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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / August 2005

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Battery goes flat quickly

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Old Wolf - 01 Aug 2005 06:07 GMT
My car battery seems to go flat quickly. If I do not use my car
for 2 weeks then it will not start. Also, if I leave it with the
tiny map light on, it goes flat overnight (Not even enough juice
left for one crank). What might be causing this?

I can't think of anything that would drain the battery while
the car is off, except for the alarm. I seem to have noticed that
it goes flat more quickly if I leave the alarm not-armed (but I
haven't scientifically checked this).

I tried measuring some voltages. After charging on the charger,
the battery was 13.25V . When my car is idling, it is 13.92V .
After leaving the car overnight, the voltage was 12.62V .
When idling after that. 13.92V. After a 5-minute idle and turning
the car off, it was back down to 12.65V.
While idling, the map light causes a voltage drop of 0.05V .

I haven't tried checking the voltage immediately after a
long drive, to see if my alternator is working properly
(I was going to but my multimeter battery ran out :/ )

The battery is of the smaller kind physically, although I
don't see why this ought to make it go flat any quicker.
The only devices I have are a 50W stereo, OEM lighting,
and a boost gauge.

The battery has had this go-flat-quickly problem ever since
I bought it.

The battery has a coloured spot on the top that's designed
to indicate whether it needs charging or not (green = charged,
black = flat, clear = needs water). The spot is a faint green
most of the time. It used to go clear as soon as I tilted the
battery in one direction by about 3 degrees, but I filled it
up a few weeks ago and it doesn't do that any more. (I'm not
sure how that works though, because the 6 cells are all separate
so how can it indicate them all?)

When I put the flat battery on the charger, it indicates 'fully
charged' on the charger for about 5 minutes, after which it resumes
normal operation. I haven't seen this effect with any other battery
I've charged. What does this mean?
ed - 01 Aug 2005 12:43 GMT
those indicators on the battery are not necessarily right.
I've had green indicating batteries go to zero under load, so green means
nothing or at least cant be 100% trusted. IMHO

How old is the actual battery. It should have a date code. If its 3 or more
years, replace it or take it to a parts place and have a  load test done on
it.  I would think about putting an ammeter in the battery line and see
whats drawing out of the battery and when (with the car not running).

my .02
Steve W. - 01 Aug 2005 20:22 GMT
> My car battery seems to go flat quickly. If I do not use my car
> for 2 weeks then it will not start. Also, if I leave it with the
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> normal operation. I haven't seen this effect with any other battery
> I've charged. What does this mean?

With most of the newer vehicles the battery drain key off is enough to
kill a battery in 3-4 weeks. The computer/clock/alarm all take power. I
would pull the terminals, clean them REAL good with some baking soda,
then hook the positive cable on and put a test light between the
negative post and the cable. If it lights up more than a DIM amount you
have a problem with current draw. Charge the battery and then check the
voltage with the cable still off. Let it set a day and check it again,
it may drop .25-.5 volts and should settle. But I would bet you have a
bad battery anyway, they really don't like being drained down and
recharged more than once.

Signature

Steve Williams

marks542004@yahoo.com - 01 Aug 2005 21:28 GMT
get an auto electrician to hook a meter on the battery with everything
turned off.

If there is a current draw you will need to track it down.

My convertible needs to be either disconnected or trickle charged when
stored over winter. Battery lasts about a week if not run.
 
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