Batteries drained...

[abfiegen]

My truck has been in storage for about a month now. Everything seemed to work just fine when I parked it. I went to start it today and it had no power. No headlights, backlit gauge cluster, glowplug relay click, etc. The only electrical issue I've ever had was a parasitic drain from the dome light being stuck on. I removed the fuse associated with the dome light and it has been that way ever since. I THINK this fuse also had the glove box light on it?? I also recently installed an electric lift pump in place of the mechanical lift pump. It's on a relay. It has sat for multiple weeks without battery drain since installing the new lift pump. I haven't had a chance to do any troubleshooting cause it's parked in a storage unit barely long enough for it so I may not be able to answer many questions yet. Thoughts??

 

[JLtoolman]

How old are the batteries?

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

Alternators can drain batteries if internally failing.

Why not disconnect negative battery cables if storing for extended periods of time?

 

[abfiegen]

My batteries are new as of either March 2013 or March 2014. Can't recall. My truck was only going to be in storage for a month or so so I guess I didn't consider disconnecting the battery. It sat unused from Oct '14 - Apr '15 and the batteries were perfectly fine so I feel pretty good about them. My friend mentioned he has a Honda motorcycle with a fusible link that effectively acts as the fuse for the whole battery and it faed on him just on account of being 25 yrs old. Is there such a thing on these trucks?

 

[crash-harris]

There are a few fusible links on our trucks. They are on the passengers side fender beside the battery. Yellow wire that attach to the fender mounted starter relay. Only the largest one would cut power to the entire truck, but everything would go down. My gasser had some issues and I replaced mine with fuses and a 30 amp breaker for the largest one. Had 3 seperate instances where the 30 amp breaker fried (1st time) and piped two 30 amp fuses leaving me dead in the water at an intersection and again on a hill. Had to coast down backwards at 2am on a backroad. Replaced it with a 35 amp breaker and no problems.

BUT...you would've had to get some high power draw wires grounded or lost some major ground connections while trying to initiate a high power draw (like hearing glow plugs and attempting to start). Guess mice could've done you dirty. But have you checked the actual battery voltage with a multimeter?

 

[icanfixall]

My guess is the alternator diode bridge failed and when that happens the diode that did not open will create a draw and suck down the batteries. Easy way to check this is feel the alternator in the morning after sitting with full charged batteries. If the alt is warm then you have a diode failed. They are a fairly simple repair but most times its rebuilt alternator time because many times the brushes are well worn too or the rotor has deep scars in it from well worn brushes.

 

[DaveBen]

Your batteries sat from Oct 14 through Apr 15, over six months. These trucks have a small amount of drain constantly to keep the PCU memory fresh and things like that. Six months is too long to expect your batteries to hold a charge.

Dave

 

[riotwarrior]

Your batteries sat from Oct 14 through Apr 15, over six months. These trucks have a small amount of drain constantly to keep the PCU memory fresh and things like that. Six months is too long to expect your batteries to hold a charge.

Dave

PCU on a 5 speed...whatchutalkinboutwillis?

 

[crash-harris]

More like the keep alive memory on the radio for settings and saved stations, etc. No active PCU/PCM/EEC on an IDI with a manual transmission.

 

[madpogue]

Disconnect both battery negatives and close both/all doors. Connect an ammeter between one of the battery negative cable terminals and the corresponding post on the battery. Start pulling fuses until the meter reads zero. That's where to trace the source of your load.

 

[abfiegen]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm a bit electrically ignorant I'm afraid to say. Like I said my truck's pretty tightly packed into my storage unit so I won't be able to get to doing some of this troubleshooting til I get some stuff cleared out.