Is it a bad idea to move my battery from one truck to another?

Over the past week and a half I've come to learn that I've got too many vehicles and not enough time to drive them.

Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing at all. But its starting to become a bit of a hassle, possibly costing me money. Those are bad things.

I tried to start my pickup [the hauler] and the battery was toast. Charged it, still nothing. I can't let the battery sit at all or she'll lose a charge. I can jump start her no problem, even push start, but I'm sure the battery is done.

The XJ can sit for over a week and not miss a beat. I can climb in her and she'll fire right up.

Instead of trying to track down a battery drain on a 1992 Ford F150 can I just pull the battery out of the XJ when needed and put it into the Ford? I can most likely fab up some sort of quick disconnect, so it won't be difficult to move from one to the other.

I'd like to hear everyone's concerns and comments.

 

It might not be a bad battery, something might have caused permanent damage to the cells. IE. Alt bridge rectifier, etc

 

i dont see any problems. had to do that last year when it was 10 below.
swapped several times a week.

 

Here is what I've thought, and my concerns:

Are the motors (4.9L vs 4.0L) different enough to need different batteries with different Cold Cranking Amps (CCAs)? Someone once claimed that a battery has the potential to fry wires if its too powerful. No proof was offered, so that may be BS.

I could toss a trickle charger on, but the truck sits outside, and running wires out in the WI weather isn't great. Not to mention its not in a fenced in area, so someone could snag my gear. If I brought it inside it defeates the purpose of making this easier for myself. If I was gonna do that I'd rather not replace the bad one and just keep using the one good one, I'll just move the battery from one truck to the other.

The ECU keeps fuel trims and CEL information stored in its memory, but that'll get erased every time the battery is removed. Could this cause issues?

Neither truck has a good working radio, so I'm not worried about losing my presets on the radio.

 

I don't think it is. At the end of May I had the ALT rebuilt, as well as the regulator. So that end of things are perfect. And it runs fine on its own juice without the battery.

 

I actually thought about keeping both batteries in the house where its warm, just as an extra precaution...esp if I do a quick disconnect system.

The problem, however, isn't just the battery being cold. The oil and other moving parts are cold and also hinder startup.

I'm guessing you weren't so concerned with the battery getting cold, but I thought I'd toss this into the mix so its covered early.

 

It wont fry the wires, I have had a 950CA battery in my XJ, most it did was damage the voltage regulator, hooked up a external for $25 and a hour of work. That was over a year ago.

Why not fix the trucks problem?

If the vehicle has a problem that trips a cel, it will just trip it again.

 

Fixing the truck's problem would involve replacing the bad battery. Its an older, poorly maintained battery.

I've got 3 trucks and a motorcycle. Only 2 ppl to drive them.

No need to buy extra batteries if we aren't gonna be using them all.

None are tossing CELs, but it was something that COULD happen, so I'm trying to cover all my bases in advance.

What about fuel trims? Other stored info in the "ECU" that will get erased? Worth being concerned about?

 

Wait, 3 trucks, bike and xj?

I remove my battery almost weekly to work on the dd, most of the info isnt stored in the ecu/pcm, it is registered upon start up. For example, replace a IAC, it idles high for about 1 minute and drops as the ecu begins to recognize it, why? cause the ecu is also sending info to the sensors about where it should be. Nothing to worry about

 

Sorry, no.

XJ, TJ, F150, FZR600/750R

In a week or so adding a 92 XJ 4 door to the fleet as well. So 4 trucks and a bike with only 2 people to drive them. My fiance and myself.

Thats alotta unused, unnecessary battery.

[necessary? necessary?!? Is is necessary to drink my own urine? NO! But its sterile and I like the taste!]

 

2 batteries in the daily drivers, switch if needed to other vehicle when using, keep one extra batt inside.

 

The only vehicles I've ever seen that might have a problem with that are Mitsubishis. Both my old Avenger and my current Stratus will absolutely lose their minds if you disconnect the battery and it takes about a week of driving to get them to relearn everything.

Otherwise, shouldn't be any issue unless you forget your favorite radio presets.

 

See, my 93 GSX flipped its lid if I pulled the battery. Maybe thats why I've been feeling odd about doing so.

No one got the dodgeball reference, eh?