YACT: What's killing my battery

[GasX]

My car has needed a jump a few times recently after only a few days of no driving. It is too short of a time for the blinking alarm light to drain the battery and the door has not been ajar or anything obvious. Any idea what might be the problem?

 

[mzkhadir]

alternator not charging the battery.

 

[BoomerD]

COULD be that short driving isn't charging the battery fully.
COULD be a bad alternator/Voltage regulator.
COULD be dirty battery terminals.
COULD be something drawing too much juice when the car is turned off. (like a trunk light staying on, etc.)
COULD be your battery is shot.
COULD be many things...no way for us to tell from here.
Easiest way to find out, is to:
fully charge the battery
Hook up a volt/amp meter between the negative cable and the negative post of the battery to see:
how much current is being drawn when the car is off
how much the alternator is putting out when the engine is running. (you should be able to remove the neg. cable with the engine running and test that.)
IF there is a high electrical draw with everything turned off, it's time to start removing one fuse at a time to see where that draw is coming from, then tracking down and fixing whatever is causing it.

 

[Mark R]

Faulty battery that's only starting the car due to surface charge. At any rate, total discharge of a car battery kills it quick - so the battery will probably need replacing soon anyway.

Faulty alternator that's draining the battery (usually due to a failed rectifier pack) - however, this sometimes causes the 'battery' warning light to come on when the engine is stopped.

Malfunctioning accessory - e.g. radio, amps, electrically operated antenna, central locking, etc.

First thing to check is abnormal loads - disconnect the battery and connect via an ammeter. With lights off, and key out, battery current should be about 0.01 A or less. If it's more than about 0.1 A, then there is a definite problem. Pull fuses until you identify the offending circuit.

 

[funboy6942]

Battery is shot, has a internal short that drains itself. Get a new one /thread.

 

[markgm]

The clock is drawing too much power. Apply the DST patch or remove the clock.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Have your alternator checked out.....For a dumbed down reason: When an alternator gets a bad diode, it basically turns from a generator to a motor. So when your car isn't running, it basically drains your battery off.

Aside from that, your battery could just be old. Generally, they will last 5 years. But if it's a cheapy, who knows....2-4.

 

[KLin]

I would have the battery tested to see if it's bad. I think autozone and kragen will test it for free.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Battery is shot, has a internal short that drains itself. Get a new one /thread.

New battery - problem still exists - thread resurrected...

The alternator works as 100 miles @ 60 miles an hour is sufficient to charge a battery and the problem still pops up after I have made that drive.

No interior lights are on when the car is off. The only noticable drain the the LED that blinks every 5 seconds indicating the alarm is active.

I figure there is a drain in the eletrcical system and am wondering if there are likely culprits...

it's a 2002(?) Explorer

 

[jagec]

Well, that's certainly enough of a drive to charge the battery. Of course, if the alternator is bad, it doesn't matter HOW far you drive

You could try unhooking the battery next time you're looking at a few days of no driving. If it cranks easily when you put it back in, it's probably a leak.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Battery is shot, has a internal short that drains itself. Get a new one /thread.

New battery - problem still exists - thread resurrected...

The alternator works as 100 miles @ 60 miles an hour is sufficient to charge a battery and the problem still pops up after I have made that drive.

No interior lights are on when the car is off. The only noticable drain the the LED that blinks every 5 seconds indicating the alarm is active.

I figure there is a drain in the eletrcical system and am wondering if there are likely culprits...

it's a 2002(?) Explorer

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: funboy42
Battery is shot, has a internal short that drains itself. Get a new one /thread.

New battery - problem still exists - thread resurrected...

The alternator works as 100 miles @ 60 miles an hour is sufficient to charge a battery and the problem still pops up after I have made that drive.

No interior lights are on when the car is off. The only noticable drain the the LED that blinks every 5 seconds indicating the alarm is active.

I figure there is a drain in the eletrcical system and am wondering if there are likely culprits...

it's a 2002(?) Explorer

Well that little tid bit of info would of been useful in the beginning, it could still be then your alt. A bad alt can still charge but be internally shorting out to drain the battery as well. A sure fire way to make sure your battery is not a problem would be as suggest to disconnect it. If you plug it back in and its dead your new battery is no good. If not dead then your in for hell. Start with unhooking the wires to the alt. Wait the few days, if not dead then its your alt. If dead its something else. And thats when your super fvcked because tracing down a small short can be a pita.

Take all light bulbs out for cent and dash glove boxes. All bulbs out for trunk and under hood. Recheck in the next couple days. If still dead, it can have a wire short at any number of junction boxes hidden throughout the car and that can become very costly to have found. If it goes that far all I can say to you is good luck, try popping out a fuse for each individual system under the dash one at a time till you can narrow down the path that has the short and start to disassemble your car to find the short.

OH and anything else we need to know, like the car has been in a wreck recently and then this problem, just had a new alt installed, anything else you can think if done prior to the battery always going dead so I may be able to help you in figuring this out?

 

[Compton]

Instead of taking bulbs out, I would try removing fuses to non-essential accessories.

 

[Captante]

Another thing that can cause electrical drain is any accessory thats plugged into an internal power plug like a radar dectecter or Satallite radio that isn't shutting off fully... my old Passport used to do exactly that when I drove a Chevrolet van years ago.

Bad news is that if it does turn out not to be the battery or alternater it is going to be a real job to find the short... I like the suggestion to isolate systems by selectively removing fuses to narrow it down as the first step.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: funboy42
Battery is shot, has a internal short that drains itself. Get a new one /thread.

New battery - problem still exists - thread resurrected...

The alternator works as 100 miles @ 60 miles an hour is sufficient to charge a battery and the problem still pops up after I have made that drive.

No interior lights are on when the car is off. The only noticable drain the the LED that blinks every 5 seconds indicating the alarm is active.

I figure there is a drain in the eletrcical system and am wondering if there are likely culprits...

it's a 2002(?) Explorer

Hmm, 2002 Ford Explorer huh? I remember hearing somewhere I think it was the discovery channel about some Ford Explorers in the around the year 2000 (prolly 2002) about having this issue with something leaking or something like that. Either way I believe the vehicle was recalled for this problem and you should probably check it out. I think it was a combo of electrical and fluid issue that basically caused the car to self combust. Something about the cruise control and leaking fluids... Can't remember exactly...

Here we go...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_explorer_fire.html


BINGO!

I know that says F150s but believe the issue was with more than just the F150s as provided by the link above.

 

[Squisher]

Take off negative terminal on battery. Hook up an amp meter between the wire and the post. Keep removing fuses one at a time until the drain stops, some fuses might be under the hood. This should narrow it down to what system is the culprit. If the drain is not effected by removing the fuses then it's either starter, alternator, or headlights. Disconnect them one at a time with an eye on that amp meter.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Originally posted by: markgm
The clock is drawing too much power. Apply the DST patch or remove the clock.

DST patch can suck it easy.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Bad diode in the alternator's rectifier permitting a ground condition. Yes the alt. will still charge the battery but at a reduced rate.

Turn off anything that has a draw on the battery, dome light, under hood light, trunk light...everything except the clock and current that holds the radio presets. OH! Is the brake light switch stuck on?

Disconnect the battery ground cable, install a low wattage 12V test light between the ground cable and earth/ground. Does the lamp glow? If yes. Disconnect the hot lead to the alternator. Did the lamp glow cease? If yes, replace the alternator. If no, look elsewhere by pulling fuses one at a time.

Good luck!

I dislike posting in car repair threads because it is mind numbing debating with young, know-it-all nerds. How so? Where are QuixFire and old grumpy Roger?? :disgust:

 

[jupiter57]

Since no one else has asked: Do you have your Stereo/CD/MP#, etc. wired to run all the time, rather than the normal "on when Ign. or Acc." only? is it all turned off when you're not driving it?
Kid at work not long ago was asking for a jump every afternoon at quitting time, bought a new battery, then had a new Alternator installed, no good.
I was walking past his car one day, middle of the day. Stereo was going with the windows rolled up! Had some huge Amp & Sub-Woofers(?) installed also.
Found him & told him he had left his stereo on. He puffed out his chest and informed me that he NEVER turns off his stereo!
DUH!

 

[Evadman]

turn off car. Put a DVOM inline with the positive or neg termal of bat and cable. Let up sknow what the draw is. If it is > 25 milliamps then you have something pulling power then the car is off.