[greendurango]

I have a 99D 5.9 4x4 and am having a problem with the battery losing most of its charge after sitting. The battery worked fine and it started great but it only lasted for about 9 months and the other battery's I've put in her lose their charge in about half the time. I only drive it about once or twice every couple of weeks, to the store or to give it a bath. I have one of the optima yellow tops in it now and it seems it took a little longer to kill it vs the other brands of batteries. Could it be that I'm just not driving it enough to keep it charged? I had the alternator checked out and it's putting out over 14v so I'm thinging of doing a test with the positive cable unhooked in line with a multimeter. Could someone tell me what the current draw is supposed to be on the D with the ignition off? (it should be listed in the FSM) Any help appreciated. :?

 

[WarrensD]

Hey Green, I don't have a value for you, but I'd guess it's milliamps (unless you've got some "ghost loads.") If your D sits for extended periods of time (> a month or so), you might want to get a float charger & clip it on insitu right under the hood. "Guest" makes a good one that puts out about 300mA. Most batteries have a self discharge rate of approx. 0.5-1% per day. Add that to the transient load & it becomes significant over time.

 

[skitzo.d]

Mine can sit for over a week without starting and there are no issues starting it. Maybe there's some corrosion somewhere draining your juice? Disconnecting a cable will stop the drain, but it's a PITA to connect it each time.

 

[Neil]

The battery should be able to sit for months without an issue. You have something draining it. Put a meter on it and one by one start pulling fuses to see what circuit the issue is with.

 

[WarrensD]

Usually it turns out to be electrical "stuff" added after the fact.

 

[dizzyD]

Like the radio amp hooked to constant power?!? :doh:

 

[MWeed]

If you only drive the D occasionally, there's a storage plug in one of the fuse blocks. I read about it in the owners manual but can't find it in the FSM and don't remember what it's officially called. It was designed to kill the electrical circuit for storage and shipping so the battery wouldn't run down.

 

[greendurango]

Does anyone know what plug MWeed is talking about that you can use for storage?
thanks

 

[tomk]

Here's the pic from the 03 FSM.

The table of current draws lists very low draws, at most a few milliamps, Which would take a long time to drain a battery.

 

[MWeed]

I haven't tried pulling this, but I think it kills the memory circuit feeds for the radio and computers so that they don't drain the battery during storage. The manual says for periods over 21 days.

If you haven't added any electrics to your D, you should be able to go a couple of weeks with a good battery. I find any more than that and my battery needs to be jumped to start, also. Once started it's fine.

 

[greendurango]

I tested the D with a multimeter and it's drawing a low 0.03 amps. Is that within the acceptable range?
thanks

 

[Neil]

You need to measure amps. That's the measure of the current flowing.

 

[greendurango]

Sorry about that I meant 0.03 amps.
Thanks

 

[tomk]

That's pretty close to spec, the 99 FSM says 0.025amp.

Over the course of two weeks, 0.03A is around 10 amp-hours which shouldn't kill the kill the battery? though it'll drain it down quite a bit.

I'd definitely recommend a float charger. I have to use one of those on my lawn tractor to keep the battery up even without any ignition-off drain.

 

[MWeed]

They make solar powered units that can be left in the car and attached to the power plug with the panel up on the dash. That way you can still leave the D locked.

 

[greendurango]

Thanks everyone for the helpful info. I'll have to look into getting one of those solar chargers. Have a great weekend.

 

[MWeed]

If you're only driving a mile or so to the store or carwash, that could be part of your problem. It takes a while for the alternator to fully recharge a battery. With a short drive, you might get enough to restart it ok immediately, but it won't be up to it's full potential. You need to run it for a good period to fully recharge the battery.

Running it short distances every couple of weeks is a death spiral for any battery. The solar charger is one way to fix it, driving it for a good run on the weekends is another. Your choice.

 

[WarrensD]

If y'all don't get much sun in VA this time of year, look for a "Guest" Battery Pal, which is a small 120v float charger.