91 Ford E-350 Cube Van Battery Drain

[chad austin]

Our work truck runs and starts fine as long as it gets used daily, but when it sits for more than a day the battery goes "COMPLETELY" dead.

I charged the battery the other day and got the truck running, pulled it into our shop and made sure everything in the cab was shut off and also shut all the lights off in the shop to make sure all the lights were off in and on the truck as well. I came back on Monday and she was completely dead again.

So my question is could the alternator be bad and draw off the battery while it is parked? Any other suggestions? (all battery connections are tight and corrosion free - ground strap is also the same)

The truck is a 1991 Ford Econoline 350 with 63,000 miles and has meticulously been serviced by the Toro Company before we bought it at 60,000 miles.

Thanks,

Chad

[Jim Almquist]

Chad is there some sort of after market radio installed in the van ?

In order to draw down a battery that much you need to have something "ON" like a radio that is wired to a hot so it is not on the ignition switch.

Might want to pull the positive side of the battery and take a meter and put it in between the positive battery post and cable and set your meter for amps and see what kind of draw it is pulling.

Might also need to have the battery load tested to make sure it is good.

[Capt. Don*]

It is possible that the alternator could be bad and draining, however, since you may not have the needed test equipment I suggest a simple test. Simply disconnect the battery cables after you park it for the day/weekend, at least overnight, reconnect the battery when you need it and see if it is still dead. If so replace the battery, if not, bring it in for proper diagnosis. I've seen many batteries test good, but be junk, especially with the newer electronic testers.

Hope this helps

[SpecialK]

I was going to say basically the same thing. When you are going to park it for the weekend, pull the groud, reconnect on monday and if it starts you have something pulling power.

If it doesn't start it's the battery. I just went through this with my mini van. The battery was 6 months old and went bad.

[Big Buck Buster]

Had the same problem with a customers car. They had to jump start it in the morning to get it to the shop. When it arrived, put the charger on it, got it up to 12.6 volts after removing the surface charge, load tested the battery(test passed),check alternator output(pass),check to make sure customer didn't leave anything on(nope), check for amp draw from vehicle(no drain),. Leave vehicle go thinking they just left something on. Well, couple days later, get the car back to the shop. Asked the customer if they could leave the car for a couple days for testing. We took their battery out, left volt meter on the battery overnight, and sure enough, the battery would not hold a charge. Replaced battery, everyone is now happy.

BBB

[chad austin]

Thanks guys, I will pull the cables this afternoon and see if she starts on Tuesday. I was almost going to say the battery is new but apparently that doesn't matter. Thanks again and I will try everything that was posted and keep ya'll updated.

[jeffreyd]

if you can reach the altenator, and leave the cables hooked up, before starting after sitting overnight reach in and feel the alt. if it is warm could indicate that a diode pack is leaking by and pulling current. easy test. good luck

[Jeremy airjer W]

If you have an amp meter you might as well check for a draw before you leave it for the weekend. Anything over .050 amps is to much. If there is a draw present, something around half an amp or more will kill a battery overnight, than there is no reason to wait with the battery disconnected to see if the battery is bad. Start pulling fuses until the draw disappears and then focus on that circuit.

Just make sure you let the meter sit for 10 to 15 minutes to let everything that is supposed to power down, power down. A 91 should power down pretty quick.