[Garrel84]

Truck is a 1995 f250 and is completely drained right after using the hazards for a short 5 minutes. As i was driving home i noticed my turn signals stopped working. I engaged the hazards once again and after a delay of the hazards the rpm tach bounced with the hazards. Now the next day the batteries are completely drained. Any idea what could cause this?

I have my 3rd rear light bulbs removed so i can get those replaced as well as the license plate lights removed to get them replaced too. The license plate lights are connected directly to the harness (no clips or plugs.)


Thanks in advance to all your help!

 

[bugman]

Bad batteries

 

[Garrel84]

They are brand new less than 1 month old. I must have some kind of parasitic drainage then? Could it be because of the rear license plate lights being connected directly to the harness?

 

[bugman]

I'd put a charger on the batteries and get a full charge on them and then start doing some testing.

It would have to be one large draw to kill both batteries

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk

 

[Garrel84]

How would I even go about testing this?

 

[Garrel84]

My needles on the gauges keep jumping when the hazards are engaged. My signals seemed to stop working now. I’m trying to see the fuses all seem good from what I’ve inspected. I got my batteries charged up also

 

[Patrick Feeley]

I would start by inspecting, cleaning, and tightening every battery cable connection (not just on the batteries, but the other ends of the cables as well). Inspect the cables for evidence of corrosion going back under the insulation. Usually in a single battery situation, you would put an ammeter in between the battery and ground and see what the draw is. Then start pulling fuses until the draw goes away That will be the circuit that the draw is on. Then the digging begins. Cheers!

 

[Garrel84]

Yes that’s what I’ve been checking and it looks very good overall. I’ll keep looking as it will kill my batteries if left alone. Why did it start right as I’m using my hazards and immediately drained the battery within 12hrs of using the hazards? Now my signals don’t even work. So strange

 

[DENNY]

Check alternator output when running.
DENNY

 

[klhansen]

Low voltage for whatever reason (bad batteries, bad cable connections, leaking across fuse box traces from water incursion, etc.) will cause crazy things to happen, like gauges going nuts, or your turn signals not work. If your batteries are fully charged, I could check ALL the cable connections to the batteries, engine block, and positive terminal block on the fuse box. Also look for signs of water intrusion into the fuse box (rust or deposits). Disconnect the alternator cable from the batteries overnight and see if the batteries hold their charge with it disconnected. If they do, then the diodes in your alternator may be bad and sucking the batteries down. An alternator can charge the batteries and still kill them if the diodes are bad.

 

[Garrel84]

can I check alternator output through forscan?

 

[Garrel84]

Low voltage for whatever reason (bad batteries, bad cable connections, leaking across fuse box traces from water incursion, etc.) will cause crazy things to happen, like gauges going nuts, or your turn signals not work. If your batteries are fully charged, I could check ALL the cable connections to the batteries, engine block, and positive terminal block on the fuse box. Also look for signs of water intrusion into the fuse box (rust or deposits). Disconnect the alternator cable from the batteries overnight and see if the batteries hold their charge with it disconnected. If they do, then the diodes in your alternator may be bad and sucking the batteries down. An alternator can charge the batteries and still kill them if the diodes are bad.

I will continue to check all these thank you! Would it be possible that the cause of this is the rear license plate lights because they are now directly connected instead of with a clip and plug? I replaced my license plate lights directly to the harness due to someone damaging them and ever since I’ve noticed my batteries draining.

 

[DENNY]

Do they stay on all the time?
DENNY

 

[Garrel84]

I don’t have any lights in them at the moment so I don’t know. I’ve been having to disconnect the batteries overnight so I will have juice in the morning to start the truck. One thing I notice is my battery volt gauge is showing about 9 volts (very low) and won’t get back to 12 anymore. I’m still looking for any signs of wear. My signals Work again as do my hazards but for whatever reason my battery volts are showing less now

 

[1999f-250superduty]

Your glowplug relay may be stuck on causing the glowplugs to stay on all the time.

 

[Garrel84]

I just changed my glowplug replay with a White/Rodgers 586-902 maybe i wired it wrong? It seemed pretty straight forward with no way to mess up. Im stumped.

 

[bugman]

Did you test your old relay to see if it was stuck on or always on?

On wiring the White/Rodgers, as long as you wire the small eye terminals to the small terminals and the large eye terminals to the large terminals you are good.

But I would even test the White/Rodgers relay. It should be on when you first turn the key on and then shut off around 2 minutes later.

If you just start replacing parts on these trucks you can go broke before you chance on the bad part.

 

[Garrel84]

I didn’t test it. I installed as you also described and truck runs great just noticed that since I used my hazards my battery gauge dropped to 9v now and it drained my batteries since I used hazards. If I don’t use them it seems to hold a charge

I hear what you’re saying. I’ll test more tomorrow to make sure everything's good as I just left the battery terminals loose so I can disconnect overnight to make sure it will start

 

[Garrel84]

I had some loud squealing upon startup and as i drove around it went away. Wondering if this has to do with belt tension and or pulleys/bearings being bad so the alternator isnt working well? I have no idea just throwing suggestions

 

[combatvolcano]

This sounds like it's worth a diagnostic fee to know for sure. No replacement for a great powerstroke mechanic IMO... I am not one so I highly value them.