I've been neglecting my 99 for quite some time now. I've been working on and driving the 90 model. I let my 99 sit unused in the garage from thursday afternoon last week until tuesday afternoon this week. I opened the door and it didn't have an ounce of juice. I put it on the charger for about 20 min, came back out and it fired up. Drove it to town (7 miles each way) to pick up a part for the 90, came home shut it off. I double checked to make sure I didn't leave any lights on, and there were none on. Only the blinking "security" light. So today I open the door and same scenario. Dead as it can be.

Does anyone know what could be zappying the truck's battery like this? It's only a few months old and starts good and hard every time. But something must be draining it, or else it's just gone bad on me somehow. Any ideas? Anyone experience this before?

 

I would take it to a auto parts store and have the altinator checked. You may have lucked out and the runner ran off of the battery and was on the verge of dying when you got home. You could have also got a lemon battery. Other than that you could have a short somewhere, if that is the case have fun figuring out where it is

 

Twenty minutes on a charger and a 14 mile trip is probably not enough time to give your battery a full charge, especially if you did silly little things like run the AC, any lights, or a sound system.

That being said, it shouldn't have lost the charge the first time - if it had been sitting for 6 months, that's one thing, but for 5 days, it shouldn't have been an issue. My guess would be the battery, as if it's still the factory battery then it's got about 6 years on it, but as mentioned you can take it to most parts stores and they'll test the battery and the charging system.

~Bill

 

Kyle,

I'd run it to the AutoZone on College by IGA or the O'Reilly's at the intersection of 6th and School...they're really great people and are always willing to help ya out. I'd give that a try...if that doesn't work I'd ask Landers if they might test it for ya.

If it turns out to be a battery problem...get an Optima Yellow Top, AWESOME battery! :bow:

Fink

 

Guys, I replaced the bettery about 5 months ago. It COULD be that. I don't think it's the alternator, or else it wouldn't have driven all the way to the store and back, and it would have kicked on the battery light. I shut it off for about 15 minutes while I went in the store. Came out and it fired right up. So it was charging I'm pretty sure. I have no aftermarket drains on the battery, no sound system, no lights, nothing. Only mod half way related to anything electrical is the permanent grounding of the rear diff lock wire so I can run it in 2wd... but it wouldn't be drawing power. I was running the a/c on the way, don't remember if the lights were on or not. Regardless, it had enough to start the motor when I returned out of the store, and 2 days later the open door dinger didn't chime, there's definitely a draw off it somewhere, or else the battery's just plain bad. I know I've let it sit about 3 days without moving it and it didn't do this. Perhaps the battery's taken a dump on me. I guess I can take it back, it's got a 2 yr free replacement on it.

 

I'd get it checked out first...ya never now what it could be, good luck figurin it out man!

Fink

 

Have them check the battery first. Sometimes there's a build quality issue (I'm being nice, OK?) and one of the cells will short out. That will kill a battery in a few days. I agree that if you need a new battery, go with Optima. I know I will next time.

 

Assuming the battery is in decent condition and can hold a charge and the alternator is ok, put an ammeter on the battery. You should see some small current flow. Try to isolate whatever the culprit is, first by pulling those fuses feeding things that draw power with the engine off (clock, security, lighting). Keep an eye on the ammeter and keep pulling fuses 1-by-1. If you're chasing a high resistance ground, you SHOULD be able to zero-in on which circuit it's on.

 

Oh, yeah. And make sure the battery is clean. You could have a current path to ground through the crud that builds up on the casing.

 

Goto a starter shop. Have it tested there. All those other junk shops might test it wrong. If your battery is bad, don't buy a wal-mart battery. It you can find a gel battery, get it . It might cost more , but it is the best. They don't leak, they last longer.

 

Thanks for the input fellas, I'll see what I can find this evening! 2 Yota's and I'm having to work on both them. THis shouldn't be happening. Hahaha :pat:

 

Rick F has it right .Buy a cheapie multimeter(digital) for about 20 bucks.Turn everything off.Key out of ignition.Disconnect neg. abt. cable.Connect test leads between the neg. terminal and the neg. cable on tha 2 amp scale.You should have less than 50 milliamp draw.If it's more ,then start pulling fuses until it drops under 50mA.Once youv'e isolated the circuit,then unplug each load on that circuit until youv'e found the culprit.

 

Mine did something similar. I left it for about three days, and it was all but dead. At first it wouldn't even turn over, just click, but it caught. It was like this every morning for a week and a half or so. Then I drove to kentucky a couple weeks ago and now it's fine. I guess the fact that I never have to drive more than 4 miles to get to work, school, or bars would have prevented my batt from recharging.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Looks like i'll be reprogramming the radio stations shortly again! Wish they had some sort of way to keep them from losing their memory so fast.

 

They do make this... It's a 9V battery that is connected to a plug that goes in the cigarette lighter. While the battery is disconnected the 9V will supply enuf charge for the presets and comp info.


I had the same problem a while back and checked it with the ohm meter and cable method. I had a relay for my fog lights that was draining it.