bad engine Coil draining battery ??

Nephew is telling me that the Coil could be causing this problem.? Never heard of such a thing Myself , And can't understand how the coil could drain a battery ......., SO WHAT DO you GUYS Think ?...Alternator and regulator Checks out Fine at a good reputable Rebuild Shop .... The 1975 Ford 330/Grain Truck Occassionally loses all battery power, to the point I don't dare shut it off taking in a load to the River terminal ....And then its OK for a couple weeks, or maybe just a day ... Anyway it Starts Rightoff..But often requires partial choke to Run well, so as not to act Cold natured ... hot or cold engine dont seem to make any difference ,it does not Idle smoothely...i am reasonably satisfied with overall performance , power , and economy,, ..I am tempted to pull a coil from somethin;' and try it ,, to see if it makes a difference , Thanx to All Who respond, jim

If you shut the truck off and it will not restart, are you saying will not crank or will crank and not start? Does this truck have Fords early electronic ignition. If so I would think the control box if it will crank and not start. If not cranking check ALL cable connection including any and all ground straps from the frame to the engine. If it has a post on the side of the starter, loosen the nut holding the cable to the starter post and tighten the nut that holds the post in the starter. This truck may be to new to have this type starter on it.

Kent

Friend had a 77 Dodge that would do that. After it sat a few minutesit would run like nothing happened. One day it quit and wouldn't restart. There is a bimetal overload (?) on the fender in the line from the switch to the engine. When this got overloaded it would shut current off to the whole works. He put three new ones on before he got one that worked right. Had all electrical checked and nothing wrong.

I doubt if its the coil.It kind of sounds like you need to check the other end of your ground cable where it bolts to the block.It could be corroded or loose and get looser when it warms up,tighten up a little when it cools off.I have been having trouble with new battery cables that probably are made in China.They will look good on the outside and be corroded on the inside where they go into the lead.There is another wire that goes from the solenoid to the ignition switch.If the terminal on the solenoid has been hot maybe that wire to the switch is not getting a good connection.Could be the wire that goes to the starter is burned up or loose and corroded,or your starter could be wore out and not able to crank the motor when its hot.If your starter is shorted out it can draw down the battery.Check all the connections first.Once you are satisfied the connections are good,like you drive till its hot and it wont start,get a test light and check for juice everywhere right then.If you have it everywhere then its likely your starter.Hit it with a big hammer and if it cranks you might as well figure its the starter.

I don't believe the coil. I would say look for a ground problem.

LOL! What else can be said???

Guys ,,, the battery will DRAIN itself completely ,,,, from a dead trickle down short....

does the battery actually go dead.Have you tested it with a load tester?Sounds like a bad connection somewhere in system.

Well you should do a load test on that battery if you didnt already.Lots of times you can charge a battery up but it wont hold a charge or wont hold a charge very long.If its the kind of battery you add water to,does it have a cell thats dry?If it is a battery like that you can check it with a hydrometer and see if its bad.Also a battery in a grain truck like that where it gets lots of vibration,hitting ruts in the road shaking stuff around maybe can cause a battery to go bad quicker than it would in another vehicle.Then the alternator or the wiring could be not getting a charge to the battery.You could take the alternator and have it checked and it show its charging,then put it on the truck and because of the wiring the charge not be getting to the battery.There are several wires on the solenoid besides the wire that goes to the starter.One goes to the ignition switch and the others go to other things like the alternator which is how it charges the battery.Ive seen this happen where somebody put a new cable on the solenoid and the wire to the alternator fell of and they didnt see it,put new cable on and now it wont charge.Also I have had an alternator checked at one place that said it was alright,then took it to another that said it was bad.A lot of times they do a good job testing stuff,but once in a while they dont.I wouldnt trust their test 100%.If the test shows good then it kind of points to wiring.There are fusible links in wiring that can burn up when you hook up jumper cables or hook batteries up backwards or things get shorted out.You might need to take an ohm meter and check the wires for being burned in two inside the insulation.