Battery Keeps Dying!!!
 

Ok. I dont know why but my battery just dies out of nowhere. I'll park it and go to bed and the next morning it wont start up. I just got a new battery a couple months ago. I had my alternator checked and they said it was working fine. I dont leave any lights on or anything...it just dies. Any advice?

it could be the battery
 

I've seen vehicles come in with an "occasional dead battery complaint", we load test the battery, it's fine, we check out the charging system, it's fine, everythings fine. They go to leave, and the battery that just tested good, is as dead as can be. Have whoever you got the battery check it, cause ya never know...

Two things to check out here.

Either the battery is faulty and is not taking on the charge the alternator is feeding it, or else the battery is OK, and there is some fault or circuit in your car which is draining current even when the ignition is off.

Assuming you have the battery fully charged up [a voltmeter across it might show 12V, possibly 13 or 14 V on a fully charged up accumulator], you can easily check up if you have a "current leakage" fault like the second one mentioned above.

Do it as follows: with the battery in situ on the car and fully charged up, ignition off and also all lights off and all doors closed so that no bulbs are lighting, remove the positive red terminal from the battery. If you have a current leakage situation, there will be a spark jumping between the battery pole and the terminal as you remove it or when you hold it close to the pole. If there is no spark, there is no current drain, and you are 90+ percent certain your problem relates to the battery.

If the battery is faulty and not retaining charge, bring it back to the suppliers, and get them to put a discharge meter across it. This will probably show that one or more cells are dead, and you require a new unit.

Hope this helps,

Joe

PS: You may lose radio settings doing this, but at least you will determine the problem.

Another possible item might be your sunvisors (i know it sounds silly). Many times when an SVXer reports a draining battery, it has to do with 2 tiny wires in the sunvisors becoming stripped and rubbing together. This creates a small short and causes a power drain. Try removing the sun visors (2 screws at the base under a little cap). Then, unplug the wires going into them and see if this solves your problem.

This could also explain the intermitant nature of the problem, because every time you move the sun visor, the wires change position.

Mike :)

OK. Thanks for all the help. I noticed that the (+) power wire runing to my batery from my amp was unplugged. Could this have had anything to do with it?

Not unless it's gounding out.

Actually if the hot/+ lead from the alternator to the battery is disconected it will not charge.
When you say "amp" is this some young person crazy rock and roll thing!?
Wadda ya mean "Free Love!", The last one cost me PLENTY! HOY!

It very well may have been grounding out. It was touching the amp (which is metal) which is grounded to the frame.

I'm fighting a constant dead battery situation here. The battery is fine and just got fully charged at the maching at the auto parts store. Its an aproximately 7month old red top optima. I've got the tiniest of tiny arc when I put the positive to the terminal. Could this be the problem. I don't have a volt meter, yet...I will soon though im sure. Every time i touch the positive terminal when i see the spark i can hear something "click" inside the cabin. I hear it through the fire wall. Any ideas as to if this is just the fuel pump or if this is something else.???I've also got both sunvisors unplugged right now....Thanks in advance for any and all help...

A brand new red top like that should be able to accept and retain charge. Assuming it was not faulty from get go.

You should first and foremost see if your battery is taking "full" charge. Not sure exactly what the figure is, but the battery shop that charged it up for you should be able to tell you. I'm guessing a fully charged up battery will be reading 12.8 to 13.5 across the terminals with a voltmeter. It could be even closer to 14. If it is only barely going over 12, or under 12, the battery is faulty and needs to be changed.

Next, assuming you have checked this out and your battery appears to be OK; the little arc you mention may indicate you have a fault somewhere leaking current.

Don't worry about the click you hear. "They all do that". The battery is powering up an "always on" relay somewhere. If the leak is severe, you will probably be able to see the voltage drop with your voltmeter when you put it across the battery terminals.

Assuming you are seeing a voltage drop, you now need to isolate which circuit is leaking. Do this by pulling individual fuses and watching the voltmeter. If you pull a fuse and there is no change, then put it back. If you pull a fuse, and the voltage stops dropping, you have found the circuit that has the leak. It may be something simple like a frayed positive wire that is leaking to earth. If you are not sure how to proceed at this stage, turn it in to an auto electrician, and point out the circuit you think is leaking. They can sort it out from there.

Hope this helps

Joe

want a fully charged SVX
 

By the way, forgot to mention one thing.

To save your sanity, until you isolate the problem, there is something you can do to keep the car working.

Go to an auto factors and buy an isolator switch for the battery positive terminal. Rally cars use them, turn a red key, and the battery is isolated from the circuits.

Down side, your clock will always be wrong, and your radio will have to be retuned every time.

Up side, assuming your alternator is charging OK, and the battery is getting charged on trips, your battery will retain its charge for your next trip.

Not an ideal solution, just a survival one.:rolleyes:

Joe

A properly charged 12 volt battery has 12.6 volts. When it's charging, the voltmeter shows up to 14 volts.(or so)

Get a volt meter that plugs into your lighter. Get one that displays actual volts and not just the 3 LED's. I noticed that if you don't plug in your alternator you have to rev to about 2500RPM before it starts charging and once it starts it overcharges.

i had the same problem with my car. the battery would die, so i would jump start the car and i could drive around forever but as soon as i turned the car off, it was dead. it ended up being the wires going from the alternator to the battery were corroded. so the alternator was working but it couldnt charge the battery.

A little trick I learned from auto shop in high school.

Put a 12V light bulb in series with the negative battery terminal. AKA, disconnect the negative battery terminal and hook it up to one side on the bulb. Then connect the other side to the negative battery post.

If there's a large current drain the bulb will be as bright as possible. Try pulling fuses until the bulb is dim/out....Start with aftermarket accessories.

Good luck