bad batteries? again?

[danzick]

for some reason, this truck has been a battery killer. ones I bought it with lasted 2 years. a set of interstates made it 2 years, and now these napas are 2 years and 3 months old and im starting to have problems again. I noticed below about 40 degrees it starts pretty slow. Just tonight, I pulled both window switches up to make sure the windows were shut before I left the truck, and I noticed the headlights dim way down and the voltage gauge went down. truck had been running for about 25 mins and was up to temp. All cables are tight and no corrosion. One thing that did cross my mine was whether or not I chose a good ground location for my battery on the frame?

 

[Chevy1925]

2 years is the average life span. I run dry cell stuff or get mine from Costco. Dry cells seem to last me 3-4 years. Costco has a 3 year warranty and will replace them no questions asked. I swap trailer batteries there every other year to keep a fresh set goin

 

[danzick]

that life span seems awful low. My dad just replaced his 06 batteries in his dodge a month ago. my boss is still running the factory battery in our flatbed work truck from 03. the battery in my old 91 chevy 454 is about 4 years old and still performs like new.

 

[Chevy1925]

that life span seems awful low. My dad just replaced his 06 batteries in his dodge a month ago. my boss is still running the factory battery in our flatbed work truck from 03. the battery in my old 91 chevy 454 is about 4 years old and still performs like new.

Working in the auto industry, I've seen both ends of what your saying. A lot of them fall around the 2 year mark though. I had a set of optimas that lasted 9 years in my truck. Saw 125* highs and -10 degree lows. Then had two sets of lead acids last 1-2 years. Same deal with my samurai though it ran lead acid as well. That's just personal experience. I swapped cop car batteries every 6 months to a year.

Best thing you can do is make sure the alternator is charging correctly and check for excessive draw

 

[OregonDMAX]

11 years on a set of optima ret tops. After 1 month in AZ summer they died.

 

[danzick]

well unfortunately, looks like ill be pulling them to have them load tested. I hate doing that since pulling the battery on the frame is a pain. Not to mention I hate loosing all of my cd player settings! on a side note, does that ground location look ok? that bolt is holding my battery tray on.

 

[chevyburnout1]

If you run the aux ground to the frame do you run another large cable from the frame to the engine? Does the firewall ground and little 10gauge body ground at the driver's front do enough?

 

[danzick]

I'm not sure. To be honest, I cannot remember where the factory cable location was.

 

[jlawles2]

From what I remember, both batteries ground directly to the block. Ground bolts are located toward the front of the block one on each side. There are 1 or 2 straps that go from the block back to the frame and the cab. I know there is a ground strap from the back of the drivers side head to the front of the cab, and I think there is a strap from the block to the frame on the drivers side.

 

[danzick]

Right. Now that you mention it, I think it was where I put the bracket holding my 75.

 

[chevyburnout1]

Both factory batteries have large gauge grounds straight to the engine. There is the ground strap from the back of the driver's cylinder head to the firewall, and then the one small like 10 gauge ground from the front driver's side frame to the driver's battery ground terminal. So in theory the aux battery only has a 10 gauge wire running from it to the rest of the truck. I would think a large gauge wire from the frame to the engine would be needed to utilize all the cranking power.

 

[plowboy_lbz]

Our 05 Cummins feed truck is still on the original batteries. It's had more starts below freezing than above. Dad made the comment the other day about how he wished the rest of the truck held up as well as the batteries. Amazing how some last and some don't. Makes you wonder if it's the truck or quality control.

 

[Awenta]

Our 05 Cummins feed truck is still on the original batteries. It's had more starts below freezing than above. Dad made the comment the other day about how he wished the rest of the truck held up as well as the batteries. Amazing how some last and some don't. Makes you wonder if it's the truck or quality control.

We have 3 caterpillar batteries on a decade now. Start with no problem any weather. And one machine doesn't even have glow plugs.

One of them died 2 years ago because of an alternator that went bad and I was going to change it. Then I remembered that the alternator isn't big enough to recharge a dead battery. Slow charge for two days and it's going strong since then.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[holyshitbatman]

My 99 tahoe did this and i was going nuts cause it would kill and drain batteries quick .came a cross the big 3 upgrade alot of car audio guys do this. basically add big ground straps all over from firewall to frame engine tranny anything with sensors and 0 guage to the frame off the battery i also did the main wires for alternator and power distribution block o r whatever its called.but anyway totally stopped killing batteries and since i got the dmax she just sits at my moms weeks at a time and starts right up. before i was lucky to get 2 weeks before she was totally dead.also tested power before and after with a voltmeter before i was loosing voltage all over after there was only .02 volts loss to the tail lights and nothing dimmed when the subs were pounding.i dont remember how much i was loosing but it was a few volts not a fraction but like 4 or 5 volts

 

[danzick]

im thinking of moving the ground wire back to the engine block. On a side note, I had a buddy helping me check the glow plugs out. I had a test light on the hot wire to the glow plugs. we noticed the wire stays hot 10 seconds after the glow plug light on the dash went out. whats up with that?

 

[Harbin_22]

Your glow plugs stay on for a while depending on temp. The light just tells you they are warm enough to start it. When I put my second battery back on the frame. I used 2 gauge I think and went all the way back to the engine at the factory ground bolt with it. Never had any trouble this way

 

[danzick]

thanks for all of the help guys. I rerouted my ground cable back to the engine block where my bracket holding the 75 is. I feel much better about that. Also, I forgot to add NAPA tested my batteries and they came back bad. hopping after the new batteries and moving the ground cable nests a better start. I also cleaned the rail up that goes on the glow plugs. it looked pretty dirty and might not have been getting a good connection.

 

[Dozerboy]

You need to check the parasitic draw on your batteries while your truck is off. My wifes Tahoe kills batteries every 2 years, because of some electrical issue. I doubt the ground was the issue, but moving it should help with other things. Power windows are a big draw most vehicals light dim because of them.

 

[danzick]

how would I check that?

 

[Burn Down]

how would I check that?

Amp clamp on the battery cable with the key off.