Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

If a jump start fixed it. I would look at the grounds and load test the batteries.

 

Yup. The batteries are about a year old, I am hoping they are okay, but I would rather find bad batteries than more expensive problems.

A problem with a wiring connection that is easily resolved would be even better.

This dealership runs cushy hours for it's service department. They don't open for another 20 minutes, at 0700 local.

 

No harbor freight near so you can buy a battery tester instead of paying dealer shop rate for them to tell you they are bad or not? Some battery dealers will even test them 4 free....

 

I bought this at Habor freight, dont recall how much it was though.

 

I definitely need one of those. Do they test with the batteries connected, or do you have to remove connections and test each battery separately? Obviously if it detects a problem you would need to disconnect to isolate, but i am talking for first-pass testing.

 

At least take a look at your batteries. See if connections are corroded, make sure everything’s tight.

 

500 Amp Carbon Pile Load Tester

The right tool for the job.

 

Yup, did that. No obvious wear, damage, looseness. No burns visible. No ozone or burned plastic smell.

 

Update: Problem found and addressed.

The last full set of batteries I bought - from Freightliner - were not the batteries specced for the truck. They were starting batteries, but opti-idle trucks are supposed to get a battery type that is between a starting battery and a deep cycle battery.

Two of the batteries were weak, after only a year.

So, in the last week, I have taken three 34's.

First, a 34 in Utah.
Drive into CA on day 2
Drive from CA to WA, day 3 and 4
Take a 34 due to no loads available Sunday, 4th of July weekend
When I finish the 34, the truck won't start. I go on duty long enough to drive it to dealership.
Then I then take another two days off while they find and fix the problem, another 34.

I'm lined up for a load from WA to KS to get me back down to a normal route.

 

So, I got some miles in today at least. Ended up having to deadhead 350 miles to find an empty. Could not pick up the scheduled load today, even though the window for loading was a wide one. There's plenty of time for the drop and hook delivery though, so having it loaded tomorrow morning will work just as well.