Put key in turn halfway for wait to start light dash lights go on then I hear clicking and they shut off. If I turn key back to ACC mode I can lower windows and raise them and play radio. Windows seem slow, click back to go to wait to start, by pridigy brake contoller goes crazy, door chime tone stutters, no dash lights. One battery post is corroded and I am working on cleaning that up....

Do I need a new set of batteries? I haven't replaced batteries since I have owned it for 9 months and the dates are not punched out on the batteries.

My hunch is when the truck tries to warm the glow plugs, that it is too much draw and it shuts everything off.

Try a jump start - if that works - batteries are a good bet.

Sounds like batteries to me...

Update:

Jumped the truck, let it idle for 5 minutes, pulled out in to traffic, went maybe 50 yards, e-brake light came on, anti-lock light came on, truck died, no power to restart. Still batteries? When it was running it showed 14v going to the batteries.

Check the passenger side positive terminal. Before I did the side post battery improvement it would periodically loosen and give those exact same symptoms. If everything is clean and tight you probably need a new set (always replace in pairs).

Could be a corroded ground strap too.

It is a side post battery, that particular terminal has some corrosion on it. Maybe I will buy batteries, clean terminal, see if it fixes it, if not, put new batteries in.

Are there other ground straps besides the two on the engine block that come from each battery?

Braided ground strap between passenger head and firewall.

New batteries in. Truck is running. Now I need to get a new passenger side positive terminal stud as I rounded the soft metal 5/16 head unscrewing it. Why can't they give us a little more to grab on to? 5/16 is tiny!!!

Thanks for your input guys.

New batteries in. Truck is running. Now I need to get a new passenger side positive terminal stud as I rounded the soft metal 5/16 head unscrewing it. Why can't they give us a little more to grab on to? 5/16 is tiny!!!

Thanks for your input guys.


The head is small so you have to use a small wrench. If the head was larger, you would need a larger wrench, the larger wrench would give you more leverage, and you would increase the chance of overtightening, and possibly damaging the battery.

That is kind of what I thought. Can't they trust us? I won't over tighten. . . I promise!

Replace with studs & nuts stud run into the battery, then nuts to lock down the cable onto the stud.

Moving to 6.5 forum now as apparently emergency is fixed

The mechanic at the dealership told me they're notorious for loosening themselves. He said everytime he has a 6.5 in the shop, he snugs the terminals.
So I converted mine to top post. Waaaay less frustrating...

I use a batt with both side & top post accessory power like for CB radio & power inverter from top post, and studded side terminals for truck power.

I use a batt with both side & top post accessory power like for CB radio & power inverter from top post, and studded side terminals for truck power.
If your top posts are made for clamps like these (http://www.iwssolar.ch/pages/photovoltaik/batterien/zubehoer/images/2900.jpg), it's much better to have it the other way round. I'd also recomment replacing the wire to the alternator by a larger one, and unless you go for relocated batteries, it seems a good idea to run a wire between the two grounds on the block to have a direct ground connection between the batteries.

Relocated batteries are nice to have. It takes the weigth off the front axle and you can use larger ones. I don't need to care about the fridgebox, and I can run the parking heater for at least 13 hours and still start the engine after a night at 0F without any difficulties :) After about 3 hours of driving the batteries are sufficiently loaded for another night.

I still prefer to scrap the factoy studs Iv'e not had as much success with clamps you suggest Lee for high current draw,

The stud method over time has worked better; Install a stud brass if you can find it works well, cut out the back of the factory clamping harness that holds the factory stud in and use washers & double nut to lock in place, have had no charging problems or any other power issues in my 90 gasser GMC (bought new) or this truck since doing this, learned this trick about 14 years ago on the gasser, coat terminal contact surfaceswith dielectric grease and corrosion isn't an issue either.

Hmm, if I recall the stock setup right, yours looks much better. And it works for you :)

Just to be curious, what kind of trouble did the clamps give you? At the time I installed them, batteries were still at stock location, and I cut the factory connectors off the cables to screw the cables onto the clamps. Some previous owner had somehow screwed the factory connectors to battery clamps, and they never made a good connection that way and tended to get loose after some time. I think he did that because replacement batteries with the threaded connectors the stock connectors fit to are utterly expensive, so he replaced them with cheaper 'standard' batteries which have top posts. Those batteries come at about half the price here.