Need help! Battery?

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BigBlue05

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This started about 2 weeks ago. I wemt out to my truck and the lights on the dash were flickering. Tried to start just a click. Tried again and fired right up. No issues for about a week. Then I was driving and turning onto the interstate and the truck cutoff. Pulled over and it fired right back up. Everything was fine for about another week. Then the flickering was there again. Got it to start and drove to the gas station. Cut it off and now it wont start just the lights flickering. Got someone to jump me off and it started up. Unhooked the cables and it died again. And wont jump off again.
 

crash68

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A typical lead-acid battery is good for about 4 years, replace the battery if it's older than that. Fuel injected vehicles require a battery to hold voltage to run, chances are you had a cell that went bad.
Consider replacing the battery with an AGM type battery. I had an Optima battery last over 8 years even with it being completely drained 3 times from the lights being left on.
 

gofishn

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If your vehicle dies, once stated up and running, and after you remove teh battery cables, then the alternator is bad.
All a battery does is start teh car. once started, the alternator actually provides all the vehicles electrical power AND re-charges the battery.

Now, once the alternator dies, the vehicles battery will provide power, since the alternator is no longer doing so. HOWEVER< the battery has a finite amount of power and will draw down to zero, rather quickly, and once that happens, your vehicle will die too.

jumping a car with another car or battery.
the thickness of the cables use to jump from one battery to another are most important. THich Copper cables are expensive well over a $100 for just 3ft of cable. that is why most thick cables are aluminum, not copper. Copper provides more electricity flow and preferable to Aluminum. COpper is also much heavier that aluminum.

Rather than spend on high quality copper wires, its much better to spend money on replacing a tired, old, worn battery.
If you do buy cables, spend a $200 and get a set that will last you a lifetime.
BE WARNED< they will disappear.
Firends, Kids, Brothers, everyone will borrow them and someone will forget to return them
ask me how I know!

I just buy bulk copper and fit my own ends on them.
Helpful I grew up surrounded by Electricians and can get it wholesale.


SO, re start your truck. pull the cables of the battery and see if it dies. if so, replace the alternator.
if not, the truck rund without being connected to teh battery, replace the battery.
get batteries from O'Reillys, they have DECCA batteries, which are highly rated.
right now, Sams CLub Duracell brand is also a Decca made battery.
 

crash68

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If your vehicle dies, once stated up and running, and after you remove teh battery cables, then the alternator is bad.
All a battery does is start teh car. once started, the alternator actually provides all the vehicles electrical power AND re-charges the battery.


...SO, re start your truck. pull the cables of the battery and see if it dies. if so, replace the alternator.
if not, the truck rund without being connected to teh battery, replace the battery.
get batteries from O'Reillys, they have DECCA batteries, which are highly rated.
right now, Sams CLub Duracell brand is also a Decca made battery.
^^^^ Don't do this unless you don't like the electronic modules like the ECM, BCM, PCM, etc.. that run your vehicle. A battery does more than just start a modern day fuel injected vehicle and an alternator doesn't put out a clean DC voltage.
Pulling the battery cable was fine back when you had an ignition coil and points to run an engine.

Try charging the battery and see if it will hold at least 12.5 volts, if not you'll probably need a new one.
Once you have a good battery in the vehicle, check the voltage with the vehicle running. If the voltage is about 13.8 to 14.5 volts the alternator is fine. Sometimes if the vehicle has been running for a while, the charging voltage may drop down to around 13 volts as the ECM can control the charge voltage and does so to " reduce engine load".
 
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BigBlue05

BigBlue05

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Update and I'm stumped. I went ahead and bought a new battery and it started right up. Went to the parts store and had them test the alternator and it appears to be good. Then had them test the old battery which was apparently also good.
 

KC Cryptkeeper

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Somewhere you have a ground problem. Either a bad, loose connection or a wire with damage. Quite possible that the ground connection for your ECM is the problem. I had this problem in the 80's and all the damage was from a bad butt splice. Good luck!
 

EastTN

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Update and I'm stumped. I went ahead and bought a new battery and it started right up. Went to the parts store and had them test the alternator and it appears to be good. Then had them test the old battery which was apparently also good.

I had slow starting/cranking problems and replaced the battery...fixed the issue. I had the parts store test my old battery and they said it was fine...I’m not confident in parts store testing.
 
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BigBlue05

BigBlue05

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One thing I will say is the negative terminal for the battery is pretty shot. Gonna replace it today and start checking grounds.
 

buddy guy

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For probablyi 20-30 bucks you can buy a battery load tester for yourself. One of the best investments I made 6 yrs ago when I got back into riding motorbikes. A battery tested simply with a voltmeter can read normal and won't tell the true tale until you put it under a load test. i've seen batteries that say 13 volts literally read "bad" when load tested.
 

Karlsweg

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Grounding issue. Clean the ground wire and mating surface from block to battery cable and grounds and mating surfaces on fender mounts. Put white lithium grease on them. Had the same issue. I bought a grounding kit and added extra grounds. I have no more issues.


https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/vehicle-grounding-kits/
 
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madtrucker2016

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Check battery then alt then all the grounds I had similar problem and it turned out that the battery had a short in between the cell plates in the battery. when you would take your fist and pound the top of battery truck would start and then hit a bump it died. Good luck also most parts stores can check your battery and alt for free.
 

crash68

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I had slow starting/cranking problems and replaced the battery...fixed the issue. I had the parts store test my old battery and they said it was fine...I’m not confident in parts store testing.
Years ago had the same thing with a work van. Had to jump start the van and slow starting, took it to Sears for a new battery. The mechanic tested the battery and said it was fine, wanted to replace the starter. I didn't have time to wait then so I just had the battery replaced. Didn't have a starting problem for over four years after that. The next starting problem was related to someone else wrapping it around a utility pole...lol
 
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BigBlue05

BigBlue05

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Years ago had the same thing with a work van. Had to jump start the van and slow starting, took it to Sears for a new battery. The mechanic tested the battery and said it was fine, wanted to replace the starter. I didn't have time to wait then so I just had the battery replaced. Didn't have a starting problem for over four years after that. The next starting problem was related to someone else wrapping it around a utility pole...lol

:laughing1::laughing1::laughing1:
 

Spoonsize

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We always used the tube and bulb electrolytic tester to determine if bad or not. Now most batteries are sealed and one cannot get into them.
 
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