay pretty clean while others seep moister out and make a mess.



Mark

 

[dan_gilson]

Instead of grease use No-Oxide A. It is sort of like really thick molassas stuff. You put a very thin coating (too much and it insulates) on posts and the terminal and the battery will drop dead before it will corrode.



Here are a couple of pointer about no-oxide A:

http://www.telephonetools.com/generaltools/item.nhtml?profile=generaltools&UID=116



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34789&highlight=Nooxide



You still need to clean the battery case every so often and add water if you have opened the maintenance free battery.

 

[BK]

I agree with CumminsPower98 & dan_gilson 100%...

It's also the road grime and oil vapors from under the hood that seem to electrostatically get attracted to the battery. That grime is conductive and does drain the battery and in extreme cases can keep it from charging properly (old tiny alternators).



tdramrmbr , good idea with the the grounds.

 

[f.boyle]

WOW!!!:--) Thankds for all the help I will get 2 new batteries as soon as I get $$$ Any good brands??? K&N make a battery:-laf :-{} Just kidding? CAT, Interstate, case who?? If I get CAT I can get 2 1200cca

Frank

 

[jgallentine]

Battery Brands

I don't know if Optima makes one for our trucks but if they do, they make good batteries. I think they are kind of expensive though. Just my $. 02.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Optima batter

I have Optima Red Tops in my truck and they are working very well. I know there are others out there using them also. I really like the fact that they are 100% sealed so there is no mess and battery cleaning like the conventional type. They fit right in the original box but are shorter and smaller all around. The hold down bolts have just enough threads on them to work with the shorter battery. At least they do in my '98 12 valve. They are spendy though. I think I paid something like $130 each for them but if they really last like they say they will then it's worth it. One of my clients (mechanic work) has a '90 F-350 with the 7. 3 Diesel and an ATS Turbo setup on it. I was just working on it the other day and saw it has Optima batteries with a date of '95. This truck is slow starting (may have fuel problem) so I know these batteries have been abused with lots of cranking and they are still going strong. There you have my plug for Optima. Of course there are other good batteries out there if you don't want to spend so much.



Mark

 

[paccool]

For conventional, I like the Interstate brand. Had the best luck with them.



Stan

 

[MidwestMotorman]

another old trick

This is an old trick. You can also test an alternator by holding a wrench near the back, and the magnetic field will pull it to the rear of the alternator if it is working. DONT do this unless the alternator terminals are covered. Sparks and arcing are no fun.

 

[BK]

friends of mine have had great success with Interstate,



I've used a ton of Exide and had great luck with them. About the only one that held up for EV use.