Hot Starting Battery

[woodbee]

Thanks again Dave,

I will see what happens tomorrow. I will leave with new batteries, even if I have to pay for them. I am tired of this. It is definitely not worth the hassle.

Woody

[woodbee]

Thanks to the good folks on this forum, I finally got my SMB back from the Ford Dealership.
After they spent two days testing to see where the high amperage draw was coming from and finding nothing. This morning (day three) I printed the quote from Daveb (see below) and gave it to the service manager that has helped me with my Ford pick-up in the past. He read it and said it makes sense. He read it again and said they will do that now. Five hours later he called me up and said I could come in and pick up my SMB. We talked on the phone a little and I thanked him for listening to what I had to say. He said sometimes when working on a project you get tunnel vision and I think we all can relate to that, I sure can.
Now I will take it back to the Ford Dealer when I need to.
It was all covered under warranty. I now have two new batteries.

Thanks again Dave.

Originally Posted by daveb

Woody, the diesels will still start and show good voltage if one battery cell is bad. You need to separate them to be able to find the bad battery so don't let a dealership connect to your system to troubleshoot it. Usually they will tell you all is well. If a wet cell sealed or unsealed battery is hot it is bad and needs to be pulled. You should get it out ASAP or it can cause other problems. Also you'll need to replace both starting batteries even if one is still good because the old one will shorten the life of the new one. Make sure to neutralize the battery box if the battery leaked (smells like rotton eggs). Always use batteries of the same age (not one that's a year old sitting on a shelf mixed with a newer one), plus the types and manufacture should be the same as well. Because your charging system is connected to a bank or single house battery system, I think AGM type starting batteries are a better choice than wet cell sealed types for the chassis batteries (if you have AGM house batteries). Views on manufactures vary but I have Odyssey. One of the Sears Diehard batteries is basically a re-branded Odyssey and a very good choice as well.

Good luck
Dave

Woody

[daveb]

Glad it worked out for you Woody. My local dealerships just fought me mo matter what I said. They claimed that corporate sets the proceedure on how they test vehicles. Guess you just have to find the right dealership.

[woodbee]

Ya, It was hard to convince them. I think it almost drove me nuts. To know what is wrong and they don't hear you. It actually kept me awake at night.

Woody

[Ultrasport12]

Glad you got it fixed... sometimes holding your ground helps...

I can tell you from many years working at a dealer its not always easy to warranty batteries. First they have to be fully charged that can take a full day or more and then load tested. There is a whole procedure and forms to fill out and it doesnt pay well for the time it takes to do it. Many times they will bounce the claim for the whole job if things are not perfectly filled out or if they (the corporation not the dealer) do not find the battery to be defective by their standards. The customers just think the dealer should just replace them and get them on their way but its just not that simple.

That is why my old F350 diesel got one new battery under warranty and went to its grave with the other original one many years later.

[daveb]

The problem with Ford dealerships (not all of them) is that they refuse to take the time to pull the battery in question. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see a hot battery needs to be singled out and tested when the other battery is at normal temperature.

[Ultrasport12]

Originally Posted by daveb

The problem with Ford dealerships (not all of them) is that they refuse to take the time to pull the battery in question. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see a hot battery needs to be singled out and tested when the other battery is at normal temperature.

I agree completely Dave but its not just Ford dealers its many brands.

The problem with batteries (and other jobs that involve testing before replacing) is time that no one, the customer, the dealer or the corporation is going to want to pay for the labor to do the job. No body likes to work for free, especially flat rate auto techs. And usually the lot is full of good paying jobs. Its not that they don't know they need to pull them down to test them (ok some might not know) its just they and the dealer want to get paid for the full ammount of time they have invested.

I know and understand both customer and the dealership sides of these problems. I was a master tech for many years, then a service manager and then a corporate technician trainer. People think that it should be cut and dry but the dealership has to play by Fords (or whomevers) rules for warranty claims. The dealership gets paid less per hour for warranty work and less parts profit as well. The corporations bounce claims and do warranty audits that can cost the dealer tens of thousands of dollars if they find anything wrong.

I am not trying to beat a dead horse here I am just trying to point out its not that the dealership doesnt want to or know how to help they want to but sometimes their hands are tied.

...Jamie

[daveb]

No, I understand that and is why I trash most dealerships. But a few stand out and are worth going back to. I have several friends who have worked for dealerships and many times it flat comes down to the owner and how they treat their customers. The dealership in Las Vegas got me back on the road and did a reasonable job until I found what they did to my Starcool AC. Now it's gonna cost me 500 bucks+ to have it repaired. Same with one of the Fresno dealerships. My van was trashed because they didn't put the van inside like I requested. The owner wouldn't even pay my insurance deductable...lucky he still has a jaw. On the other hand, the dealership in Bakersfield did a similar job as Las Vegas and got it all right. I understand that even the best of shops can make a mistake but it's how the follow through in the end that counts.

[Ultrasport12]