New battery and truck dead

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
R

Raptors4ever

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2016
Posts
48
Reaction score
26
Location
Hillsboro, OR
Did the BMS reset and it started fine for a day. Today went out to leave work after it sitting for 7 hours and completely dead. Jumped it off and it took a few minutes then I was able to start it. Going to autozone in the morning to see if they can test the alternator.
 

Old-Raptor-guy

FRF Addict
Joined
Jul 25, 2021
Posts
1,871
Reaction score
4,329
Location
USA
It isn't an alternator, the only real reason a vehicle has a battery is to start the engine. Once the engine is running the alternator powers everything. If the engine dies going down the road and all electrical power is lost (headlights, radio ......) it is a charging system problem. If the engine runs fine but has to be jumped to start it is a battery problem.

That doesn't mean the battery itself, as @Nex has suggested twice do a draw test. I bet you have something not turning off and draining the battery. Ironically I have see a few alternators cause this (pretty rare, I am drawing from 35 years experience) if regulator shorts and doesn't shut off when the engine shuts off.

two things I like to do. disconnect the negative battery cable and let the vehicle sit as long as possible, minimum 1 day but 2 days if you can. hook the cable back up and see if the engine will start and/or if you have electrical power. If you do then the problem is not the battery and you have a draw (they can be a bitch to find, especially if they are intermittent). If after hooking up the negative battery cable you have no electrical power then the battery is shorted internally and drawing itself down.

other thing is, let the vehicle sit a few hours. long enough for the engine to cool down to ambient temp. then open the hood and put my hands on various components feeling for warmth or heat. Most specifically the alternator, fuse panel in the engine bay and inside the cab.

I don't know of anything specific on a gen 1 that causes a draw.
 
Last edited:

WNCHSTR96

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2012
Posts
628
Reaction score
1,285
Location
Athens, Alabama
Just going to throw this out there but I had a similar issue several years ago, turns out it was the Park indicator switch which was broken and left the dash lights on until the battery went dead. Took this forum to discover if you put it in Park and the “P” symbol is not orange then the switch is bad. You can also close/ lock the truck and observe the dash lights stay on. I think it should be at least looked at as part of your troubleshooting.
 

Bigt3141

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2021
Posts
7
Reaction score
4
Location
Tucson
I had this same issue, I checked to see how many amps were being pulled worth the truck off then started to pull fuses until it dropped, mine was the radio fuse, which was stock, turns out the APIM was bad and was pulling 6-8 amps with the ignition off. Eventually I converted it to the sync 3 and haven't had the issue, I've found several forums with this issue and the sync 2 system not just this truck but other ford cars too.
 
Top