Bad ground/ batt?

[GingerKid]

Prior to today, everytime I turned the key in my ranger, it turned over with plenty of juice. When I went to start it today, it cranked slowly, but still started. I figured the dome light or something had just drained the battery overnight. I stopped for gas on the way to work, though, and when I went to start my truck again, it didn't even have the power to crank. I had to get a jump to get to work and another jump to leave work and go home.

This seems like a rather sudden death for a battery, but I didn't do anything out of the ordinary to the truck yesterday other than hook up the trailer wiring to a trailer to see if it works, since I haven't towed anything since I bought the truck. It didn't work, but I don't know how testing that could have caused the battery to fail or get drained. Everytime I hook it up to a charger or jump it, it starts easily. Right now I have it hooked to a charger at 2 amps, and I'm going to leave it for at least an hour, and see how it works from there.

Any ideas on what the problem could be, or any tests I could do at home to see if the battery is gone?

 

[97RangerXLT]

check your alternator. when the truck is running you should be getting 13 or 14 volts at the battery terminals. if you just have 12, your alternator is likely shot.

is your trailer harness still hooked up to the truck? This could be shorting out somewhere and draining the battery.

but from what you describe, it sounds like the alternator.

AJ

 

[snake]

Could be the cables, but since it seems to start so easy with a jump, I'd say could be the battery on this one. They can and do die prematurely, the reason there is a warranty on them. Take it by anywhere that sells batteries and have them put a tester on it. The for sure way to know.

 

[GingerKid]

I doubt it's the alternator. The truck runs fine once it starts, and when I put a voltmeter on the battery with the truck running, the voltage was steadily climbing towards 14. I was hoping for cables or a bad connection on this one, but l guess I'm probably not that lucky. I just wanted a second opinion in case I missed something. I'll get it tested and see what happens.

 

[AllanD]

The thing to remember abput Gen3 and later Rangers
(and all other fords( with the permanant magnet "Mini" starters
is that they don't require a whole lot of power to function

So the efficiency of the starter motor tends to mask any battery or charging system
problems until it's real bad.


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[cocoasranger]

The thing to remember abput Gen3 and later Rangers
(and all other fords( with the permanant magnet "Mini" starters
is that they don't require a whole lot of power to function

So the efficiency of the starter motor tends to mask any battery or charging system
problems until it's real bad.


AD

One more reason for doing the 10" clutch upgrade. Since replacing the 2.9L starter during the clutch upgrade,my cranking is way better, especially in cold weather. You post a lot of useful info I have not seen elsewhere. Thanks.

 

[GingerKid]

Well after letting it charge for a few hours last night, I tried to start it this morning and it was working better, but still not cranking as quick as it used to. I'll just have to get it tested.

The trailer harness is still connected, but it has been that way since before this problem started, so if there was a drain there I should have seen it before.

 

[RustedRanger]

Sometimes batteries do just die My Ranger started fine until the battery died caused by a bad regultor over charging. Sometimes a bad cell can cause a battery to just "up and die". I have had cars start just fine and go to leave somewhere and nothing,not even a click from the solenoid. When this has happened to me the lights will be on and then die down to nothing when turning the key. Like the others said though it's best to make sure the cables are good before springing for a new battery. I had a 84 Chevette that was fine till I stopped somewhere about 15 miles from home and I went to start it and nothing I got a jump start and it ran fine but the lights (it was dark of course) started to get dimmer and dimmer. Thankfully I was on the back roads cause by the time I made it home I had no headlights and barely had running lights. The problem then was a bad ground wire to the alternator.

 

[Mark_88]

I've had batteries go dead for no apparent reason...but I've also had them die for very specific reasons...like the terminals are dirty or loose...or the alternator goes out of phase and does not charge the battery but runs the vehicle fine...

Worst case is the terminals are loose or dirty...clean and tighten them up and get a boost...run it for at least an hour and try starting again...if that doesn't work...the battery or alternator could be shot...and if you swap in a new battery with a wonky alternator you could mess up the new battery (I've actually done this)...

Maybe get a shop to test the alternator...

 

[GingerKid]

Ok, I'll get the alt tested while I'm out. Like I said though, I doubt thats the problem since the voltage was steadily rising with the truck on. All terminals connections are new and recently cleaned, I had just replaced those because one of old ones broke completely off when I tried to disconnect the battery to do some work. I'll double check that before I leave.

 

[GingerKid]

battery tested at 218 cca. Threw a new one in and it starts easier then ever. Alt checked out fine. Thanks for the help