Battery issues advice...

[legendary70]

Hello all. Very knowledgeable people here....and that is why I am asking here. In the hopes I dont get flamed and get some advice. Ford family correct......

i have a 2005 explorer. i noticed that when it started getting cold here in El Paso my battery would have a hard time starting up the car in the mornings. after about a week of struggling to start up the truck it died. one morning it just did not start anymore. I went to wal mart and got it exchanged since i had just bought it about 7 months ago. so i went ahead and put the new battery into my expedition and put the one in the expedition into my explorer. It never had issues when on my expedition. Well that was about 3 weeks ago and started to notice the battery again having a hard time starting my truck....well this morning it is dead again. I am not sure if it is the cold weather or what. what do y'all think?

thx

 

[Munkiebunz3]

Putting an old battery in the car with battery problem doesn't help diagnostics. First check the battery voltage before starting. Then check that you are getting good charging current and voltage. Buy an amperage clamp if you don't have one. If that is not good then check your connections before replacing the alternator voltage regulator or the alternator. If you have a lot of buildup on your battery then it is likely a parasitic drain on the battery while it sits, causing a lot of off gassing when it charges. Use the amp clamp to check amperage draw while you pull fuses to isolate the circuit.

 

[1955moose]

Well that's pretty much what I was going to say! Your problem though, and this is kinda reaching, is not your battery. If you never had any starting problems with the bigger motor, more accesoried SUV, then swapping it into the smaller explorer, shouldn't cause starting problems. Check the amperage draw from Starter, and like Mr [emoji205] stated, voltage and amperage from alternator. Places like O'Reilly's or Autozones portable load testers should do all that. And their free.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[legendary70]

thx guys

 

[Munkiebunz3]

thx guys

Let us know what the result is !

 

[poppie]

Your Alternator might not be putting out full voltage, get a static , engine off, Battery voltage reading with a digital volt meter that should be in the area of 12.5 to 12.7 volts , then start the engine and see of you have a voltage bump over the static reading in the area of 13.6 to 13.8 volts, any less and you battery will run down over time, more so with short trip's.

 

[CrAzYJoe85]

I had a parasitic draw on a jeep I had once it was drawing from a tail gate sensor what you need to do is take a volt meter and check every fuse for current if it has current and its not suppose to when the vehicle is off then you may be able to narrow down your search for me I just unplugged the sensor and all was good

 

[inmanlanier]

Clearly proper charge is key. As an FYI, however, temperatures where the battery sits have an impact on life. I see a Texas flag - we're lucky to get three years out of batteries ubder the hood in So. Fla. My Genesis on the other handlasted a long time in the trunk.