HELP! trac wont start! is it the starter, alternator, or anti-theft

[MidnightRebel07]

Not bad, I replaced mine with a Bosch 850cca back in '09 and its been great up until recently but it's also getting older, it's been 10-26 degrees out for awhile now and I run driving lights, stereo, amp, and winch with it. I think sometime soon I'm gonna add a seperate battery for the winch though, I know when I pulled the work Tractor -Semi out of a 10" rut of snow and ice it bogged the battery down.

 

[swshawaii]

so the cheapest i could find the p-2 in my neck of the woods is 220 bucks. and at 60 lbs, and the way my trac already leans left, i may have to find something lighter.

autozone has a deep cycle duralast platinum that weighs in at 45 lbs, and has 770 cca, and a 150 minute reserve. it also has a 3 yr free replacement and an 8 yr overall warranty. its going for 159 bucks, what do you think?

The AZ Platinum looks really good, gets great reviews for an excellent price. Good choice going with an AGM since you're an avid off roader and vibration can kill batteries. Search AZ coupons, they run them often with substantial discounts.

 

[LONO100]

will do thanks. yeah, thats what drew me to it, much better for handling vibrations. i just really hope its the battery. the guys at AZ said they could test my battery and that it would take a few hours, so just drop it off and they will give me a call back. if its the alternator, im cool with that too even though thats going to eat into my weekend replacing it. i just hope it doesnt become one of those mystery charging problems. i had one back when i was in high school, and it was a pain.

ill keep you guys posted on what i find out. i hope this thread will end up helping others in the future. thanks again fellas!

 

[429CJ-3X2]

Deep cycle batteries are not designed to be a vehicle's primary battery, although they will work for that. They are designed for applications like trolling motors and auxillary power where they get run way down between charges. A regular battery won't last long doing that. And the cranking amp ratings are figured differently for deep cycle batteries so the numbers don't mean the same thing.

A fully charged 12 volt battery should show 12.6 volts with the engine/charging system off. With the engine running, it should read a minimum 13.6 or so. With under 11 volts, I'm surprised you had power for much of anything.

Sounds like the store is doing the test properly. The quick charge and test doesn't really cut it. If a battery has a bad internal connection it won't always show up with the quick charge and test. I had one last year I knew was bad, but it tested good at the store. Thought I was going to have to fight the guy to get him to do the longer charge and test cycle, but he finally reluctantly did it. When I came back a couple of hours later, he said the battery was bad just like I already knew.

I've had great warranty service on several batteries I've bought at WalMart. Less expensive to begin with, plus a 3 year free replacement, and even when it should have been prorated, they replaced it free. I delivered batteries to dealers for 9 years and figured probably thousands of warranties for dealers who just couldn't, or were too lazy to figure it themselves. The people at Walmart that day didn't know how it should have been done.
There are only a few companies that manufacture batteries, so don't pay more for the name. Go for the CCAs, the warranty and service.

 

[LONO100]

Thanks for the good info, I really would like to get a gel based and/or agm battery that's maintenance free. I go off road a lot, nothing hardcore, but long steady multiple day treks through some pretty rugged terrain so vibration is an issue with my use. I also run some aux electronics like CB radios, GPS, and I'm about to install a set of off road driving lights so deep cycle would be nice for handling that type of draw. I'll let you fellas know what I end up with.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Just so you know if you get a red or yellow top cell battery when they drain and die there's really no charging them back, they're toast.

 

[LONO100]

So I went and had my battery tested last night, turns out it was toasted. This was awesome news! I ended up buying a duralast platinum agm battery, slapped it in and she fired up stronger than ever. Even my interior lights and headlights were running brighter.

Thanks to everyone who helped out, this one really had me confused because I never had a dead battery that was still able to power all of my electronics so it was a bit of a puzzle but I'm glad it ended up being a simple fix. Thanks again fellas, the EF rules.

Rebel-I've charged a completely drained optima before, you have to hook up a good battery to the dead optima, and then hook a charger up to the dead battery. It will trick the charger into thinking the dead optima has enough voltage to start the charge. Once you get the dead battery charged to 8v, you can take the good battery off and then just have the charger on it. I think optima has some videos on YouTube on how to do it.

 

[Markaprice73]

..I would still have autozone test your alternator/charging system while the battery is in the ST(its free) or at least run a few of the tests from the alternator video with your meter just to be sure your alt. is charging the battery properly.

 

[swshawaii]

Awesome! Replacing the battery was your best and cheapest solution.
I was AMAZED the difference my new battery made. Engine cranked and
started faster, ran better, brighter lighting, improved audio dynamics, etc.

Was the replaced battery a Motorcraft by chance? If so, probably original.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

Highly unlikely the original battery was still in it. When I delivered batteries from '87-95, for some of that time I delivered Motorcraft batteries to the Ford dealers. The OE batteries were apparently not designed to last much more than the 1 year covered by the new car warranty. I saw quite a few that either just made it, or didn't quite make, the year. The Motorcraft batteries the Ford parts departments sold had a 5 year warranty and held up quite well. The OE and replacement batteries were labeled differently so they were easy to tell apart. Once in a while I'd see an OE battery that was 6 or 7 years old, but not many. They would no doubt last longer in a more moderate climate than we have in Iowa, though.
We also delivered Delco batteries to GM dealers for a while. Whole different technology than any other brand. Delco batteries, at that time anyway, required alternators that charged at over 14 volts minimum and the batteries and alternators were well matched. It was not unusual to see 8-10 year old Delco batteries, OE or replacement.
But that was 20 years ago. I don't know about today's batteries except they offer warranties that were unheard of back then.

 

[LONO100]

the old battery was an energizer battery with 850 cca, 1000 overall. when i pulled it out of the truck, it had a sticker on the bottom that said "11/08". im guessing that was its manufacture date? it was the same battery thats been in there since i bought the truck. it is amazing just how brighter my lights and lamps are now that the fresh new battery is in there. im going to test the alternator tonight to make sure its good. thanks again for all the help fellas.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

11/08 is the manufacture date, although it was probably actual built in Sept. The date they put on them is closer to when they expect them to be on the shelf at the store.

 

[OffTrac]

Just ordered the same battery. Current one isn't going to hold out much longer. Completely died yesterday. 12 hour charge and still low. I'll be cleaning the engine bay this weekend anyway, so I may as well throw something new under the hood while I'm at it.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Getting my free replacement battery under the 7 year warranty. Mine is from back in '08 and it's getting pretty weak.

 

[LONO100]

I believe the duralast platinum agm has a 3 yr full replacement waaranty and an 8 yr pro-rated warranty.

 

[01STrunner]

I'd say that isn't too bad for a good battery. 770 ccas is pretty good; there aren't really many others that are higher. Sorry about the problems man. You'll love how it jumps to life when you put in the new one.

 

[LONO100]

Just put it in, I've never seen my headlights brighter!