FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

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suzyq
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:51 pm

FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by suzyq » Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:57 pm

We have a 2003 Ford F150 that we just bought. It rides great, but there are some mornings when we start it and battery dead. Bought brand new battery, had it in a very reputable shop 4 times and can NOT find anything wrong. so they decided that maybe unhooking stereo would stop it, it did for like 3 wks. and the other day, dead as a door knob battery. Anybody have any answers at all? We bought it as is, no warranty and paid $8,000 for it, but yet is not reliable.

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Karl
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by Karl » Sun Feb 24, 2013 5:07 pm

As long as the alternator is charging and the battery goes dead overnight, this is called a parasitic draw. A mechanic is going to have to put a meter inline with the negative battery cable and measure for a current draw. Then remove circuit fuses one at a time until the draw goes away. Then that circuit needs to be diagnose.

There are way too many things that can cause this. Anything from a glovebox light staying on to a module drawing too much current.
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carriedi
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by carriedi » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:28 am

Here's the thing with vehicles today. they have many things that run while the key is off and out of the car. usually they time out after ten minutes to an hour. Some cars turn things on all by themselves. The hard part is that they don't always do it. If you had a draw that was always there, that would be easy to find. Problem is that most cars today have draws that turn on and off by computers in the car. sometimes they stick on sometimes they won't The mechanic has to be lucky enough to have the draw come on when he can catch it. Diodes in the alternator may go bad and the battery drains though that. Easy catch. lights that stay on are easy. body control modules that turn things on in the night... not so easy. Windshield leaking on the fuse box is a Ford thing. Water on the GEM module too.
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wayne455
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Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:15 pm

Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by wayne455 » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:28 pm

no electric in truck even radio that hooked directly to battery

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carriedi
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by carriedi » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:44 pm

dead battery of bad connection at battery terminal

use a test light or a Volt meter and check your voltage at the battery terminals and work out from there
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Newbie23
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by Newbie23 » Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:16 pm

So I've recently inherited a 1976 Ford f150 with an extended cab after my father passed away and I've been wanting to fix it up into a drivable vehicle, the only problem is that I'm not a gearhead and know virtually nothing about fixing a truck that has been sitting for nearly three years. It has a flat rear tire and hasn't had gas or a battery in it for god knows how long, plus I'm not sure if the power steering still works. Where do I start?!

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carriedi
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by carriedi » Wed Aug 05, 2015 10:07 pm

just start with what you have. air up the tire. put a battery, add some fuel, check your oil and see what happens.
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Newbie23
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by Newbie23 » Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:38 pm

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll give it a shot. What happens if there's rust in the gas tank?

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carriedi
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Re: FORD F 150 PROBLEM, MAYBE ELECTRICAL?

Unread post by carriedi » Sat Aug 08, 2015 10:53 pm

it should get caught in the fuel filter. (depends on if tank was open to atmosphere)
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