Battery issues and what I've learned

[Muffin1]

So after my truck sat for a couple weeks the battery was pretty much dead the radio presets were still there i got it charged and have been keeping it on the Battery Tender w/1.5 amp trickle and it's been starting fine with 12.6 multimeter measured volts before starting. Curious though as i am i did a peristatic drain test and this is what i found.
It reads as 1.57 amps draw, which from what I’ve read generally it should be from .25 to .50 Interesting when I made the connections with the leads the headlights came on for a second or two then settled down to the 1.57. I thought maybe the auto headlights switch was positioned to on but it wasn't.
There was nothing else connected inside the truck. I also closed the hood during the test i hooked up jumpers that reached outside to the grill and checked it from there, same reading (1.57) as with hood open, wasn't sure if the hood ajar warning would skew the reading.

Have this coming Monday
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07DDDDSK9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Hopefully i will get this figured out if the battery is slowly dying like i read another thread here and that may be the issue. My battery is now 40 months old according to the date code.
https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/power-drain.7678/

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[btsmith52]

I would just replace the battery before spending too much money or time on it. Batteries don't make it much past 4 years on modern Fords, and Ford isn't known for putting good batteries in their cars from the factory. If the problem continues, then you may have an issue.

 

[Langwilliams]

My truck is 3 years old this month. I have about 38K on it. The battery is giving clues it's about done. If my phone if on the charger when I shut the truck off it immediately shuts off the charger an kills the radio within a minute. It used to go for 5/10 minutes or more. This started before it got cold out so I don't think it's just the weather.

I agree with BT with all the electronics in the cars now the demands on the battery are very high an probably shorten their life. Even the power steering is electric now. I tuned out the auto start stop so I don't think it had an effect on it.

 

[Muffin1]

I would just replace the battery before spending too much money or time on it. Batteries don't make it much past 4 years on modern Fords, and Ford isn't known for putting good batteries in their cars from the factory. If the problem continues, then you may have an issue.

Yes that's what I'm going to do if the tester i ordered confirms it s the battery itself going bad, i have another vehicle that is also pushing 4 years on the batt although no issues with that it's a DD i can test that one also..
And I need to find out why it's drawing 1.57 amps, that doesn't seem to be normal.

 

[Muffin1]

My truck is 3 years old this month. I have about 38K on it. The battery is giving clues it's about done. If my phone if on the charger when I shut the truck off it immediately shuts off the charger an kills the radio within a minute. It used to go for 5/10 minutes or more. This started before it got cold out so I don't think it's just the weather.

I agree with BT with all the electronics in the cars now the demands on the battery are very high an probably shorten their life. Even the power steering is electric now. I tuned out the auto start stop so I don't think it had an effect on it.

If you look at your build date on the drivers door you can get a idea about when the battery was put in service, also but a little more difficult the battery should have a date code on it although may not be visible with the battery installed and that insulation around it,
With the price of these batteries nowadays you might want to invest in a small trickle charger that will protect that investment and get some more time out of it. or at least have it tested before you throw the towel in on it. ?

 

[Langwilliams]

If you look at your build date on the drivers door you can get a idea about when the battery was put in service, also but a little more difficult the battery should have a date code on it although may not be visible with the battery installed and that insulation around it,
With the price of these batteries nowadays you might want to invest in a small trickle charger that will protect that investment and get some more time out of it. or at least have it tested before you throw the towel in on it. ?

I have a trickle charger for my Harley an 3 garden tractors. I drive my truck daily so I don't think it needs one. I might go 1 day a month without driving in the winter but it's very rare. I'd like to get one of the fancy multiple line trickle chargers but for now I just rotate the one between everyone. They all get it for a day. The garage is heated to 50 in the winter so that helps too.

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