odd electrical problem

[mwabd1]

Ok so I hopped into the front seat of my '05 2500 this morning and the horn started going off, this continued for ~5 minutes until the fuse finally blew. After that the bed lights would not shut off and I started getting wierd warning lights going on and off. Reluctantly I drove to work and after 30 minutes I went to unhook the batteries and the problem went away?



I am thinking that either one of my batteries is dead or dieing or maybe the ECU is screwed... .....



I did install a Westach combo gauge a month ago and took the power for the boost gauge off of the headlight switch, I have not pulled anything off yet to check the connections but I can't understand how that would have affected anything as the gauge has no power with the lights off??



Any thoughts?

 

[mwabd1]

On another note, I unhooked the batteries and I have one at 13v and the other at 11. 4v



Could the battery at 11. 4v be bad and maybe cause the problem I had?

 

[Prairie Dog]

Yes, the battery at 11. 4v has a shorted cell ~ time to replace them both!

I have no idea why that would cause the horn problem though.

Last year I bought a brand new set of batts from NAPA and 1 of them had a shorted cell from the begining so it may be worth it to check the voltage of them before you leave the store.

 

[mwabd1]

Well the drivers side battery was toast! On a load test it immediatly dropped to zero.



It still amazes me that the darn horn was blowing non stop, the bed light would not turn off and a bunch of the dash warning lights were coming on and off.



Replaced the battery and all is good for now!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Your truck was trying to tell you something!

 

[MMeier]

Well the drivers side battery was toast! On a load test it immediatly dropped to zero.



It still amazes me that the darn horn was blowing non stop, the bed light would not turn off and a bunch of the dash warning lights were coming on and off.



Replaced the battery and all is good for now!

You did mean to say "batteries", correct ??

 

[WhiteSheep]

Prairie Dog was right. When weird electrical things start to happen with these trucks, check the battery; your truck is trying to tell you something. I had the dancing instrument cluster effect the last time a battery failed. Turned out to be a bad cell in one battery.

 

[AH64ID]

You did mean to say "batteries", correct ??

I hope so, or he could be shopping for 2 new ones again very soon. Just like in a flashlight, when you replace one battery in a multi-battery system you replace them all.