I let my dinosaur diesel truck go into hibernation when fuel prices jumped. Now I need to get it up and going again. The inspection, registration, insurance, you know the usual needs to be done before I can legally drive it on the road.
The batteries are now 9 years old. Yes there are two of them that get to be replaced every time. I had fired this truck up last January the day of an arctic cold front blowing in and temps dropped to single digits. It got cold fast on that one Saturday late afternoon.
I had originally purchased the batteries from Home Depot. They were on the shelf about one month, so I good with that. There was a three year free replacement and I was good with that too. For the last nine years they have been mostly trouble free. At least no trouble from the batteries themselves.
The positive cable was original from 1986 and was in need of replacement. The cable connects both batteries together and runs down to the starter. It took a while before I realized the truck was only pulling from one battery. There was that much resistance under the insulation on one end. Corrosion had made its way in and I did not catch on until a year later.
During the summer time my truck started up fairly quick. But on cold days or sitting for a month or so, it took some effort to fire up. This is when I had to do some simple troubleshooting and found the problem. It is too obvious when only one battery is showing a charge. Something would be amiss there. And not a spark plug either.
From sitting these last few months the usual corrosion happened in a big way. I might have forgotten to keep the batteries charged during this time too.
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Shopping around, I find the same batteries from Home Depot are now $129. Considering everything over the last four years, not so bad. I paid just under $100 back then. Group 65 with three year warranty at 850 cranking amps.
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Out of curiosity I also checked out Wally World. They show either the group 24 or 27 battery to fit my truck. These are what Ford has used before going to the shorter group 65 in more recent decades. Both size batteries sell for $149 and this one is rated at 810 cranking amps. Same replacement warranty.
The last one of these from Wally World got me about 7 years. Otherwise not much difference. But it was a single battery, not dual setup. I get more life on a pair of these, so makes sense. I will likely go back with the Home Depot batteries.
Unless these give me trouble, I see no reason to change brands. The Home Depot batteries are made by Exide. It would be nice to get another nine years out of the next set. Get the truck roadworthy to go the distance.
Other issues I need to address are the cable connections. From sitting and lack of maintenance the ends had corroded up like a severely bad fungal growth. I poured water with baking soda added and washed away most of the nasty.
![Image]()
You notice after all of the corrosion removed, so is most of the nut that pinches the cable end around the battery post. After the baking soda treatment, I was surprised the nut unscrewed without any fight or resistance.
![Image]()
Where the threads were exposed on pinch bolt they are gone. You can see the full threads where the nut was. The nut was 1/2 diameter hex, but now a 7/16 just slips right over. But the hex is still prominent. Just a bit smaller. The jacket does a good job hiding the corrosion on the 2/0 copper cable. I dont like replacing ends, but might not be any worse than a much smaller cable.
This is still the original negative battery cable on right side. It has been limped along for too long. I need to replace it, but original size 2/0 cable is expensive and few places would even have it in stock even for a later model truck. I can get standard #2 size cable anywhere, but is a lot smaller.
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The other negative cable end broke off. So I had to do an emergency repair back then. It has held up so far, but needs to be replaced. I used this aluminum terminal lug to do a quick cut and replace. The main problem with this is the aluminum lug corrodes under the mounting screw and looses contact. An occasional remove and scrape clean would keep it limping it along. But that only goes so far before you get stranded. Or too much resistance it will not draw current or charge.
![Image]()
One of the new positive cable ends also corroded up really bad. But washed off mostly showing everything intact except the bolt. The nut here was almost completely gone. It broke loose easy enough but was almost in two pieces. Replace bolt and this will clean up like new. Make sure to scrub the contact surface.
![Image]()
There was one that still had an anti-corrosion washer underneath. With exception to a minor bit of corrosion on the nut, everything else was as you see it here. No cleaning required to find this cable end.
Another issue is one of the fuel sending units is not correct for this truck. The ohms range is different and only shows full for about 1/8 tank, then goes to empty. When Ford changed to fuel injection, they also changed the sending units. The old style dating back a long time was finally updated. The diesel engines in trucks at this time still used the older style.
![Image]()
These were used on diesels from 1983 to 1986 and not something that was easy to hunt down in the past. At least not all that cheap. And especially not to be found used. Fortunately there are now some aftermarket ones available and cheap. I can either replace the one in need for $35 and $7 shipping. Or I can buy the pair for $58 with free shipping. Hmm, tough decision there...
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This is for front tank and the one I need to replace. But wait, there is more...
![Image]()
Instead of having a fine mesh nylon screen filter, the diesels use these suction cups. No they dont really suck. These push down flat on bottom of tank. But do have a wire screen. This almost eliminates fuel sloshing and air getting sucked up into the fuel pumps.
There is a down side. These will disintegrate after so many years in use. Like literally just crumble like plastic sitting out in the sun for way too long. An obvious diagnosis for these failing is 1) truck only runs until tank is about half empty, or 2) the broken bits get sucked into the lift pump and clogs it all up. One way or another it puts the brakes on your daily activities.
These same exact parts are currently still in use for newer diesel trucks. So figure about 15 years of service, they might be in need of replacement. But they are dirt cheap. Less than $10 a piece. You only need to remove the fuel tank to replace them. Or take the bed off of the truck.
There is just enough room to replace the front sending unit if careful working around the driveshaft. Not quite as easy on the rear tank. Either bed removal or dropping the tank down in front if you want to shortcut things.
The batteries are now 9 years old. Yes there are two of them that get to be replaced every time. I had fired this truck up last January the day of an arctic cold front blowing in and temps dropped to single digits. It got cold fast on that one Saturday late afternoon.
I had originally purchased the batteries from Home Depot. They were on the shelf about one month, so I good with that. There was a three year free replacement and I was good with that too. For the last nine years they have been mostly trouble free. At least no trouble from the batteries themselves.
The positive cable was original from 1986 and was in need of replacement. The cable connects both batteries together and runs down to the starter. It took a while before I realized the truck was only pulling from one battery. There was that much resistance under the insulation on one end. Corrosion had made its way in and I did not catch on until a year later.
During the summer time my truck started up fairly quick. But on cold days or sitting for a month or so, it took some effort to fire up. This is when I had to do some simple troubleshooting and found the problem. It is too obvious when only one battery is showing a charge. Something would be amiss there. And not a spark plug either.
From sitting these last few months the usual corrosion happened in a big way. I might have forgotten to keep the batteries charged during this time too.
Shopping around, I find the same batteries from Home Depot are now $129. Considering everything over the last four years, not so bad. I paid just under $100 back then. Group 65 with three year warranty at 850 cranking amps.
Out of curiosity I also checked out Wally World. They show either the group 24 or 27 battery to fit my truck. These are what Ford has used before going to the shorter group 65 in more recent decades. Both size batteries sell for $149 and this one is rated at 810 cranking amps. Same replacement warranty.
The last one of these from Wally World got me about 7 years. Otherwise not much difference. But it was a single battery, not dual setup. I get more life on a pair of these, so makes sense. I will likely go back with the Home Depot batteries.
Unless these give me trouble, I see no reason to change brands. The Home Depot batteries are made by Exide. It would be nice to get another nine years out of the next set. Get the truck roadworthy to go the distance.
Other issues I need to address are the cable connections. From sitting and lack of maintenance the ends had corroded up like a severely bad fungal growth. I poured water with baking soda added and washed away most of the nasty.
You notice after all of the corrosion removed, so is most of the nut that pinches the cable end around the battery post. After the baking soda treatment, I was surprised the nut unscrewed without any fight or resistance.
Where the threads were exposed on pinch bolt they are gone. You can see the full threads where the nut was. The nut was 1/2 diameter hex, but now a 7/16 just slips right over. But the hex is still prominent. Just a bit smaller. The jacket does a good job hiding the corrosion on the 2/0 copper cable. I dont like replacing ends, but might not be any worse than a much smaller cable.
This is still the original negative battery cable on right side. It has been limped along for too long. I need to replace it, but original size 2/0 cable is expensive and few places would even have it in stock even for a later model truck. I can get standard #2 size cable anywhere, but is a lot smaller.
The other negative cable end broke off. So I had to do an emergency repair back then. It has held up so far, but needs to be replaced. I used this aluminum terminal lug to do a quick cut and replace. The main problem with this is the aluminum lug corrodes under the mounting screw and looses contact. An occasional remove and scrape clean would keep it limping it along. But that only goes so far before you get stranded. Or too much resistance it will not draw current or charge.
One of the new positive cable ends also corroded up really bad. But washed off mostly showing everything intact except the bolt. The nut here was almost completely gone. It broke loose easy enough but was almost in two pieces. Replace bolt and this will clean up like new. Make sure to scrub the contact surface.
There was one that still had an anti-corrosion washer underneath. With exception to a minor bit of corrosion on the nut, everything else was as you see it here. No cleaning required to find this cable end.
Another issue is one of the fuel sending units is not correct for this truck. The ohms range is different and only shows full for about 1/8 tank, then goes to empty. When Ford changed to fuel injection, they also changed the sending units. The old style dating back a long time was finally updated. The diesel engines in trucks at this time still used the older style.
These were used on diesels from 1983 to 1986 and not something that was easy to hunt down in the past. At least not all that cheap. And especially not to be found used. Fortunately there are now some aftermarket ones available and cheap. I can either replace the one in need for $35 and $7 shipping. Or I can buy the pair for $58 with free shipping. Hmm, tough decision there...
This is for front tank and the one I need to replace. But wait, there is more...
Instead of having a fine mesh nylon screen filter, the diesels use these suction cups. No they dont really suck. These push down flat on bottom of tank. But do have a wire screen. This almost eliminates fuel sloshing and air getting sucked up into the fuel pumps.
There is a down side. These will disintegrate after so many years in use. Like literally just crumble like plastic sitting out in the sun for way too long. An obvious diagnosis for these failing is 1) truck only runs until tank is about half empty, or 2) the broken bits get sucked into the lift pump and clogs it all up. One way or another it puts the brakes on your daily activities.
These same exact parts are currently still in use for newer diesel trucks. So figure about 15 years of service, they might be in need of replacement. But they are dirt cheap. Less than $10 a piece. You only need to remove the fuel tank to replace them. Or take the bed off of the truck.
There is just enough room to replace the front sending unit if careful working around the driveshaft. Not quite as easy on the rear tank. Either bed removal or dropping the tank down in front if you want to shortcut things.
