To the "experts"; thoughts and insights please.

[ferniesnow]

Went out to start my truck yesterday; dead as a door nail?? Not enough juice in the battery to unlock the door with the key pad nor could I open the door with the fob. I had to use the key. Turned on the key and there wasn't enough an inkling of a click. Battery is 2 years old (nearly to the day). 2013 F350 with automatic shut down if lights or whatever are left on. The truck was sitting in the driveway for 14 days without moving nor being started.

Put the charger on yesterday and charged for about 5 hours. Everything works this morning the way it should.

What are your thoughts??

 

[kingcat162]

Replace both batteries with new interstate batteries - or just 1 - I have 1 stock 2014 ford battery and an interstate - 7 yrs and counting - I should check the stocker one day - I could be just runnin off the interstate

 

[mclean]

The battery was dead would be my educated guess

 

[ABMax24]

Could be a bad battery, I had one battery 14 months old on my 2014 F350 do the same thing, it must have had a small short in a cell and if driven everyday it was fine, but if it sat more than 2 days it went dead. Took those batteries back to costco and exchanged for new ones, haven't had an issue since.

Unless you have a bunch of accessories run directly off the battery like a 2-way of off-road lights, then start there.

 

[arff]

Not surprised after 14 days, Older battery and all vehicles have a draw of some type with all the electronics.

Did Ford have a recall on a junction box?

Also the alternator can have a draw draining the battery.

 

[retiredpop]

Pull the battery cable and put your handheld ammeter in series with the cable to see what kind of draw there is when everything is shut off. There will be a minimal draw due to keep alive electronics but it should be pretty minimal. If you see more than a few milliamps then you have some troubleshooting to do. If not then probably a bad battery.

 

[mikeydoo]

Going to lots of battery problems in the next few months. The plus 40 temps all summer are hard on batteries. Probably 1 battery has a bad cell and it will drag down the rest.

 

[Luke The Drifter]

Charge and load test the batteries. If they're good, you've got a drain somewhere (as mentioned, check any aftermarket accessories that are installed). If they're bad, change both batteries and carry on.

 

[Summitric]

Could be a faulty new battery... should have it tested. May have a parasitic electrical draw that could be draining the battery... that can be tested as well.

 

[ferniesnow]

Thanks guys. Only one battery in this F350. Tire change over on Friday at Kal Tire and I will have them check the battery as that is where I bought it 2 years ago Friday.

 

[Tchetek]

How the weather? If it’s cool and the truck isn’t deleted maybe the DEF heater has been running.

 

[ferniesnow]

How the weather? If it’s cool and the truck isn’t deleted maybe the DEF heater has been running.

No DEF heater. I'm an odd ball with a gas F350.

 

[Teth-Air]

Went out to start my truck yesterday; dead as a door nail?? Not enough juice in the battery to unlock the door with the key pad nor could I open the door with the fob. I had to use the key. Turned on the key and there wasn't enough an inkling of a click. Battery is 2 years old (nearly to the day). 2013 F350 with automatic shut down if lights or whatever are left on. The truck was sitting in the driveway for 14 days without moving nor being started.

Put the charger on yesterday and charged for about 5 hours. Everything works this morning the way it should.

What are your thoughts??

Doug. Software can screw up and hold the accessories on. This happened to my 2015 Ram. My Ram did the exact same thing and I finally traced it to a software update that changed a couple of the optional accessories buttons to stay powered without the ignition being on. I happened to have my rear heated seats on one of those circuits. I had to move it to another circuit that did shut off with the ignition. Our shop truck had the dash lights stuck on the other day for no obvious reason too. On my plow truck it happens time and again too but it is old so I think it is because the ignition switch is worn and the key is being released before it is turned all the way to the off position.

In a nut shell, look for things that are on when you expect they should be shut off.

 

[Legend14]

Every vehicle I own the battery would de dead in two weeks lol….I’d start it once and a while or unhook it. Your lucky it never killed battery permanently

 

[scotts]

Batteries and tires sure don't seem last very well at all anymore

 

[catrutt]

My dad has a 2011 f350 and it doesn't matter how new or good the battery is the truck will always kill the battery in just over a week. Small solar charger on the dash in the cig lighter when sitting for a long time fixed it.

 

[maxwell]

I don’t know about that all of my GMC trucks can sit outside for weeks on end in -30 and always fire right up. I realize this is a Ford but something is drawing power to completely kill a battery in 2 weeks. Maybe just put an isolator switch on.

 

[kanedog]

Your battery has Covid.

 

[SHREK1]

My 13 would sit for weeks and no starting issues, do a load test and see if its the battery, i hate replacing something but throwing a dart.

 

[ferniesnow]

There is a positive note to this dilemma; the check gas cap light and the check engine light have now gone off. The check engine light has been on for nearly two years.