Battery too dead to jump?

[MtnHaul]

It's been cold lately--at least "cold" by California central coast standards--and the temps in the low 30s seem to have killed my battery. I went to start the truck up today and just a slow crank like the battery was low. AAA sent out a TT promptly and while I waited I cleaned the battery posts and cable connections. The TT driver was unable to jumpstart my truck and it seemed that there was less and less juice with each attempt. Now I have no idea just how weak my batts were but I have never heard of a battery being too weak to jump. Fortunately I was able to get a ride to Sears and grabbed some new DieHard Golds. I am curious as to what else I could have done to get on the road again if purchasing new batteries was not an option. What could the TT driver have done differently that might have given me the juice to start? As I understand it the passenger battery is the preferred one to hook to the cables but this is my first experience with a dead diesel battery so I don't know much here. Any tips on handling a diesel jumpstart would be appreciated.

 

[Ciulster]

Trickle charge with a battery charger on 2amp overnight. If you don't drive often or as batteries get older the lead plates in them are converted to sulfates. Slow charging and battery conditioners can help reverse and prevent this but older batteries that have been left out in the cold are very prone to going past "the point of no return"

My truck has two 950 cold cranking amp batteries in it which should be enough to turn over a tank. But they are 5 years old and I let them sit in -32F weather for about 4 weeks and even though it warmed up to about 40 degrees out leaving them to charge on 12 amp for 2 hours and then jumping them off my car at 3000 rpm only got the starter to click ONCE!

I left them on the 2 amp overnight and put it on the 75 amp starter function this morning and it started up, but barely. Point is I need new batteries, and you probably did too. Good move on buying some.

 

[pelky350]

Having similar issues recent cold temps have killed my batteries a couple times. I don't drive much latley less than 5 miles a day, has taken it's toll along with temps in the teens and not plugged in it would not start a couple times now, but batteries aren't very onl only a couple years about. I solved this by using a 3 amp trickle charger every couple days when I start to notice slower cranking in the mornings.

 

[Ciulster]

Alternatively, when in a pinch and you NEED to jump-start don't just keep hammering on the starter like you would in a little econobox. These big diesels take gobs of electricity and even when hooked up to a running car trying to start within seconds of each other will run the batteries down if unsuccessful.

When my batteries got too low to crank my truck over we tried jumping it off my dad's 6.0 litre Chevy Vortec which asides my 6.9 is the biggest motor and alternator in the household. Same thing was happening. Every crank was lower and lower power. But if we sat and let it charge for 5 minutes it would gain some speed back. After about 20 minutes of him idling and then gunning it we were able to start my rig, although shakily. It goes to show you how much power hogs these trucks are and how they will even outstrip a gasser in power requirements for cranking over.

If you are going to be having periods of time where you aren't going to be driving for a while or it's getting colder out and you want to keep the batteries in all of your vehicles in tip top shape I would invest in a smart charger. They have a 2-3 amp trickle charge that automatically shuts off when it reaches proper voltage and restarts when it drops down again, as well as having 10-12 amp regular charge for charging regular dead batteries in a few hours. Most also come with at least a 75 amp start function but as you buy fancier and fancier ones they can get up to 200 amps or more. Which for comparison is around the output of an alternator in some newer diesels. My car only has a 65 amp alternator. My school's mechanics shop had one and it was awesome! Way better than the junk charger I have that is from the 1980's.

 

[pelky350]

Yeah it will take about 15-20 minutes to jump start one of our trucks from a dead dead battery I've had to do this a few times now and I've learned to not even try for at least 10 minutes or so with the other rig that's jumping me at above idle Rpms at least 1500 because alternators don't charge as much at idle and it will make jump starting more successful

 

[MtnHaul]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I should have let it charge longer and maybe would have had luck. I thought I would be OK for a day or two as the truck barely fired the day prior but then started fine once warmed up after a few errands. Seems the best policy is just make sure your batteries aren't too old if you're far from the store--and if it's -35 I guess cross your fingers and say a prayer

 

[chris142]

How long were the jumper cables hooked up? You cant just hook them up and expect it to start. Probly take 30 minutes to get enough surface charge to make it start.

 

[Macrobb]

Yeah, I found that out once myself. It wasn't even /that/ cold out at the time; I ran out of fuel due to a failing pickup, and ran the batteries down trying to get it working.
Ended up going to Walmart, getting the biggest cheap battery they had(one battery), installed it, disconnected the other and she fired right up. After some charging time, both batteries worked fine for another couple of years.

 

[franklin2]

I am not sure what setup it would take to jump start our trucks. I have never been able to truely jump start a idi, just quick charge it like the other guys are doing. Maybe if you had two vehicles or two batteries, with two sets of jumper cables? Never tried that.

I have been able to roll start them if you have a fairly long hill. Put it in 3rd gear get it rolling and let it go. It will turn over and over and then start coughing and then finally start catching. Don't look in the rearview mirror when doing this, you would not believe the smoke coming out of the tailpipe doing it this way.

 

[79jasper]

You guys might have weak/too small jumper cables.
I've successfully jumped idi's and 7.3 powerstrokes quite often.
Even jumped a 6.0 powerstroke with the jetta. First attempt was a no go, he had normal run of the mill cables. Broke mine out and it started right up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[chris142]

You guys might have weak/too small jumper cables.
I've successfully jumped idi's and 7.3 powerstrokes quite often.
Even jumped a 6.0 powerstroke with the jetta. First attempt was a no go, he had normal run of the mill cables. Broke mine out and it started right up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Yes you will need good cables. The small ones will work to get a partial charge in a battery but dont expect them to support the amps needed to crank the engine.

 

[compressionignitionrules]

you can boost a diesel with tiny jumper cables, you just need to leave them hooked up for a coupel hours, just liek you woudl with a battery charger.

I do service calls all the time on medium duty trucks , and if batts are flat , might take an hour with a heavy set of booster cables to transfer enough amperage into the batteries fro a decent start without frying your starter.


patience is all you need! a heavy set of booster cables will save a lot of time, but your vehicle you are boosting with needs to be a heavy charging capacity or you can fry your boosting vehicle's alt.

65 series batteries are usually 850 cranking amp and up, and if you are charging 2 dead ones with a car with a 80 amp alt and a 500CCA battery.................................you are going to be there a while.

my 2003 daily has 2 875 CCA 65s and is a better boost vehicle than our 2016 GMC 3500 gas van with 1 700CCA battery service truck.
but hey, they are paying me by the hour.......................

 

[79jasper]

I don't recommend it, but you can also jump with a welder. Lol
When I was still in the construction business, boss parked off the side off the road with the semi. Well all the fuel drained to the passenger tank. So after dragging it back to level ground with the backhoe, we tried jumping it with the F550, which did nothing. So he said let's use the welder. Lol
It worked though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[compressionignitionrules]

I don't recommend it, but you can also jump with a welder. Lol
When I was still in the construction business, boss parked off the side off the road with the semi. Well all the fuel drained to the passenger tank. So after dragging it back to level ground with the backhoe, we tried jumping it with the F550, which did nothing. So he said let's use the welder. Lol
It worked though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

When I was workign for a school bus company we had a cold snap and none of the busses woudl start unless they had been plugged in. everybody in the shop was out on the road with whatever vehicle and booster cable s we coudl find. we had one stubborn bus with a 7.3 powerstroke, coudl not get it to crank fast enough to fire it. my coworker> about 15yrs older than me decide we woudl hook 2 new 65s up in series with short cables, then heavy cables to the vehicles battery under the hood........................... so 24 volts into a 12 volt system! he did the outside work and I cranked. he told me to crank and don't stop until it was running. well it worked, as soon as I started cranking he hooked up the 24 cables and it cranked like mad until it started.

this bus came back to the shop as soon as it was done its run for inspection! he actually had a voltmeter on it while he hooked up the cables and said it went to 16.5 volts at initial hookup . I felt much safer in the drivers seat. this was one of the few times i can remember temps below -30C here .

lots of silly things you can do to boost a vehicle.

 

[franklin2]

I have some homemade jumper cables that use welder cable, so they are big enough. Still have never been able to jump one of these trucks off without sitting there for 15 to 20 minutes to let it charge. And then it better be quick starting idi. By the time you glow the plugs and then try to crank it in cold weather, you have zapped anything you have put into it with the other vehicle.

A regular gas pickup or car, put my cables on there and it cranks right up.