Glow plugs and battery drain

[eastsideauto]

I have had a horrible battery drain prob lately. I can go to start the truck in the morn with two freshly charged batteries and the wait to start light will come on for like 7 seconds, then it goes out and it does the afterglow clickity click thing that it has always done, but when I actually try to start the truck the batteries are so dead it will not turn over the engine. I can recharge the batteries, disable the glow plugs, give it a shot of ether and it will start right up. The controller is less than 6 months old, the batteries are ~9 months old and I have checked for other things draining the batteries, nothing. It will start fine warm without ether and cold with, as long as I disable the gp's. What would cause them to drain the batteries that quick?

 

[eastsideauto]

Anyone????????????

 

[icanfixall]

Well... My firs thoughts are a bad battery connection and the battery charge is actually ok. but because the cable connections are bad it seems like the batteries are down. So please try cleaning all 4 posts and see if that repairs the problem. Sometimes a bad connection will hot up once its worked a bit. Sometimes twisting the cable clamps on the studs will make better contact for a start or two. Many years ago driving a nail between the post and the cable clamp fixed the corrosion issues batterys had. That was a cheap way of fixing something fast but its not the right thing to do. Its the McGyver way of a fast fix.

 

[fordsrawesome]

Don't know what year your truck is but I had a battery drain too and it ended up being a connection on the alternator. So check that. And your grounds. I know its a pain but u might find a loose connection or the wire being completely off like mine after I got stuck at the dump and a Dakota had to jump me embarrassing let me tell you took that little guy 10 15 min to charge me enough to just crank lol

 

[OLDBULL8]

Disconnect the battery wire on the alternator overnight, reconnect in the morning, if it starts then the alternator is bad.