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parasitic battery load on 2004 F250 Superduty

Started by Dan_Shade, December 21, 2009, 09:22:25 PM

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Dan_Shade

I have a 2004 F250 SUPERDUTY.  Yesterday afternoon it wouldn't start, at all, no clicking, no nothing from the solenoid, in fact the dome light would go out as soon as I hit the ignition.

for "grins", i tried to jumpstart it, and it started right up, so I figured it might be the battery or alternator, so I stopped at the local parts store and picked up a battery after work today.  It starts right up now, so I checked the current draw on the battery with it off.  0.120 amps or so with everything off.  2.xxx amps with the dome light on.

It's charging 14.5 volts with highbeams, flashers, dome light, heater blower on high, and radio on.  So the alternator is charging, but i'm not sure what the load against the battery should be with everything off.

So in summary, do any of you fellas know what a normal parasitic load on a newer vehicle should be?
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

sprucebunny

I can't answer the question... but how long had it been sitting when it wouldn't start ?

Fords seem to often have ground wire problems.

MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Dan_Shade

3 hours....

if it was the battery, it failed extremely fast.  but as of now, symptoms are leading to that.  but... it could be some wierd ground problem....
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

sprucebunny

Not a Ford story but ... I have a Toyota 4runner that the antenna would go up and down whenever it felt like it. I could hear it doing it occaisionally from my bedroom at night or when I walked by it.
I changed the battery and the alternator and finally the starter and it stopped doing it. Go figure.
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Dan_Shade

Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

sprucebunny

Shhhhhh!

I try not to park it near anything else so the others won't catch it  :D

Antenna isn't supposed to do anything unless the radio is turned on. The radio has a faceplate that wasn't even attached  :o
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

celliott

Cant tell you about your truck, but I do know Volkswagons are notorious for electrical gremlins.
Chris Elliott

Clark 666C cable skidder
Husqvarna and Jonsered pro saws
265rx clearing saw
Professional maple tubing installer and maple sugaring worker, part time logger

Ianab

I had a battery fail in my little Toyota the other day. No warning. It failed at the gas station while I was filling up. Got back in to drive away.. nothing. Not even a click, not even enough power to run the radio.

Had to push it out of the way and call the local Auto Electrician, luckily about 500 yards away. He jumpstarted the car, we drove to his shop, tested the battery and there was no one home. New battery, drove away happy.

If the car has an alarm or remote locking then it's going to draw some power even when 'off'. But a low draw like that will take months to run down a large battery.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

sawguy21

I have had a battery do that. No warning, just dropped dead. There normally will be a slight draw to maintain memory in the 'puter, clock, radio tuner and the like.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

gary


Captain

Back to your question on Parasitic Draw, you state the truck has a 120 mA draw...that's pretty high.  It is tough these days to test parasitic draw without a proper disconnect to test it.  You can't test it accurately with an Ammeter (or the Amps function of a multimeter) just with a straight battery disconnect and reclosing the circuit with the meter.  There are too many computers that requie all sorts of messaging back and fourth to power up ans shut down properly.  The best way to test parasitic draw is with a "test switch" wired inline with the negtive battery post that allows the meter to be added then the circuit broken, insuring continutity of the circuit through the battery disconnect.  Another point on testing is that it may take nearly an hour for all of the modules in the vehicle go into "sleep" (low power) mode, and your ability to measure the extended parasitic draw accurately .

Anyhow, parasitic draw is usually CALCULATED by taking the battery's reserve capacity (in minutes) and dividing by 4.  For example a battery with a reserve capacity of 160 minutes, the acceptable parasitic draw is 40 mA (.040 Amps).  Reserve capacity is not always a spec printed on the top of the battery, you have to refer to the manufacturer's specifications on the battery in their catalog.  Most vehicles are well under 40 mA....unless they have lots of aftermarket electrical devices.

Captain


johnjbc

Looks like It shouldn't be over 50 ma. After it settles down (> 30 min)
This link shows using a shunt across a meter on the negative side of the battery to allow things shutdown normally.

http://www.alldatadiy.com/alldata/AFI~G~C32422~R0~OD2~N/0/56775861/62803346/62806465/62806466/34853741/34863246/34864178/124190791/144244742

LT40HDG24, Case VAC, Kubota L48, Case 580B, Cat 977H, Bobcat 773

IMERC

check circut # 22 to the fuel heater for the draw...

this site has some good folks that are true know it alls... very good....

http://www.thedieselstop.com/
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish.... Here fishy fishy....

SPIKER

Nearly identical truck at work, his truck has auto/remote start cold temp.   the guys went out to lunch his truck was out idling (all by it's self.)  he had set his keys down in Am in office. figured he must have hit the auto start cold start, it idled away for 4+ hours out there (he is one of the first guys to the shop to un-lock & all.)   No body noticed or said anything about it running in AM but it is dark so hard to say when it decided to start up.   He went out to shut it off and saw it used up almost 1/2 tank of fuel :o :(   he shut it off and on leaving work the thing was 100% dead, not even a click, it jump started right up with good charging voltages.   next AM it was dead again...   again started right up with a jump.   made it to work and about 9 am (break time) the thing was running all by its self again!?!?   and would not start at lunch time ?? ???  OK now I have not heard anymore (I'm off this week that was last week.)  Looking at the remote start might have a problem so it was disconnected by one of the guys at work. 
( had remote alarm that when the remote battery got weak it would arm & disarm about every min or so.  that was really annoying to say the least... )   
Batteries can and do fail quick like others mentioned, internal short.  I had one that I hit a pothole on way to movies, it was winter and dark running lights radio heater wipers ect.   the ALT light kicked in and lights started to dim some,   I pulled into car place that checks the alt/.bat for free and changes them too.   yep dead open in the plates...   the plates must have got banged just right and killed it...

mark
I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

easymoney

those remote thingies can sometimes be a pain. i had a pontiac that i have came out and found the trunk open more than once. the remote got pushed in my pocket in the house. other times the horn would start blowing. i guess it was getting lonesome. also i have had batteries totally fail with no wartning.

sawman

 Was it the original battery?  5 years isn't to bad I wouldn't think.
I also have had batteries go that quick, all fine one minute, and the next nothing.
'14 LT40 Hydraulic 26 HP koehler ,massey ferguson 2200 forklift, Case IH D40
Wallenstein FX85

H60 Hawk Pilot

I can give you general troubleshooting guidelines that work on all equipment.

Battery's that are down can have so  many things causing it. Vehicle's that are older (1994) have muti issues.. the cables, corrosion everywhere, ground straps to engine, to frame, to starter, starter shorting out, green stuff in the connector wiring, etc. .

I always check the battery with a load type meter. Also, Autozone & Advance Auto will check your system for free .. they are looking to sell you a battery or whatever... but you don't need to buy from them.

Back to the battery, if some type of load pulled the battery down, then, charge it up and try a lower charge rate over abou six hours or so at 10 amps. Most battery chargers are automatic so go with what you have. Do not over charge a battery, it will over heat and gas and if a spark occurr's ... it will blow up.. acid in your eyes. Something you will care to experience a 2nd time. Battery's that have a swelled case have been over charged or froze or both. Batt's with over expanded cases are junk.. I never saw one that was Ok, perhaps holding a charge but not much more than that.

Ok, verify battery is charged up and load test it, should hold up to ten second's of load and remain in green range on load bank meter. If No meter, crank engine over and if good crank speed.. It should be  A  Ok. If you have load on the battery with the key off.. then check the amount of load. All vechicle's have computer loads and the clock and radio settings, etc. .  Most vechicles can set for 30 days or more without running and provide enough battery level for starting in warmer weather states.

I remove one of the battery cables and use a small jumper to touch back to the disconnected post  to see the amount of smark jump when I lightly touch the caple to the post. From experience, if I hardly see anything.. it's normal. If I see a stronger type spark, then I'm looking for the cause of it. Sometimes, it's very simple, dome light switch or brake lights staying on through the switch. If I have a amp clamp.. then I leave things connected and read directly off the amp clamp. If I have a load then, I pull most of the fuses to see the load go away.. or pull all of them..  and stick them in untill I see the load appear.. it does not matter which way you go about it.


Getting Long Winded.. Best of luck.

Avery

Case 1150B & IHC TD-340 Dozer's, IHC 4WD 3800 & CAT 436B Hoe's, Franklin 170, Semi's: (1) Freightliner, (2) KW's, Marmon, Mack w/ Prentice Ldr., F-700 Crane Trk., (6) Mid Size Trk's. - Dumps, Flats, 1 Ton w/ 40 ft. 5th Whl. & (4) Semi Tlr's., LM 2000 Mill, (2) XL 12's., Solo 681, EFCO 152, Old Iron.

red oaks lumber

i have a 2000 f-250 superduty, she eats a new battery every year, just replaced it last week. had my mechanic test everything alls good when i take back the old battery the part store tests it junk full replacement. 4 years 4 batteries no explanantion. i think its the sawmill gremlins just trying to torment every angle of my life. lol
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

easymoney

i have an older nissan truck that got to where if it sat more than a 2 or 3 days the battery would be down. i thought i had a bad battery but the horn did not work when i got it and i found that the horn relay was staying pulled in and it was drawing enough current to run the battery down if i did not drive it every day or so.

Woodchuck53

Evening all, I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Here's my story. I drive a 1999 Camaro back and forth to work. 14 and 14. While home in October I had some errands in town and took the car instead of the truck. I check my hood every week so didn't think twice that it had been parked for a week. Ran 6 or 7 errands and stopped at the marine dealership. Took care of business and went to leave, no juice. The counter fellow had cables so jumped me off and no problems. Showing good charge and finished my errands. Now it didn't do it again that day and hasn't missed a lick since. Go figure.
Case 1030 w/ Ford FEL, NH 3930 w/Ford FEL, Ford 801 backhoe/loader, TMC 4000# forklift, Stihl 090G-60" bar, 039AV, and 038, Corley 52" circle saw, 15" AMT planer Corley edger, F-350 1 ton, Ford 8000, 20' deck for loader and hauling, F-800 40' bucket truck, C60 Chevy 6 yd. dump truck.

Jeff

Quote from: Ianab on December 22, 2009, 12:04:36 AM
I had a battery fail in my little Toyota the other day. No warning. It failed at the gas station while I was filling up. Got back in to drive away.. nothing. Not even a click, not even enough power to run the radio.

Yesterday Morning I went out to start the truck to take Tammy to an eye appointment.  Nothing. Not even a dome light, not a flicker of juice anywhere.  I had the oil changed the evening before, ran through the car wash, then cam home and parked it without any indication of anything amiss, then yesterday morning, NO JUICE!  :D So we took her car. I hate to ride in a car btw.  It rained all day yesterday and I didnt have to go anywhere else so I didnt even look at it.  This morning its not raining so I drug the charger out of the barn, and hooked it up.  Turned the key on and I have power. I have not tried to start it yet, I figured I would just see if it would charge.  I'll check it in a bit.   I have never had a battery just fail like that with no warning. I'm hoping that's what it is.  That's easy.  :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

I might add, this is a 1999 chevy with 330,000 miles and we have NEVER had to replace the battery. Its still the original. Unbelievable.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Raider Bill

Jeff,

My 01 Chevy Silverado has had 3 batt's in 100K miles. Nothing else.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Jeff

Well, maybe the battery still lives.  I just went out, pulled the charger off, and it started right up. I got to looking and testing and found the positive terminal was loose enough for me to move by hand. Maybe that's all it was. I'll let it charge for another half hour and call it good until I get stranded somewhere. :D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

tyb525

I had the happen recently with my 1998 chevy 1500. The battery was a year old. One morning it was totally dead for no apparent reason, had to get a new one.

I have also had that happen with side post batteries, its hard to get a good connection with those so you think they are dead.

Also, I work part time at an auto service center.
I was changing the oil on a Taurus with remote start. The keys were in it on the seat. I had it up on the lift, the oil was just finishing draining out...and what do you know the car starts itself out of nowhere! :o

So of course there was a mad dash to lower it down and pull any wire we could find to get it to shut off.. :D

It was fine after running with no oil for about a minute..
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

bl73

had a old Ram Power Wagon do this about every 6 months, finally figured out after charging the battery a few times it was the negative connection, that old cummins had a way of rattling things loose.

olyman

and another one. alternators can short three different ways. that being said,disconnect the heavy charge wire, and charge the batts full up. if the batts dont drop after a day--internal short in alt--and yes, the alt will still charge correct,but a internal short of three diff kinds will drop a batt. and some shorts real quick..............

Jeff

I've had another issue, that could be a short, but have not found a cure. We thought we did, but it still doing it once in a while.   You can here the blinker flasher blinking after the blinkers are turned off.  The blinkers no longer blink, but the flasher continues to click.  Also, the horn blows a fuse usually within days of replacing it.  I'm scared to death of a short in the steering column.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Raider Bill

Now that you mention it my horn has never worked long either. I generally use my finger so forgot all about the horn issue :D
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

stonebroke

Quote from: Jeff on March 14, 2010, 09:56:57 AM
I might add, this is a 1999 chevy with 330,000 miles and we have NEVER had to replace the battery. Its still the original. Unbelievable.


So are you going for the record?

Stonebroke

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Hilltop366


The electrical on 99 GM's and other years near there are real bad around here, we have lots of salt in the air all year and on the roads in the winter, might just take a few extra years to show up out your way.
The rust is so aggressive around here that if you don't spray something on a Kia gas filter it will rust out before it needs to be serviced.


On the battery thing I have seen batteries go dead over night and need a boost every morning until the top of the battery was wiped off then it worked fine for years after that.  It was dirty enough to draw a bit of current from + to the -.

johnjbc

QuoteI set a new one every day.

I might have you beat! My 94 Ram wouldn't start  when it was 5 years old. smiley_crying smiley_crying  So I went to Montgomery Ward's and bought 2 new batteries. Last fall I noticed that it took a couple extra cranks to start and I didn't want to get stranded in the woods hunting.  smiley_crying smiley_crying I unhooked one battery and it still started  :D but when I tried the other one it wouldn't start. ::) Last week I charged up the good one and will be replacing the one in my Case 580 that was bought in the early 90's. Looks like were having a contest.  smiley_horserider smiley_horserider
LT40HDG24, Case VAC, Kubota L48, Case 580B, Cat 977H, Bobcat 773

PineNut

I have had sudden battery failure. Stopped at a shop and when I came out, the battery was totally dead. Thought it was probably a connection but a volt meter on the battery showed zero. Best I could figure was an internal connection inside the battery broke.

Jeff

Truck has been setting a couple days now. I just went out and tried to start it and it fired off no problem. I guess the loose terminal was the culprit. Maybe it never was dead, just not making a connection.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

tyb525

That has happened more than once with my truck, the side post terminals are prone to coming loose.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

mr T


  One thing you might want to check is alternator plug ins for corrosion Ford reccomends using dielectric grease on them Can short out & cause fires according to napa instuctions which i read after installing

Jeff

I went out to drive the truck today for the first time.  Put it in gear and it wouldnt move. No forward, no reverse nada. When I would move it back to park I would get a strange noise like something not going into gear. OH CRAP!

  The clock was several hours off as well and the radio presets were all gone.   I eventually noticed that the push button switches for 4 wheel drive functions had a red neutral light on between 2 high and 4 high.  I pushed the 2 high button and the green light came on.   All I can figure is if you have a complete power loss, that even blanks the clock and radio, that the electric shift switch for 4wd goes into neutral as well. There is no button to put it in neutral, only a red neutral warning light I had never saw before today.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

isawlogs


A good day is one you learn from , you , mon ami , had a good day !!!!!!!!!!!  ;D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

stonebroke


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