I have a 2002 4wd supercrew. Sunday morning I had a dead battery, we replaced it on tuesday, the truck started up just fine. Wednesday morning, dead battery again. Any suggestions on what might be draining the battery, anything other than taking it to the shop would be great! We have never had any electrical problems with the truck until now, anyone else heard of this before?

Thanks for your input!
Leigh Ann

 

Alternator is the first suspect.
A check of the charging system ability is the first test.
This directs you to either the alterntor or some other reason there is a heavey drain.
After starting an engine, the battery normally will take a high charge rate at about 15 volts then taper down as the charge is restored. If you don't see this action, the alternator is faulty.
Another example:
With a fully charged battery in place on a cold engine and you find the alternator case warm after a few hours is a sure sign the alternator would be the fault for high drain on the battery.

 

My husband changed the alternator over the weekend and let the truck run for a while to recharge the battery, but after the truck sat overnight, it was dead again, so we took the truck to the dealership. Still have not heard back from ford if they found the problem yet. Thanks for the advise Bluegrass, we have a machanic friend that basicly said the same thing. Hopefully Ford can find the problem and hopefully it isn't to costly!

 

Some extra thoughts for all to consider in the future is never jump start a dead battery without first allowing the battery to take a charge from the starting vehichle and battery for at least 5 minutes because the new alternator or the old, will be called on to charge at full output for too long a time.
Most replacenment alternators will have a warning paper in the box about this.
This can result in loss of the old or new alternator if it was good to begin with.
Instant jumping has been done millions of times without incident but there is an element of risk without allowing the dead/low battery to get some charge before starting.
I know this is after the fact now but some testing would have been helpful in determing the 'relitive' source of the problem before heading to the shop.
Good luck with it.

 

I just heard back from the dealership... The 4wd is draining the battery, they said they have never seen that before. $345 bucks to fix, but they don't have the part(s) on hand so it will be a couple of days. I am glad they found the problem, and it costs less than I was estimating (new wiring harness )

 

Ok, Today is day 9, and the dealership still has my truck! They fixed the faulty wiring in the 4wd but apparently that wasn't the only problem. Now they are replacing the fuse box. Hopefully I can get my truck back today, my husband and I have an appointment at Nissan tomorrow night to get our new truck. No more Ford for us!

 

Now the 4wd doesn't work at all, no word yet on when I can get my truck back. They said they aren't charging us to fix the 4wd (hmmm, did someone screw up or what?!?), It is very odd that my husband used the 4wd the night the truck started acting funny. That was the first time the 4wd had been used since the dealership "serviced" the 4wd (changed the fluids, etc.). I am so angry at the dealership right now, getting someone to call us and update us on the status is like pulling teeth! I paid a lot of money for that truck, and with less than 60k miles on it, I don't think it should be spending 10+ days in the shop for repairs. Any ideas on who I can complain to? I don't want to complain to the managers at the dealership (yet) since my truck is still in there hands, no telling how many "problems" my truck might have in the future! I don't trust this dealership at all. It has been a real inconvenience to have 1 vehicle for my family for the last 10 days, but they don't seem to care.