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  #1  
Old 03-20-2005, 07:59 PM
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dannmarr dannmarr is offline
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Battery problem?

Lately my battery goes dead everytime I shut off the engine. Is it the battery or the alternator? How can I know? Is there a way for me to check this out? The battery and alternator are less than 2 years old. I do drive over 200 miles a day. Thanks for any responses.
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  #2  
Old 03-20-2005, 08:20 PM
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Possible that the alternator is on its way out or that you have a short in your system...The Teg had its tail lights sticking on at one point and that drained the battery.
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  #3  
Old 03-20-2005, 08:20 PM
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When you park the car for the night disconnect the battery. Reconnect it in the morning and if it starts right up you have a parasitic draw. If it doesn't start you probably have a bad battery. Have the alternator checked at the parts store for free, many stores now do that.
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  #4  
Old 03-21-2005, 12:11 PM
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Get a volt meter to plug into your lighter and keep an eye on the voltage both before you start the car as well as when it's running. That will definately tell you if there's an issue with your alternator.
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Old 03-21-2005, 03:07 PM
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Turn On Your Car Unplug The Battery Make Sure Your Positive Doesn't Touch Your Ground While Car Running Turn On Lights Airconditioning Fog Lights And Defrost At The Same Time. If Cr Goes Off Your Alternator Is Bad Or Voltage Regulator,, The Voltage May Be Right But Your Amp May Not. And This Way You Will Know If Your Alt. Is Able To Run Your Car Without The Help Of Your Battery, Make Sure Your Positive Is In Your Hand And The Car Running To Avoid A Short.......
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  #6  
Old 03-21-2005, 03:18 PM
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Warning Warning

Quote:
Originally Posted by blacknite
Turn On Your Car Unplug The Battery Make Sure Your Positive Doesn't Touch Your Ground While Car Running Turn On Lights Airconditioning Fog Lights And Defrost At The Same Time. If Cr Goes Off Your Alternator Is Bad Or Voltage Regulator,, The Voltage May Be Right But Your Amp May Not. And This Way You Will Know If Your Alt. Is Able To Run Your Car Without The Help Of Your Battery, Make Sure Your Positive Is In Your Hand And The Car Running To Avoid A Short.......

Do not do this.

Disconnecting the battery while the engine is running will allow uncontrolled voltage spikes to damage electronic units. It needs the battery for the voltage regulator to control the voltage .

Harvey.
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  #7  
Old 03-21-2005, 03:19 PM
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Well, that is also a perfect way to fry an alternator. Disconnecting a battery cable while it is running is asking for trouble. Turning all that stuff on could also burn them up too, if the regulator gives up and goes full field (20 volts or more possible.) It may not kill an alternator every time but it is sure as hel hard on them. Just because the guys at the parts store do it doesn't make it right - their attitude? "WTF, it ain't my car!"
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Old 03-21-2005, 03:20 PM
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GMTA, Harvey.
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  #9  
Old 03-21-2005, 03:39 PM
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Probably a much safer thing to do would be, while the engine is off, remove one of the battery terminals and hook a light between the terminal and the cable. If the light comes on there is a power draw proportional to the brightness of the bulb.

You can run the wire long enough to reach the interior and then start pulling fuses to determine which circuit the problem is in.

I believe Beav first mentioned this handy little troubleshooting step. I think I'll add it to the troubleshooting section on http://svx-iw.com/
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  #10  
Old 03-21-2005, 04:08 PM
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Well I Guess We All Have Different Opinions. But So Far I Done It To Cadillac, Subaru Of Course, Audi, Chevy, Saab, Oldsmobile, Ford, Acura, And Really Never Have Any Problems. I Learn This From A Mechanic. Who Is A Man That I Really Admired, His Work And Reputation. But I Guess I'm Very Lucky To Never Really Cause A Problem. I Work At Checker For A Couple Of Year Where I Got Some Training (not As A Mechaninc Of Course) But Enough Knowledge To Determine Some Of The Mechanical Problems. But Any Way I Was Just Giving My Help... According To My Own Experience. By The Way If The Alterantor Was Giving More Then 20 Volts The Battery Will Be Fried By Know. Please Respenct Peoples Responses And Analyse What Is Logic And What Is Not. By The Way Your Voltage Regulator Is Most Likery Inside Your Alternator And The Alt. Is Really What Keeps Your Car Running Your Battery Is Only To Get The Started Running. I Can Tell You That The Safes And Easiest Thing To Do Is Take The Car Over To Checkers Or Autozone And They Will Check Your Whole System For Free Without Getting Your Car Apart, And If They Burn Anything You Sue Them.
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  #11  
Old 03-21-2005, 05:12 PM
oab_au oab_au is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacknite
Well I Guess We All Have Different Opinions. But So Far I Done It To Cadillac, Subaru Of Course, Audi, Chevy, Saab, Oldsmobile, Ford, Acura, And Really Never Have Any Problems. I Learn This From A Mechanic. Who Is A Man That I Really Admired, His Work And Reputation. But I Guess I'm Very Lucky To Never Really Cause A Problem. I Work At Checker For A Couple Of Year Where I Got Some Training (not As A Mechaninc Of Course) But Enough Knowledge To Determine Some Of The Mechanical Problems. But Any Way I Was Just Giving My Help... According To My Own Experience. By The Way If The Alterantor Was Giving More Then 20 Volts The Battery Will Be Fried By Know. Please Respenct Peoples Responses And Analyse What Is Logic And What Is Not. By The Way Your Voltage Regulator Is Most Likery Inside Your Alternator And The Alt. Is Really What Keeps Your Car Running Your Battery Is Only To Get The Started Running. I Can Tell You That The Safes And Easiest Thing To Do Is Take The Car Over To Checkers Or Autozone And They Will Check Your Whole System For Free Without Getting Your Car Apart, And If They Burn Anything You Sue Them.
Don't take it personally, yes we did this years ago, when there was no electronic gear on cars. But it is not safe to do it on todays cars.

The way the system works is the regulator looks at the battery voltage,and varies the voltage to maintain 14.7 volts. If the batterys voltage falls below this, the reg will raise the alternator voltage, to bring the battery voltage back up to 14.7 V.

When you start the car, you take amperage out of the battery, so the reg turns up the charge to but the amperage back, If you suddenly disconnect the battery, the wattage output that was high amperage, low voltage, now turns to low amperage, high voltage, to produce the same wattage. This is. where the high voltage spikes come from. Any spike over 15 volts can damage electronics.

Harvey.
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  #12  
Old 03-21-2005, 05:51 PM
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how old can the car be to this type of testing???? i did it on my 1992 svx it worked, but never on a 2000 or newer car. but yea why take the risk. specialy when you can get your whole system check for free. somethimes checkers or autozone can tell you if you have a bad ground. and you don;t have to buy the replacement part at their store.
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  #13  
Old 03-21-2005, 06:06 PM
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It doesn't matter what age of vehicle. It has NEVER been accepted practice by any OEM to unhook a battery cable with the engine running on an alternator equipped engine. Period.

Sorry that you were the unwitting victim of someone that also was misinformed, you certainly are not the first to fall prey to this. All Harvey and I are trying to do is prevent others from taking unecessary risks. It was never intended to be personal.

Even before cars with electronics to risk/ruin doing this could result in frying the alternator and/or regualtor plus any lights that happened to be on at the time. The battery can absorb the over-voltage for a short burst but light bulbs and electronics can go up in smoke ten times faster than you can blink.
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  #14  
Old 03-22-2005, 09:11 PM
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Thanks for all your responses. I found a short in one of my head lights. I fixed the contacts, and so far the battery has been holding the charge. If anything changes, I'll post more information. Thanks again for all your inputs.
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  #15  
Old 03-23-2005, 08:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacknite
Turn On Your Car Unplug The Battery Make Sure Your Positive Doesn't Touch Your Ground While Car Running Turn On Lights Airconditioning Fog Lights And Defrost At The Same Time. If Cr Goes Off Your Alternator Is Bad Or Voltage Regulator,, The Voltage May Be Right But Your Amp May Not. And This Way You Will Know If Your Alt. Is Able To Run Your Car Without The Help Of Your Battery, Make Sure Your Positive Is In Your Hand And The Car Running To Avoid A Short.......
MAN!!! this idea only works in cars till 1980. It works on my 1977 VW rabbit..., but the SVX? DON'T EVER DO THAT
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