06 6.0 batteries die after sitting a few days.

Stroker67 · May 23, 2014

Hey guys,
I sold my 6.0 to my father in law and recently the trucks batteries will be dead after the truck sits a few days. I just replaced the batteries with motorcraft batteries right before he bought it. What could possibly be draining these batteries? I have some retro-solutions HIDs in the truck, could the ballasts be drawing amps and killing the batteries? Any info or help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Tyler

Breaking Habits · May 23, 2014

Fighting the same problem on my buddies 06 right now. Let me know what you figure out

mustube · May 23, 2014

Take both negative cables off, and put a multimeter between the cable and the battery on one side and have it set to DC amps. Since there is a drain you should see a few amps of draw. Start pulling fuses one at a time making sure you note any changes. Whenever you pull a fuse and the amps on the meter drops then there is something on that circuit that is drawing the battery down whether it's a short or something staying on.

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Fordguy100 · May 27, 2014

^^^The above is the correct method. Do it through the negative side as well, easier on your multimeter.

My .4-.5amp draw was a radio head unit. Put in a used one, bam, less than 50 miliamps. You dont want more than a 50 miliamp draw (which is not a lot, powers things like radio save, clocks, etc).

Mixedbreed · May 27, 2014

Mustube hit that nail straight. Can't even add to it unless you have an inductive amp clamp. That works too.

Mdub707 · May 27, 2014

I found my PHP Gryphon being plugged in, (despite the screen not being lit up) would drain my batteries a bit in the really cold weather. A combination of the gryphon and my radar detector were enough to drain them to the point of no starting in 3 days in really cold weather.

Stroked777 · May 30, 2014

Mdub707 said:
I found my PHP Gryphon being plugged in, (despite the screen not being lit up) would drain my batteries a bit in the really cold weather. A combination of the gryphon and my radar detector were enough to drain them to the point of no starting in 3 days in really cold weather.

You must have weak batteries. I leave my mini max on all the time and after weeks of sitting with it on and a gps and a cell charger plugged in and I don't think my voltage dropped

Mdub707 · Jun 2, 2014

Stroked777 said:
You must have weak batteries. I leave my mini max on all the time and after weeks of sitting with it on and a gps and a cell charger plugged in and I don't think my voltage dropped

When I unplug the gryphon, I can let it sit for over 2 weeks in the blistering cold without issue. Granted, my batteries get beat on during the winter when I'm constantly testing FICMs, but never really drive the truck much so the batteries are getting used pretty hard with minimal charge time.

Stroker67 · Jun 6, 2014

Update: I think we got it, truck had HIDs on it, pulled the kit off and the truck has started after sitting for a week, my only guess is maybe the ballasts were drawing to much? Idk but so far so good.