Truck battery eval
Hi guys! I figured the folks here could explain to me what's going on with the batteries under the hood of my truck. I have a 2006 Dodge Ram diesel 4x4 short bed truck. It has 70,000 miles on it ...
Forum Discussion
BFL13 wrote:
Should be ok for another year or so IMO. I would equalize them if you have the chance, to help with that.
You also have parasitic loads in the truck drawing down the "resting" voltage. Could use a maintenance charger on them if sitting a long time between trips or taking many short trips in town so they never get recharged.
I agree, I probably have a year or so left in the batteries, but I got these from Costco back when they sold the Kirkland branded car batteries. Warranty is for full refund up to 4 years and 100 months prorated. I'm right at the point where I can replace them virtually for free, but since Costco now only carries the Interstate brand, the 100 month prorated goes away, just 42 months full refund.
I don't have parasitic loads. Based on Dodge truck forums, there should be 30ma of current draw when the truck is off. I measure mine and sure enough; 30ma after about a minute or so after shutting off the key. that's .03amps.
Since the truck normally has the camper and solar charging things, I'm pretty sure they are fully charged. But just to be sure, I did leave it on a charger for over 48 hours trickle. Nothing changed after I disconnected the charger; next morning, batteries at 12.4 volts.
