06 Freightliner Columbia batteries draining

There must be a drain on the batt. somewhere besides the Acc.s Disconnect the power to main fuse and check for Voltage when the accessories are turned off.

 

I agree, there must be a draw on the batteries. A quick test to do is disconnect the negative battery cables and put a test light between the negative battery post and the negative battery cable. If the test light lights, you have a discharge in the system. To isolate the problem, you can then unplug/ disconnect each fuse / circuit breaker one by one until you find which one turns the light out.

 

have your altenator tested there is a bank of diodes that allow voltage out but not in when not running. the altenator will function properly and you will never notice it unless you sit for a day or two.

 

could be a bad cable or ground not letting the batteries recharge also check the starter where all the battery cables go that big nut sometimes gets loose and will drive you nuts

 

I agree with 112. also I have had problems with wiring and usually it is corrosion. check ALL connections. also I bought 3 new batteries and from the store one was bad.. gave me fits man i mean. It would run and crank fine, let it sit over the weekend. dead. I took them all out and had a friend load test them..that stupid tester at orielys said it was good. could not put enough load on it.

 

I have almost same situation.
Have truck 4 months, last month in ammarillo after fueling
truck is dead as a door nail. Got jump,went to amarillo freightliner,
new batteries.
go home for hme time and ####...dead again.
figured out how to set apu to start up automatically when batteries
get low...but now apu runs constantly.
some good ideas on what might be problem.
taking to shop today.
will let you know if fixed.
bob

 

Anyone figure this out yet? I have a similar problem with my Century. I had it in the shop last winter for this and Freightliner determined it was a draw in the mirror heat switch and as long as i kept it turned off, it should be fine. Ran great all summer and most of fall til it started to get cold out. Then I started having to jump start it if it sat for more than 24 hours without running. Changed all 4 batteries and it ran great for a week, then the problem started again. The other night I idled it all night, shut it off in the morning and couldn't get it to crank. We thought it might be a bad starter so we decided to change it. When we went to take the nut off the negative post, the whole thing spun. Put a new starter in and it would crank really slow. Brought it to another shop and they claim to have checked it over and couldn't find any power draws or bad connections and that my alternator was putting out almost 100 amps. They charged the batteries and it started fine when I picked it up. Brought it home and next morning it wouldn't start. I'm baffled. I'm $1300 into it between the 4 batteries, starter and shop time and its still not right. Anyone have any ideas?

 

We are having similar issues. We have 3 05 Columbias. Drive 10 hours, 12 hours later the battery is dead. Sending 12 volts according to the dashboard. Thats not giving up and sounds when key is turned. If we charge off another truck, it will shoot up to 14.1 volts and the engine will turn over. Any idea why we can't start up after 12 hours? Thanks

 

Hello Everyone
I have bought this 2009 Freightliner M2 5ton dry van last week. Seller installed new batteries as per deal, drove truck for 1300km to get it back to home and left it to mechanic for inspection etc.. went today and mechanic he said that truck has flat battery... I told him that it got new battery, he will check it tomorrow now... Only electrical thing he fixed was cigarette lighter/mobile charging port, he said wiring was disconnected... I am worried, why this happen..or he left any light on..!!!!!

though he drive the truck in and out from workshop few time to get it fixed/checked, he didn't have issue to start but now its acting
Any suggestions guy?