battery drain?

[88Racing]

I will just add this.
Back in my college days while driving a ford escort gt I did run into this problem.
The voltage regulator went bad and allowed the altenator to over charge the battery plus burnt out one of the head lamps.

Just a thought.

Lars

[Longshot270]

Oh yeah, fond memories. From showing off to the girl next door that a hot shot fence can make a colorful arc to yelling a string of colorful words when I got hit by a 220V welding plug that was not wired properly at the school...but since the ag teacher told me to stop cussing and didn't investigate why I was, I let him find out on his own, what I would have given for a bag of popcorn.

[88Racing]

Originally Posted by longshot270

Oh yeah, fond memories. From showing off to the girl next door that a hot shot fence can make a colorful arc to yelling a string of colorful words when I got hit by a 220V welding plug that was not wired properly at the school...but since the ag teacher told me to stop cussing and didn't investigate why I was, I let him find out on his own, what I would have given for a bag of popcorn.

:popcorn1:

Lars

[Jackpine]

I'm going to add a final note here just in case we haven't already beaten this subject to death. As I mentioned, I had a trailer battery go bad and had to replace it recently. I brought both the one good "old" battery and the new battery separately up to full charge with the Battery Maintainer, and then I installed the new one in the trailer (they're connected in parallel of course). I put the Battery Maintainer on again and left it connected for a couple of days.

I disconnected the maintainer and 24 hours later, checked the battery voltage. It read 13.03 V. Now, I know my trailer has NO parasitic draw at all (I've verified that with an ammeter), so I doubt you'd see a figure this high if the battery was installed in a truck, but, it DOES lend support to the claim that a fully charged battery will show about 12.9 V in a "resting" state.

The reason I brought both batteries to full charge separately, was because I wanted minimal "imbalance" between them when I connected them together.

- Jack

[RGSMDNR]

Well i just had my truck in for service. They checked the battery and charging system and all checked ok. I did have the truck in stock mode and left my Gryphon at home. $80 later.... truck is fine.

They didnt find any draw on the battery. Charged the battery, changed the oil and sent me home. I dont drive the truck all that often (Ive got a company vehicle) so it pretty much sits most of the week. I really dont want to have to unplug or connect a battery tender everytime i come home. Is there a way to 'turn off' the memory function. I dont think i need the data stored in the unit. I mainly use it for monitoring temps and such while i tow and fuel mileage.

[88Racing]

If you worried about the draw. Just unplug the gryphon when the truck is sitting. As far as other things in the truck to try and unplug that might be a PIA!
So a tender might be the best bet and the tender should also lengthen the life of the battery.

Lars

[88Racing]

The other problem that I have seen is very very rare. I emphasize rare. Its called shut down sequencing failure. This is what happens when the modules don't talk to the pcm when shutting down. When we shut our vehicles down, especially the ones mfgd in the last 10 years, a lot more happens than just turning off the key. The pcm likes to put all the modules "to bed" but if one of the modules isn't responding due to a intermitent connection the pcm cycles back through all the modules. It will keep doing this until its satisfied or the battery goes dead. All because one module isn't responding.
I have only seen this on 4 vehicles in the last 10 years and sometimes its a PIA to diagnose! Especially when the intermitent connection is present. Why am I emphasizing intermitent? Because a faulty module will throw a code. An intermitent module may be connected or disconnented, long enough in the sampling cycle for a code not to be important. Most of the time to diagnose the vehicle will have to be at the dealer overnight, maybe for one visit or possibly for multiple visits. I have seen this in 2 gms, 1 dodge, and 1 ford. Usually if this is the problem everthing on the charging/supply side has been replaced including cables and maybe even the battery twice.
I am pretty sure the OP's problem isn't this.

Lars

[Jackpine]

That's an interesting problem Lars! (Ain't progress wonderful?)

One of the f150Online members had a fuel pump relay that didn't open properly at shutdown, which put a big draw on his battery. He had to have the whole distribution panel (fuse box) replaced to fix it (since it's part of the panel and not replaceable).

To RGSMDNR, the BatteryTender or BatteryMinder is really not difficult to use at all. They come with a "quick plug in" connector that you can attach permanently to the screws on the battery posts. Then attaching the maintainer is a simple matter of raising the hood and plugging the maintainer in. Takes all of 10 seconds. It's MUCH more convenient than unplugging and plugging in the Gryphon. If I'm going to change the tune in my PCM, I just leave the maintainer connected, that way I know the battery is being held at near full charge.

I actually prefer the BatteryMinder, since it has a desulfation circuit. Here's a link to their website: http://www.batteryminders.com/batter...o-p-16134.html

You can get them for around $42 online now I see. Sorry if it sounds like I'm selling them, I'm not. It's just that I see it as a perfect solution for trucks that sit for long intervals. There's no way, short of disconnecting the battery or pulling fuses that you can get rid of the truck's parasitic draw.

- Jack

[coolio4433]

Interesting that this is the case, but I suppose not entirely surprising. My truck sits for extended periods (especially in the summer when I drive my "summer only" car) and I finally had the battery drain to the point where it wouldn't start the other day. A quick jump and I was back on the road though.

My truck sits outside year round though so a battery tender isn't as good an option for me (especially so when it's parked on the street).

I guess I'll probably start unplugging the gyphon now to keep this from happening again. I also decided that the auto headlights (they come on when you unlock the truck when on that setting) are probably not helping either so I flipped those off.

Hopefully those will do the trick, but I'm tempted to get a new battery before winter anyway. I hear the DieHard Platinum are top of the line. Anyone here have opinions?

-Matt

[88Racing]

coolio4433 here's a thread on battery recomendations:http://dygytalworld.ehost-services13...ead.php?t=1830
A good read!
Lars