Powerstroke having battery or starter issues possibly.

[motolife313]

Was struggling to start the last couple days and really struggled the last time I started and now after checking the battery’s and one was dead but the other still good so I just replaced one with a good used one that’s less then a year old and after installing them back in they wouldn’t start the engine. And I put a charger on it for a few hours at 6 amps and the battery’s had 12.7 volts in them before starting and I turned on the glow plugs and one battery went down to 11.7 and I tried starting it and not much power. Starts turning over slower and slower. Maybe the new used battery’s is not that good? The guy at interstate battery said the customer thought it was bad the guy working there said it’s good so I gave him 60$ for it. Said 795 cca and 1000 ca I think. Any ideas? Maybe just get a new battery?

[farmersammm]

BUY A BATTERY LOAD TESTER. OTC has a nice one, Harbor Freight has a cheap one.

https://www.harborfreight.com/100a-6...ter-61747.html

https://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.co...All%20Products This is the one I own, but the other one is probably good too.

I dunno how you've been testing batteries, but a simple voltmeter test is not reliable.

Another sign of a bad battery is the inability to take a charge. If you look at your charger on low amp charge, and if it stays at 40amps without falling..........it's not taking a charge. At best, you're getting a surface charge.

And don't buy used batteries. Unless they'll take it back, you just threw out $60 that coulda been used to buy a new battery.................which now adds $60 to the cost of the new battery you might actually need

Also......check the cable terminals. If corroded, they're a good source of starting troubles.

Starter draw is another place to look. Check starter draw.......it can be significant if it's bad.

[duramax-rob]

also, on a diesel 2 battery system, replace both batteries with same kind. it has always work for me on my 7.3 and 2 replacements on my duramax. same thing on my 12v allis chalmers 816 backhoe with 2 batteries.

[BaTu]

If you have the voltage only dropping to 11.7v with the GP's On AND engaging the starter doesn't go much lower, then I don't see this as a battery issue (I'd check those plugs though, I don't think they're all running). On a charger, drawing only 6A (unless it's just a tiny charger), means that the batteries couldn't have been all that low either.

More likely, this is a bad connection (cable end - either side / either polarity, or a bad, "high-resistance", cable itself) or even that the starter could be crappin'-out.

Scrape, clean, grease, tighten everything, look for signs of corrosion (you'll often see green crud where the copper goes into the connector for a sign that the cable itself is in bad shape. They are, afterall, 20 yrs old now ). If you don't see any of that, put a voltmeter at the starter and see what the voltage is there when you crank it over...

Oh, and yea, NEVER replace only One battery, the one place you don't want to cheap-out on is the batteries. The plugs alone can draw close to 150A before you add the starters load, they're really important on our trucks!

[John T]

Was struggling to start the last couple days

The guy at interstate battery said the customer thought it was bad the guy working there said it’s good so I gave him 60$ for it.
after installing them back in they wouldn’t start the engine.

Good Grief...

You just can't make this stuff up.


Common sense:
step #1
BUY 2 NEW BATTERY'S.


I don't understand listening to some goober behind the counter... pissing yer money away, then asking for advice later.

[N2 Welding]

Moto most auto parts places “the big chain stores anyway like advanced auto/O’Reilly’s/Auto zone etc etc etc” will load test your batteries for free as well as your charging circuit with vehicle running. Can’t have loose and or corroded connections. That is the quickest way to kill both an alternator and battery.

Another tip, periodically check the fluid levels in the batteries. If they are lead acid bath batteries they needs to be maintained to proper fluid levels. When you do oil changes is a good time to check levels imo.

How is your intake tube looking after the cold air intake change? How is your oil looking?

[BaTu]

Moto most auto parts places “the big chain stores anyway like advanced auto/O’Reilly’s/Auto zone etc etc etc” will load test your batteries for free

The problem is though, all the parts stores have are dinky little 100A Load testers they use on cars and these are Big, Hi Amperage, diesel batteries that require 250-300A load to properly test.

farmersammm is right, best bet is to get it on the right kind of tester, and I've used the HF 500A one for Many Years!

[N2 Welding]

The problem is though, all the parts stores have are dinky little 100A Load testers they use on cars and these are Big, Hi Amperage, diesel batteries that require 250-300A load to properly test.

farmersammm is right, best bet is to get it on the right kind of tester, and I've used the HF 500A one for Many Years!

I have no experience having higher amp loads tested but I’m assuming here if you can buy the battery there they should be able to load test it for warranty purposes etc.

[BaTu]

Ahh, if Only that's the way the world worked

[leightrepairs]

When you were checking the voltage was that with both batteries connected? In order to get an accurate reading you need to test the batteries separately. Can you remove them from the truck charge both of them to a full charge and then take them somewhere and have them tested? As others have said it is normally a much better practice to change both batteries at the same time, they have both seen the same service and are probably in similar condition.

[motolife313]

I put 2 new batteries in and it acted like it had no power. I’m probably going to do a starter draw test next. The terminals are really clean. Check the starter connections and 1 small wire was a touch loose and I tightened it. He did take back the good used battery. He tested the battery’s again and said mine were good.

[motolife313]

I’m starting to think it’s the starter. It has been turning over kinda slow for a while and real slow the last few few days. Maybe the 1 dead battery and only 1 starting it killed the starter

[whtbaron]

Check your cables at both ends before you yank the starter. They can also corrode between the lug and the wire itself... not just where they connect to the battery or the terminal. If both your batteries are 12 volts, running one down shouldn't have affected the starter as long is it was getting 12 volts. That's more of an issue where two 6 volt batteries are wired in series to get 12 volts... when one battery has a bad connection or gets weak, the starter isn't getting the full 12 volts and tends to fail prematurely. With a weak 12 volt battery you just lose cranking time. As other's have said, I change multiple battery setups all at once. Where there is room I like to switch them to the big suitcase batteries like they use in semi's... fewer connections to go bad and the price isn't much different than buying 2 or 3 smaller ones.

[John T]

I put 2 new batteries in and it acted like it had no power..

Not sure exactly what that means/no power.

But in any case, another thing to check is the switch on the clutch pedal.

On most of these trucks/it won’t start unless you push in the clutch.

If that switch is bad/or going bad it will have you scratching your head.


I cut the wires on mine and bypassed it.

[N2 Welding]

Did you rule out starter relay or solenoid? Check for voltage at starter while attempting to crank engine?

[N2 Welding]

Not sure exactly what that means/no power.

But in any case, another thing to check is the switch on the clutch pedal.

On most of these trucks/it won’t start unless you push in the clutch.

If that switch is bad/or going bad it will have you scratching your head.


I cut the wires on mine and bypassed it.

I had a ‘84 2+2 t-tops 300z 5spd That this happened to. The rubber on the pedal that engaged the switch fell apart. I just taped some coins in its place and good as new.

[motolife313]

Won’t crank at all If the clutch isn’t engaged and will test the starter tonight

[BaTu]

Did you rule out starter relay or solenoid? Check for voltage at starter while attempting to crank engine?

OH! This is an Excellent Point!

If you have a pre-'01 (and even some 01's), then you have a starter relay on the pass side fenderwell. Burnt contacts inside would do exactly what you describe. The easy test is to simply jump the two large terminals together (gonna spark some and will engage the starter motor) and if it cranks fast then you know your solenoid is bad...

[motolife313]

Would I just fix that part of the starter if so? I check it out. It’s a 01

[N2 Welding]

You can run a jumper cable from the positive side of the battery down to the starter and jump it that way to see if the starter is good. This way you don’t keep chasing your tail. If the solenoid is on the starter it can be replaced. If it is on the fender well it is easier to replace since the starter does not have to be removed. It might be possible to change the starter relay on the starter while mounted to the truck but I have no idea what it looks like. You’d have to make that call. If pulling the starter then definitely disconnect both batteries so you don’t go making sparks and shorting out the ECU or other volital electronics.

Tip: connect jumper lead to starter first to prevent arking and sparks then connect other end of the jumper cable to battery to see if it energizes.

[BaTu]

Would I just fix that part of the starter if so? I check it out. It’s a 01

It's not really any part of the Starter at all...

It's an independent relay on the top of the inner well with battery cables going to it (black, kinda square, it's hard to miss )

So during the '01 run there were major electrical changes and one of them is the elimination of that relay (the starter now has a Bendix that also acts as the relay and there's a little 30A relay in the fusebox to control it). Easy way to tell is to actually look at your Instrument Cluster (which, btw, is now your Body Control Module as the GEM was also eliminated). If you have a digital OD and a Trans Temp gauge in the cluster than you have the '02-3 electrics and no starter relay under the hood.

[N2 Welding]

It is usually pretty basic. Main power leads go from positive side of battery directly to the starter solenoid then to the starter. Negative is usually grounded in several places with the engine block being one of them. Then you have smaller gauge positive wires going to the fuse box inside the engine compartment and inside of the cab. One of those fused wires goes through the key switch for the temporary or momentary switch to engage the starter circuit thus energizing the starter. You could have a blown fuse, bad relay, bad solenoid, bad connections, bad battery, bad clutch switch and finally a bad starter motor. There may be something’s I left out but that is the gist of it. Not rocket science.

The reason I asked if you checked for voltage at the starter is to rule our starter circuit problems or starter problems. If the starter does not work start with the obvious problems out of the way being batteries and charging nnections to the batteries then systematically diagnose from there starting at the solenoid second to see if you are getting power when you energizethe circuit by turning the key. You could use another person or bypass all the safeties and jump circuits if done correctly as to not back feed power in a circuit that is not related to the starter.

[farmersammm]

https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/H...Starter-System

[motolife313]

OH! This is an Excellent Point!

If you have a pre-'01 (and even some 01's), then you have a starter relay on the pass side fenderwell. Burnt contacts inside would do exactly what you describe. The easy test is to simply jump the two large terminals together (gonna spark some and will engage the starter motor) and if it cranks fast then you know your solenoid is bad...

Just did it and it turns over slow. I’m thinking it’s the starter. It’s always turned over slower then some I’ve heard. Thanks for for the help. Seen a guy do that out riding dirt bikes. Wire to the ignition and distributor and it will start

[N2 Welding]

Distributor has nothing to do with the starter. Never heard that one before.