Battery problems

[SaleenKS]

I am curious if anyone else has replaced their batery yet. My saleen will barely start when its cold. I have 07 & 08 E vans that have had the same problem. Their batteries had just barely enough umph to start the vans under optimal conditions. I have a winch in all my work vans and are all wired up the same. The batterys in the 07 &08 dont have enough juice to run the winch properly. All my older vans have no problems. SO I got to thinking, maybe part of the problem with the fan relays burning up is the weak batterys that ford is putting in their newer vehicles. I put optima batterys in my new work vans and the winchs work great. I would imagine the winchs pull more amps on the battery but the fans pull quite a bit. I am debating on whether to warranty the battery or just put an optima in it. Has anyone with the electric fans upgraded their battery, & did it help the light dimming effect when the fans kick on?

[Light02atl]

SaleenKs,

I, personally, have not had a problem and I have started the truck when it was 17 degrees outside. However, I know of 2 other S331 owners that upgraded their batteries to optimas and did not have the dimming issue when their electric fans came on. Additionally, they are still running their electric fans.

[mantisgt]

Interesting post, I have had problems with my battery. I have a DVD screen in the headliner and if its used for half an hour without the car running my battery is flat.

Can you confirm what amp and type of optima battery is needed?

Ps I still have the electric fans and would love the dimming to stop.

[hennie]

The same here, as soon as my electric fans turn on, you'll notice it in the lights as well.
Since I am importing about 30 vehicles in a year, I can tell you this is pretty common on batteries that have been sitting for a while, ( not only Ford).
even on fairly new cars, like less than a year old I have to change batteries.
I feel it just has to do with the new batteries as on my other daily cars I still used the original batteries after 6-8 years!! ( 99 E-350 and 99 explorer XP8)

Hennie

[SaleenKS]

I used the redtop optima in my vans and they worked great. I think I am going to go with the yellow top in the saleen just to be sure.

[gomez331sc]

on the optima, is color a power rating? that could be a good ,an cheeper fix for that dimming, when the fans come on. or could that be a relay problem? calling for more juice an the battery cant handle it, an causes the rely to fail. then the fans fail.

[SaleenKS]

Red top optima is a good all around battery. Yellow top is for high demand systems with subs amps winches (electric fans that kick off and on every 10 sec) and the blue is a for marine use, huge reserve for trolling motors.

I think i am going to pick up a yellow top today and give it a try.

[Saleen190]

KS, did you get the battery yet and if so how did it work out? Thats a pretty cheap source of preventative maintenance on these fans if that solves the burning up relays issue. When i talked to mike troyer the other day he estimated that only 10 percent of his customers have had issues with these relays burning up though. Im not sure how accurate that is but its what he told me when I asked him his opinion on changing out the relays. that battery is pretty cheap insurance on them though i would think.

[burnouts331]

Well I thought about buying an optima to see if it would help with my dimming issues but it is too late now. I finally got home after sitting stranded on the side of the interstate for aound an hour and a half. I barely heard the noise then i smelt something for about 5 seconds. I looked at all my gauges and they seemed fine then I saw the act temp gauge start to creep on up. I rolled it into the nearest ford dealership which was only 2 miles away. They told me I had to take it to the saleen dealer and they couldn't do anything about it. They suggested that I call the ford roadside assistance. Well I did and roadside assistance told me they would only take me to a dealer within 35 miles then I would be charged the remainder, which was $160 extra dollars being that I was 85 miles from the nearest saleen dealer. I don't see how this is even acceptable being that I have to bring it to a saleen dealer and the truck is still well under warranty. So for now I left it at that ford dealership until I can call the Saleen dealer in the morning to see if they will pick up the remainder of the towing bill since no one was there tonight with the authority to answer that question for me. By the way I know it is recommended to get the relays/fans replaced after one goes out since we have two of them but I never realized that I was only operating with one fan.

[Light02atl]

Why would your ACT go up if one of your fans went out? The weather in GA this week has been really cool. The fans on the radiator have little to do with act temp.

Really sucks about everything else. I am sure when you bought your truck, no one explained how the warranty process or roadside assistance worked....join the club. I am willing to bet no Saleen dealers explain it.

[Saleen190]

Was Saleen's customer support/service this bad before the economy went to hell and they started down sizing OR was their customer support/service this bad before and THATS the reason they are down sizing and going tit's up?

[burnouts331]

Originally Posted by Light02atl

Why would your ACT go up if one of your fans went out? The weather in GA this week has been really cool. The fans on the radiator have little to do with act temp.

Really sucks about everything else. I am sure when you bought your truck, no one explained how the warranty process or roadside assistance worked....join the club. I am willing to bet no Saleen dealers explain it.

Don't ask me. I just know what happened. It never raised above 150 in the summer with 105 degree heat and yesterday it went up to 170 driving only 50mph so apparently they have something to do with it. It was 60 degrees outside according to the truck at that time yesterday.

[Light02atl]

Something else is wrong.

You should have your IC pump looked at, along with the fuse. At 50mph, your Air Charge Temp should NOT be that high, regardless if your fans are working or not.

[Saleen190]

shanes right, thats numbers like you would see with serious heat soaking. Your intercooler not circulating would cause the act temps you were seeing. Shane, do you know if the same fuse controls the fan relays and the ic pump? Maybe thats the only thing wrong with it?

[burnouts331]

Well hopefully thats all thats wrong with it is a burnt up fuse. I really didn't even think about that to start with I was just nervous that the relays burnt up since everyone has been experiencing that problem. After that neither of my blinkers would work either. Would fans, blinkers, and relays all run off the same fuse?

[Light02atl]

I would definitely check your fuses. I think the relay for the fans may have an inline fuse also.

[SaleenKS]

The optima battery seems to help with the dimming when fans come on. I dont know if this is a cure or if it will just put off the inevitable. time will tell. The true test will be in the summer when the fan is rapid cycling.

[Saleen190]

I as well just installed the yellow top. The dimming has quit now ( which I had also noticed not only did the fans cause mine to dim but with the stereo up and the fostgate sub, my lights flickered a little with the bass of the music). But for the time being, things seem to be better and I hope I never find out that the battery saved my relays. Hopefully thats something I'll just ALWAYS have to wonder.