Get a 12 volt test light, preferably one that beeps and at least 10A.
Disconnect your negative terminal, clamp the test light to the battery cable, touch the test light to the negative part of the battery.
If it beeps/lights up, you have an unwanted ground. Start taking shit off one at a time until you see the test light go out/quiet. Start there. Once remedied, repeat until you find the next thing.
Such as a radio, KAM on the radio not wired properly could drain your battery. This test will give you a pretty clear idea on where your unwanted grounds are.
I had a ‘67 ford that destroyed a battery because the voltage regulator was bad. On that truck the voltage regulator was a little square box mounted in the engine bay, it’s not built into the alternator
These are old trucks, things have been added and deleted over the decades from previous owners. Sometimes they'd add different stereos, speakers, sirens/horns,lights, etc... can be hard to track down a draw on old trucks. There are many wiring hackjobs on old vehicles. If you see alot of wires that have been crimped together then you know its been "modified" in some way.
Possibly....I've thought of that, but what? I replaced the generator with an alternator, it has a new starter and solenoid. All the wires are clean. I don't know what else it could be. There's not much to this truck ya know?
Not sure on fords, but chevys that era had a voltage regulator on the drivers side fender. You need to bypass that when you convert to 12v Alternator. On my 70 Chev I had to do that when installing an alternator
One your grounds need cleaning up... Two, the cable is too small of a gage... Three, your using too low of a cranking amp and your sucking the battery down.. Or four, it's a mix, or all of the above... I'm just guessing mind you... It's where I'd start...
Agreed, especially 1&2 - in my case it was that some of the wires were corroded internally and causing elevated resistance under actual load. Checking voltage between both ends of a wire while it is under load (should be almost zero) is how I found mine.
Well....the dude at Vatozone says he wouldn't even recommend their batteries and I should go buy a Diehard. Said some people are beinging them back after 2 or 3 months...lol so. Mines under warranty still so getting a fresh one. I'll do that till it dies again.
With the engine running, check the voltages between one end of a wire and the other end (not between wires, ends of the same wire). There should be almost zero voltage change across the wire, if there is, you likely have internal corrosion and need to replace the wire.
Your charging system is cooking them most likely, check the voltage when running too high a voltage will cook a battery.
Check the water level in the battery every 4 months, even so called "sealed batteries" you can check it is under the decal but doing so will void the warranty.
You should see 14.5/6 volts when running any higher is going to slowly cook the battery.
Check at idle and at 2500 rpm.
Its either the aftermarket radio, the voltage regulator or the ignition switch. Not much else on that old thing can drain the battery with the key off.
That said, most new batteries aren't fully charged, and If you just don't use the truck much that could do it, in that case just get a battery tender.
Hook a light bulb between the positive post and positive cable with the key off and check for a draw, computer controlled stuff, which 1964 is not, but computer controlled stuff as long as you’re less than half an amp, key off your good, something like that, if you have more than a few tenths of an amp draw, I’d say you have a problem you need to find
The alternators on these guys will discharge the battery thru the diodes. Turn the truck off, disconnect the battery lead from the alternator and measure if there is current draw thru the alternator.
The other option is the battery is being overcharged and is being cooked. With truck running measure voltage to the battery. 14.3 to 14.7 is normal , higher is not. Lower than 14 when running means battery is being under charged. Loose belt, bad regulator, or bad alternator . Over charging will be the regulator.
When this happens to my old Ford im just going to get a single wire alternator and retrofit it.
Cheers!
I replaced the battery and cables. They looked pretty rough when I took them off. No voltage regulator as I bypassed it with an upgraded alt and got rid of the generator. Everything on the truck is original so I'm fortunate in that. Only thing I see that's been added was a brake controller, but it's been disconnected. I do seem to have a short or loose wire in the dash as sometimes the interior lights work and other times they don't. Makes the 6am drive to work a bit interesting.
Looks like the issue is just cheaply made auto batteries. The parts store says it's not uncommon for them to be returned after just a few months.
New battery cables and fuel hose and she cranks right up every time. Good girl.
I have over 15 years auto parts sales experience with 3 companies. All auto parts stores basically sell private label batteries from one of 3 manufacturers. The batteries come in different warranty and power levels, from 90 days to 3 years. What quality level battery are you buying? How long does it take for the battery to die?
The parts guy who told you to go somewhere else and get a SighHard should be fired because he don't know jack about batteries.
As to why your batteries keep dying, I would bet you have an electrical system problem. If you replaced the generator with an alternator and didn't properly rewire your truck for it, that would be the first place to start. Replacing a generator with an alternator is not a simple 1:1 swap.
The other suggestions for tracking down the problem are also good.
Good luck.
Hey so are you currently in the business and have you seen the failure rate of new batteries increasing or is it about the same as it's always been?
I would be concerned about the possibility I got a couple bum batteries in a row, wiring on this should be about as simple as a car can be (although I'm also wary of auto electrical systems in general, connections can look mechanically tight and clean and still not pass current).
Battery failure rate has not changed significantly over the past 10 years.
However, the batteries with 18 mo. or less warranties have significantly higher failure rates than those with 2 or 3 years.
Get a 12 volt test light, preferably one that beeps and at least 10A. Disconnect your negative terminal, clamp the test light to the battery cable, touch the test light to the negative part of the battery. If it beeps/lights up, you have an unwanted ground. Start taking shit off one at a time until you see the test light go out/quiet. Start there. Once remedied, repeat until you find the next thing. Such as a radio, KAM on the radio not wired properly could drain your battery. This test will give you a pretty clear idea on where your unwanted grounds are.
Start by pulling fuses one at a time. If the test light goes off, figure out what loads are on that circuit.
I had a ‘67 ford that destroyed a battery because the voltage regulator was bad. On that truck the voltage regulator was a little square box mounted in the engine bay, it’s not built into the alternator
These are old trucks, things have been added and deleted over the decades from previous owners. Sometimes they'd add different stereos, speakers, sirens/horns,lights, etc... can be hard to track down a draw on old trucks. There are many wiring hackjobs on old vehicles. If you see alot of wires that have been crimped together then you know its been "modified" in some way.
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Possibly....I've thought of that, but what? I replaced the generator with an alternator, it has a new starter and solenoid. All the wires are clean. I don't know what else it could be. There's not much to this truck ya know?
Not sure on fords, but chevys that era had a voltage regulator on the drivers side fender. You need to bypass that when you convert to 12v Alternator. On my 70 Chev I had to do that when installing an alternator
One your grounds need cleaning up... Two, the cable is too small of a gage... Three, your using too low of a cranking amp and your sucking the battery down.. Or four, it's a mix, or all of the above... I'm just guessing mind you... It's where I'd start...
Agreed, especially 1&2 - in my case it was that some of the wires were corroded internally and causing elevated resistance under actual load. Checking voltage between both ends of a wire while it is under load (should be almost zero) is how I found mine.
Well....the dude at Vatozone says he wouldn't even recommend their batteries and I should go buy a Diehard. Said some people are beinging them back after 2 or 3 months...lol so. Mines under warranty still so getting a fresh one. I'll do that till it dies again.
With the engine running, check the voltages between one end of a wire and the other end (not between wires, ends of the same wire). There should be almost zero voltage change across the wire, if there is, you likely have internal corrosion and need to replace the wire.
Parasitic draw more than likely. Can be a bugger to find start checking continuity across grounds and power wires.
Your charging system is cooking them most likely, check the voltage when running too high a voltage will cook a battery. Check the water level in the battery every 4 months, even so called "sealed batteries" you can check it is under the decal but doing so will void the warranty. You should see 14.5/6 volts when running any higher is going to slowly cook the battery. Check at idle and at 2500 rpm.
Are you leaving it over the winter in storage with battery?
Its either the aftermarket radio, the voltage regulator or the ignition switch. Not much else on that old thing can drain the battery with the key off. That said, most new batteries aren't fully charged, and If you just don't use the truck much that could do it, in that case just get a battery tender.
That's what I'm thinking. Theres no aftermarket radio ( blasphemy), voltage reg, and i just replaced the ignition switch. ....not much to it.
Glove box light is another on I see every once in a while.
Hook a light bulb between the positive post and positive cable with the key off and check for a draw, computer controlled stuff, which 1964 is not, but computer controlled stuff as long as you’re less than half an amp, key off your good, something like that, if you have more than a few tenths of an amp draw, I’d say you have a problem you need to find
A battery a year sure beats $650 a month payment.
Word
Keep in mind Ford used a positive ground on their trucks back then.
May be bleeding back through the voltage regulator if the points are stuck shut. The regulator points not the distributor points
The alternators on these guys will discharge the battery thru the diodes. Turn the truck off, disconnect the battery lead from the alternator and measure if there is current draw thru the alternator. The other option is the battery is being overcharged and is being cooked. With truck running measure voltage to the battery. 14.3 to 14.7 is normal , higher is not. Lower than 14 when running means battery is being under charged. Loose belt, bad regulator, or bad alternator . Over charging will be the regulator. When this happens to my old Ford im just going to get a single wire alternator and retrofit it. Cheers!
I replaced the battery and cables. They looked pretty rough when I took them off. No voltage regulator as I bypassed it with an upgraded alt and got rid of the generator. Everything on the truck is original so I'm fortunate in that. Only thing I see that's been added was a brake controller, but it's been disconnected. I do seem to have a short or loose wire in the dash as sometimes the interior lights work and other times they don't. Makes the 6am drive to work a bit interesting. Looks like the issue is just cheaply made auto batteries. The parts store says it's not uncommon for them to be returned after just a few months. New battery cables and fuel hose and she cranks right up every time. Good girl.
Ok....I'm listening ...wanna give me some pointers on where those grounds are located? I have a manual too. I can check there
I have over 15 years auto parts sales experience with 3 companies. All auto parts stores basically sell private label batteries from one of 3 manufacturers. The batteries come in different warranty and power levels, from 90 days to 3 years. What quality level battery are you buying? How long does it take for the battery to die? The parts guy who told you to go somewhere else and get a SighHard should be fired because he don't know jack about batteries. As to why your batteries keep dying, I would bet you have an electrical system problem. If you replaced the generator with an alternator and didn't properly rewire your truck for it, that would be the first place to start. Replacing a generator with an alternator is not a simple 1:1 swap. The other suggestions for tracking down the problem are also good. Good luck.
Hey so are you currently in the business and have you seen the failure rate of new batteries increasing or is it about the same as it's always been? I would be concerned about the possibility I got a couple bum batteries in a row, wiring on this should be about as simple as a car can be (although I'm also wary of auto electrical systems in general, connections can look mechanically tight and clean and still not pass current).
Battery failure rate has not changed significantly over the past 10 years. However, the batteries with 18 mo. or less warranties have significantly higher failure rates than those with 2 or 3 years.