In my 99 f150 the battery light is on and something keeps killing the charge on my battery to the point where it shuts off any ideas why?

Asked by tylerruffin09 Dec 18, 2016 at 10:48 AM about the 1999 Ford F-150 Work 4WD LB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

about a month the battery light came on but caused no noticeable problems until earlier in the week. while driving the interior and exterior lights dimmed and went out then the truck shut off. I replaced the alternator and had the battery tested then charged once back together I was able to drive home. now a few days later the truck broke down again. I got it home and we checked fuses (no problems so far) and cleaned and rewired the terminals. we tried to use another fully charged battery and it died.  so now I am not sure where to look to find the problem any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you
tyler

3 Answers
74,390

OJ answered 8 years ago

Check the alternator with a multi-meter with the engine running and see if it is charging a full battery at a little over 14 volts. The idiot light on the dash illuminates when the PCM receives a signal the battery is not being charged. Check all ground connections and make sure battery terminals are free of corrosion..

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40

DAKB115 answered 6 years ago

With the engine shut off, if you have a volt meter put it on the battery, if the voltage drops after about an hour, you may have a grounded power wire. A dc ampere meter would be better so you could measure the current draw. pull the fuses one at a time to see which one stops the draw. Best of luck.

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