Isuzu 75/155 Dead Battery

[Witchdoctor Oz]

A mate has owned a new 75/155 for about 9 months & so far he has had Isuzu Service out 3 time to replace the dead batteries.

Is this a common fault with this vehicle?
He has been advised to install an isolator for when the truck is not in service.

Cheers
Dave

 

[SkiFreak]

Has he checked for phantom loads when the truck is off?
If so, what kind of current draw is being seen?

 

[Spanna 53]

May be I had simalar issues during the build of myNPS apart from the radio and central locking I had a drain from the 12 volt step down unit only a couple of milliamperes but if the truck is not being driven regularly all adds up . My auto electrician mate (we shared factories fo a while ) gave me the tip to charge the batteries indervidualy and haven't had a problem since also fitted bigger Batterys all that did was made it last an extra couple of weeks the driving it every couple of days for 15 weeks on the last trip made a difference too . Ross

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

He has done no load testing.
At the moment it does not get driven very often & service say that the electronics are talking to themselves & using up the battery.
Apparently this happens to 50-60% of these truck so Service says.
If he is going to continue using it sparingly then he may need to install the isolator or a charger

Cheers
Dave

 

[SkiFreak]

service say that the electronics are talking to themselves & using up the battery

And companies wonder why people dislike computer controlled engines.
Add another reason to the list...

 

[javajoe79]

Put it on a trickle charger when parked or put a battery master switch on it. Sounds like a lot of modern cars when they aren't driven much

 

[kerry]

Had a similar problem on our Fuso. I installed a marine battery switch allowing me to run on either of the batteries or both and disconnect them from the truck. Problem solved.

 

[SkiFreak]

Not that I suffer from the same issue as described, but I fitted a battery isolation switch to my truck batteries a long time ago.
Unlike many other setups that I have seen, I chose to isolate all of the negative side of the battery.
There were numerous reasons for going down that route, but one that I have found really useful was the ability to flip the switch and then weld safely.

 

[Aussie Iron]

Same with my DAF Prime Mover. Let it stand for a fortnight and it would not start on it's own batteries, so fit a battery isolator switch and the problem was solved for about six months. But now the ECU can't remember a lot of other parameters such as suspension ride height.

"Computer Vehicles"
Dan.