I bought my F150 4.9 300 a little over a year ago. I bought her for $100 with 88k miles, all she needed was a airpump and a radiator, the guy was so nice he helped me put it in his driveway. Within the last 6 months he put a new fuel tank, fuel pump, all new gaslines, new battery, starter, brake rotors, brake drums, brakes, brake lines, slave cyl in tranny, windshield, water pump, hoses, exhaust, and she had good tires. When I got it I replaced the airpump, radiator, tuneup (plugs, wires), fuel filter, airfilter, oil and the serp belt. I fixed the leaky windsheild, hammered out tin to fix the floor, reinforced the cab frame with angle iron, changed the heater core, thermostat, flushed and filled the radiator.

Then when I was driving down a dirtroad I hit a pothole and the truck died, it turned out to be a wire corroded on the silinoid enough to have the wire fall out, after that I bought dielectric silicone and put it on every wire, all the grounds, all the positives got unscrewed sanded and cleaned everything that needed it. Then at about 95k I replaced the top radiator hose, then drained and filled the radiator again. put a set of offroad lights on it. All i have left to do is change the tranny fluid, clean and fill the differential, change the vacuum lines and maybe put on a K+N airfilter.

The truck is off the road right now due to no issurence. and I start her at least once a week. For some reason the battery gauge is in the red and after I let it idle and warm up for about 10 minutes the gauge will jump back up to normal. Then when it gets started again it will either be fine or there will not be enough juice to start her. 2-7 days later I go to start it and the battery gauge will either be fine or it will be so low it will be just barely even showing on the gauge and not start. Does anyone know what would cause this or do i have a short somewhere or could it be something with the alternator or battery? If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.
THANK YOU in advance -Shawn

 

hola

 

Sounds like the battery is very low when the truck is started. I am guessing it is not running long enough on the once a week startups to fully recharge the battery. The older Fords put out little to no amperage at idle so allowing it to idle will not do the job. I reccomend putting a battery charger on the battery and fully charging it that way. Find one that will maintain the battery and leave it on on. See how that works for you.

 

Welcome to the site. Do you think it could possibly be the alternator too NGM?? I was thinking that you should possibly change that

 

check your alternators ground wire, and double check all your other ground wires. then get a battery recharger and charge it to full. after it has been charged to full and you still have the same problem you may need to get a new battery or check and see if you have a bad cell.. hope you get it fixed.. and welcome to the site

 

Welcome to the site.

 

Welcome Shawn

 

Get a voltage tester .
- with the truck off check volts example 10.8 maybe 12.3
- with the truck on check the volts example 13.2 maybe 14.4 if it reads higher voltage with the truck running the altenator is proubly ok.
- get a friend to turn the truck over a few times but not let it start just back and fourth with the key ,you hold the tester on the battery and see how many volts it drops when he/she turns the key over it should only drop 2 or 3 vols but if it drops to like 5 or 6 you need a battery.(do not let the truck run to charge the battery you will cook the alt. use a charger...calvin

 

Thanks alot everyone, well i have a green eye on the battery when it is charged, and black when it needs a charge. Last time i looked at it was like a couple weeks ago it had a green eye. I charged the battery a couple days ago. And the gauge on the charger said it was fully charged but the eye on the battery was black. I jumped in the truck with the charger still on, then again when it was off and it started right up both times, but my lil red battery warning light was still on. So with the eye not being green i guess i need a new battery. Calvin with the truck sitting for that long i always thought it was better to start and run the truck every week, so it is not just sitting there. Or are you saying if the battery is low put in on the charger before i start it? thanks for everyones input

 

that is why im not drivin right now is because my car wasnt gettin drove enough during the week to keep the battery charged