Diarrhea is the single most common source of morbidity and mortality in preweaning dairy calves with significant economic losses for the dairy industry. Therefore, automated in-line systems that can identify calves at risk to develop diarrhea can have a substantial impact in diminishing the negative impacts of this disease. Therefore, the aim of this experiment was to assess various behaviors (e.g., standing and lying time) via the use of 3D accelerometers (Onset; Pocasset, MA) mounted in the rear left leg of neonatal dairy calves during a diarrhea event. Twenty-eight Holstein neonatal calves were housed in individual hutches from birth to 7 wk of age at the University of Illinois Dairy Cattle Research Unit. Milk replacer, starter, fecal score (FS), and rectal temperature was recorded daily. BW and withers height was measured weekly. Data loggers of 3D acceleration were set to record every 60-s during the trial. The overall fecal score (FS) for all calves reached a maximal point at 10 d (FS = 2.3 ± 0.10) or 2 wk of age, therefore, all the accelerometer data were analyzed within the first 15 d of life. Calves were classified by a retrospective analysis of FS as healthy (non-Scour; FS£2; n = 18) or scour (Scour; FS > 2; n = 10). As expected FS was greater (P < 0.01) in the scour group (1.25 vs 1.60) from birth to 7 wk of age. Rectal temperature tended (P = 0.12) to be greater in the scour group in comparison to the non-Scour. Starter intake tended (P = 0.15) to be greater (0.76 vs 0.91 kg/d) in non-Scour calves. Although neither BW (P = 0.28) nor withers height (P = 0.27) were affected by scours, ADG tended (P = 0.10) to be greater (0.54 vs 0.65 kg/d) in the non-Scour group. Overall standing and lying time were not affected (P = 0.72) by diarrhea. Standing bouts tended (P = 0.15) to be greater in Scour calves, while a trend (P = 0.08) for greater left side lying duration was observed in non-Scour calves. Interestingly, the latter effects occurred mainly during the days (3–7 d) leading to maximal scours at 10 d of age. This suggests that these behaviors could be potentially used to identify calves at risk to develop diarrhea.