[iwork4911]

I have been trying to chase the cause of my batteries going dead. I put two new batteries in and they too are going dead (the old ones were bad according to the bench test machine).

When I use a volt meter to check the amp draw on the batteries separately, they are loosing .011 amp each. That is nothing for two 20 amp batteries. These batteries are going down to 7-8 volts each overnight from a full charge. It is 60 degrees here during the day and 35 at night.

Taking that .011 amp number, I used my volt meter to add up all of the little amperage draws from the fuse block inside the engine compartment and they add up to, shocker, .011 amps. So, I have accounted for the amperage draw from the batteries.

What am I missing? Is there anything on the truck that does not run through a fuse that could be drawing power continually? When I hook both of the batteries up together, I see a .25 amp draw compared to the .011 amp draw when they are hooked up separately. I am thinking the .011 amp goes to .25 amps because there is "some" transfer of power between the two batteries since they are surely not "exactly" the same charge all of the time. I am guessing the power goes out of one and into the other battery to bring the lower battery up to equalize the other.????

The engine compartment fuse block amp draws were the following:

Fuse #9 .002 amp power control system
Fuse #1 .009 amp audio power
Fuse #13 .001 amp instrument panel fuses #5,9,13

I have a 1995 F350 Crew Cab, the previous owner had a pyrometer and trans temp gauge installed as well as a 5th wheel trailer light harness in the bed. Other than that, there is an after-market stereo, that's it.

This is driving me nuts!

 

[ledsel]

Same problem

My daughter has the same problem. Sometimes the batteries hold all night and then like today they go from charged to 5volts in an hour. Would it be the computer? It was that when you took of the battery connections off and put them on again the horn would blow till you pushed the horn button.So I took the horn fuse out and it seemed O.K. but now it's still killing the battery some times. Someone help!!!!!!!!:flame:

 

[Excavator]

Try my instructions in this other thread.
You might also have bad alternator do you may want to unhook the alternator as well when checking

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f24/batteries-keep-going-dead-214712/#post1653231

 

[subliminal]

yea im not really familiar with teh psd but i have seen voltage regulators fail and draw batteries down. i think the psd has an internally regulated alt so if you discoed it you might be able to eliminate that as a possibility. phantom loads are a pita!. of course ive noticed its a common problem with fords for some reason...:ford:

 

[ammayernick]

Alternator or quite possibly bad battery cables or connections. Remember a bad connection will cause even more current draw and it gets worse as carbon builds up. Don't forget to check all your negative connections as well. Gooid luck.

 

[Excavator]

Alternator or quite possibly bad battery cables or connections. Remember a bad connection will cause even more current draw and it gets worse as carbon builds up. Don't forget to check all your negative connections as well. Gooid luck.

Andy : You are right about them grounds!!
They can haunt people for months :thumbsup:

 

[ledsel]

I found the problem, it was a sticking solenoid for the glow plugs. Right on top of the engine closest to the front. :thup: P.S. still don't know about the horn trouble.

 

[ammayernick]

How about you pull all the fuses except the PCM fuse(#22 underhood I think)? Then see what happens.

 

[ammayernick]

Pull the horn relay in underhood fuse box.

 

[ledsel]

Thats what I was thinking. Where is the horn relay? It took me 1 hour to find the horn. Some twit at the ford dealer here said that the relay is combined with something else.P.S. This is a 2002 1Ton.

Pull the horn relay in underhood fuse box.

 

[ammayernick]

On the OBS trucks, the underhood fuse box contains the horn relay...right side of box...center relay top to bottom. I carry spares just in case.

 

[ledsel]

Now I'm confused, Where is the underhood fuse box. All I see is on the drivers side inner fender there is three sets of relays. I pulled all of them and horn still blows.

On the OBS trucks, the underhood fuse box contains the horn relay...right side of box...center relay top to bottom. I carry spares just in case.

 

[ammayernick]

Not familiar with the 2002 Superduty. Do you have the Ford operators manual? Can anyone help ledsel out?

 

[Hairball]

iwork... I'd have the alternator checked (most auto parts stores will check them for free). IMHO, the draw you're seeing is too negligible to make a difference and certainly wouldn't drain your battery. They are most likely memory functions for different components (stereo, etc).

 

[ledsel]

It has a mess of fuses under the dash . That's where I took the fuse out from.

 

[iwork4911]

Hairball....

Took the alternator to Checker and they bench tested it, turns out it was bad. I don't know much about alternators, but can a bad alternator drain two batteries when the car is turned off?

Also, I put the new alternator in and the starter is clicking on two fully charged batteries. I took the starter off and bench tested that as well, it was in good working condition.

I wonder if the starter issue is a short somewhere going down to the starter?

 

[02Ford]

i had the same problem, and i replaced the alternator and everything is working out perfect. So i would try to replace the alternator and see if that works.

 

[iwork4911]

02 Ford: thanks!

Does anyone know how many fuseable links are on a 1995 F350 7.3l automatic?

 

[STurbo90]

I think there are 4 all at the starter relay.

A alternator with bad diodes can cause a draw.

 

[Hairball]

iwork... If you haven't already, maybe go through and recheck all your connections. Make sure your battery cables have good, clean connections on both ends. If everything looks good, try checking your batteries while you're cranking... even though they may be charged, they may not have enough power to crank the starter. While cranking, the voltage should be 9.6 volts or greater. Anything less, and your batteries are the culprit. Even though the batteries are new, it may be worth having them checked. Since you've had issues with the alternator and had full charge and discharge several times already... you just never know.

Glad you found the alternator problem though... nice that I can finally help someone else on here.

Harold