Ross Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 So I finally made it back to town from New Orleans ...I'll say I left the French 1/4 at about 5am Monday morning and leave it at that Anyway - I get home and my battery is dead. This battery is about 1 month old. Truck has 125k on it and its the original alternator. I was thinking the alternator was going bad anyway and one day my aeroforce gauge was reading only 12 volts. Havent had any issues with it since though. Could the alternator be the issue and cause a draw like this? I was gone for 5 days... The only other thing that has been installed electronically is the aeroforce gauge and the fuel psi switch that comes from a 5v source on the headlight switch. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted February 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 No one? I'm going to charge the battery tonight and see whats up with it. Any ideas on how to test the alternator, other than having Autozone bench test it? I've heard you can disconnect the positive side of the battery after starting and the truck should run like normal if the alt is good.... ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex.t Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 once you get the truck charged take it to any automotive shop and get them to hook up to the battery and they can test the battery and the alternator and let you know if either is bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachm89 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 id put my vote on the alternator...mine is starting to go out and i have alot less miles on my truck than you do. every once in a while ill have to jump it off because the alt. charge isnt up to snuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomp62301 Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I went through 2 red tops in a year. I don't have much faith in those things anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSThunder Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 my alt went out a long time ago. Those things don't last long. I upgrade it to the 145 amp version. These crappy 105 amp suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I put a meter on the battery last night - 3.5volts....I didn't even know that was possible. Any who - charged it up and the truck started fine - gauge was reading 14.5 volts. Going to check it again when i get home and then run up and have Azone check the alternator. If thats it, I'm def upgrading to the 145. Thomp - what went wrong with your red tops? I thought these were great?? I'd much rather have it be the battery - again, this one is about a month old Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desrtrat Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 have your alt bench tested, and see if you have any bad diodes, or a small short in the windings. not uncommon with any alt that been around for some time.. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast4popper Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 funny how people blame Optimas. I have run them for YEARS without problems. I have 2 in the truck now and no issues. take care of them and they will serve you well for years to come. BUT like any battery, deep cycle it and its gone. you will get more life out of it than a wet cell, but they arent indistructable as some think they are. I keep my truck on a trickle charger every minute its not running. overkill? Sure, but just like an oil change, its call maintaining a vehicle. with all of the electronics in our new vehicles, they will die overtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Silv Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 (edited) funny how people blame Optimas. I have run them for YEARS without problems. I have 2 in the truck now and no issues. take care of them and they will serve you well for years to come. BUT like any battery, deep cycle it and its gone. you will get more life out of it than a wet cell, but they arent indistructable as some think they are. I keep my truck on a trickle charger every minute its not running. overkill? Sure, but just like an oil change, its call maintaining a vehicle. with all of the electronics in our new vehicles, they will die overtime. I'm sure it would be a pain in the ass if your truck dies. Would you loose all of your audio settings? It always sucked for me when my truck died because I would have to reset everything on my head unit, but I am sure it's easier for you to do yours. On the other hand, my truck has never died since I installed a yellow top 3 years ago. I also have 125k on the truck. Edited February 12, 2010 by SS Silv (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superchevything Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Im waiting for my other stuff to come in to upgrade my alt. I put in a interstate in last april so i should be good for now i think. Im wondering if i should get one of those gel batts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscareltemblo Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 I have an optima and I had same problem once. Had it for 2 months then I left the truck sit for one month one time and it was dead I recharged it and it hasn't done that ever since maybe something from the truck stayed on who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 I'm going to re-visit this. I had everything tested on the truck a while back. They replaced the optima and I've been unplugging my aeroforce gauge. Today I went out to start the truck and it was dead (6.2volts) - last started it on Saturday when I drove it to pick something up. There's got to be a current draw somewhere...they tested the alt at autozone but said it seemed fine. I'm still leaning that way but I don't want to just dump a couple hundo on something that wont fix this issue. Any more ideas? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex.t Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 do you have any stereo equipment , is the radio shutting off when you turn the truck off is there a light that could be drawing power, i dunno theres so many electrical things its so hard to find, the real only way is to start pulling fuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 do you have any stereo equipment , is the radio shutting off when you turn the truck off is there a light that could be drawing power, i dunno theres so many electrical things its so hard to find, the real only way is to start pulling fuses. Only thing I have is a pioneer p4000dvd - but its been in the truck for over a year and im just now having this problem. No new electrical mods other than the Aeroforce gauge and the fuel psi sensor - Which I've unplugged... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.