Dead battery after 2 wk park

[T Y L E R]

Hi guys ....

Just went down to the underground garage to get in my trusty steed . Been on the West Coast for a few weeks now . Before that I did a 1000 mile drive without event .... and tooled around town for a few days before heading West ; again without incident . . . . anyway

My battery seems to be toast , and it's jammin me up . I was supposed to be picking up the cat from the kennel by now , but will have to wait for a friend to come over with a boost . I poked around and didn't notice any interior lights being on etc , so I'm kinda at a loss as to why my battery would suddenly quit on me . I believe it's only a year old , and I installed it with military clamps , so everything is tight and nothing corroded . Right now the only things that light up dimly are the interior and door lights , as well as the dash and stereo ... though nothing operates .

I'll just drive around town after the boost , but I was curious if there might be usual electrical grelim suspects on this one ... I have to make a 3000 mile trip this month ; rather not be stranded .

Thanx ,

Tyler

 

[landtank]

depending on the mileage it might be time for some alternator brushes. You might not be charging the battery completely while you drive.

 

[firetruck41]

Tyler, make your font bigger, I have 20/20 vision or better, but it's hard to read your recent posts. Pretty please?

 

[T Y L E R]

Landtank , my 80 is at 90K . I have a meter , so what should I expect to be getting for voltage off the alternator , and I'll check when I get to work tomorrow morning . . . thanx

Ben , not sure if you're joking ... I use font size '2' on here , and my font looks identical to everyone elses .. from here anyway . Perhaps , if you're serious , it's the actual 'font' that I've chosen for that particular post that makes things appear bigger . But let me know in any case , cause damn my posts are allll so important ... would hate for anyone to miss 'em . Especially when I start handing out electrical advice .. just ask Landtank .. ;p

Tyler

 

[Lars]

Yeah your original post's font is tiny.

 

[krich97]

Tyler - I had exactly the same problem with an 8 month old battery that sat for over 9 days - completely dead when tried to start her up. Couldn't find anything that was left on and I had the battery tested after trickle charging it back up. Nothing wrong with it! I was told that the factory alarm, if set, can drain the battery flat over that amount of time!!! - If you don't find anything else wrong that is probably it. I haven't had a problem with it since . . .( I probably shouldn't have said that)

K

 

[NorCalDoug]

What were your dirving habits before you stored your rig? Lots of short tips might've used a lot of juice without giving enough time for the alternator to recharge. That coupled with something leaching small amounts over a couple weeks might kill the battery.

 

[firetruck41]

Tyler- I was serious about the font,the first one was tiny, the last one you used was good, about the same size as the "normal" font. Thanks!

I would also suspect the alarm if you have one, it could definitely drain the battery over an extended period of time.

On another note, I accidentally left my headlights on by leaving the switch on (lights turned off when I got out of the car) and later accidentally hitting my remote start button, thereby turning my lights on, after I shut off the LC with the remote the lights remained on (I wasn't where I could see it and forgot about the lights). That was at 1000, at 1930 I went to go somewhere and when I turned over the LC, it was sluggish but fired on the first "bump", woo hoo! 7.5 hrs with headlights on, it still started, and hasn't had any problems.

 

[landtank]

90k seems a little early for a brush problem but you never know. The only things I'm aware of as a drain is ALarm, power seats, door locks and interior lights. A few weeks seems to point to a problem as I don't think these should drain the battery that quickly if working properly.

With the engine running and the high beams on you should get around 14.0+ volts across the battery idf the alternator is working properly. Trouble with the brushes is they can work today and not tommorow. We had a run on them reasently so maybe those guys can help with mileage estimates on failure.

P.S. Haven't seen Eron's Taco yet....what gives?

 

[T Y L E R]

Thanks Rick

Yeah , sorry bout not getting the Taco pics up like I said I would . Everytime we thought of it we were in a parking lot ... and I refused to take a poser shot of it .. yes .. 'I' refused to take a poser shot .. haha , whats the world coming to .... Ironically one of the first things out of Eron's mouth when I mentioned needing to get some shots for the board , was that we take a few in front of Starbucks™ . God love 'er !

Gimme a few weeks , and I'll be back there so I'll get some pics of here and I and the two Toys .... btw , how do you pull off that trick where one person drives up the angled tire of another ... gotta teach Eron how to ride up on my rubber like that ... so I can get the money shot . *LOL*

*setting my Sapphire down for a moment .................... or two*



Tyler

 

[Tom Doniphon]

My battery has been dead many times this year. I have used some very sophisticated equipment to find the reason for this problem. The equipment I needed for this job is available from your local convenience store. It is called an Icee. After buying these for the cause of the problem {my children} I informed them that the next time my battery was dead only I would be enjoying the rare and decadent Icee.

I am going to try to use a timer on the interior lights like newer vehicles. I will let you know how it works out.

 

[Beowulf]

Tom,
You need George's LEDs.
-B-

 

[IdahoDoug]

I often leave my rig in remote spots or boat ramps for up to 3 weeks at a time. I had problems with the battery draining from various aspects - security system, etc. So, I installed a battery disconnect switch one day while buying a battery at Sears. Discovered we needed a bit more battery wire length and there was the disconnect thingy which added some length to the battery wire. Match made in heaven. So, I disconnect things and have a fresh full power battery to come back to every time.

DougM

 

[bruiser]

Another point to remember, a lead-acid battery when left discarged for some time, will invariably fail to ever charge again. So if you leave your truck for extended periods and don't want to disconnect battery (want ECU to remember it's mapping, or you need the alarm to function) then consider one of those battery conditioners.

 

[MoJ]

Not sure if it fits your scenario but.....Owner's manual mentions not to leave the headlight switch in the ON postion if parked for more than a few days (even thought the lights turn off with the ignition).