 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / General Car Topics / October 2006Battery loses charge?!
My son, who is now away at college, has an 89 Olds Cutlass Ciera. About 2 years ago I replaced the battery with a new Sears Die Hard Gold battery. As the Olds now just sits idle and not in use for about 45 days now the battery has gone completely dead. I've had to re-charge it with a battery recharger. I'm not sure why the battery is completely losing its charge (no lights go on at all when the doors are opened nor will any dash lights go on when turning the ignition key). Is there some way of determining what is draining the power. I tend to think that the battery is not bad. Any thoughts on what might be the problem and/or what I can do? Thanks, Walter >My son, who is now away at college, has an 89 Olds Cutlass Ciera. About 2 >years ago I replaced the battery with a new Sears Die Hard Gold battery. As [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Thanks, >Walter Walter, That car has at least 2 parasitic drains on the battery - the engine computer (keeps variable data such as fuel trim values stored) and the radio (keeps radio presets stored and permits internal clock to keep time). If the car has other options like remote keyless entry those systems also have a small drain on the battery so that they are alive and ready to function. I'd recommend that if you are leaving the car unused for a long period of time that you disconnect the battery. On the other hand, if the car has not been properly prepared for long-term storage (fresh oil, gas tank drained or gas treated with Stabil, fresh coolant and car raised so tires don't develop flat spots) the car should be started and driven at least 2 times a month - drive the car far enough for the engine and transaxle to come to nornal operating temperature. I don't know what part of the country you live in, but with winter fast approaching, if you live in a cold climate (by that I mean an area where the winter temps are consistently below freezing) my recommendation above is even more important. Regards, Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA On the older GM's the wire mesh strap from the engine to the firewall goes bad or it's connections get dirty. It is usually from the bell housing up to the body. This forces all the body's power through the small black wire coming off the battery. When it happens, the insulation usually starts melting on the small wire. This causes the battery to only ever half or less charge up so it up and dies when it sits. As fast as a couple days even. If the battery cable clamps are corroded that can cause the same thing. Other than that you can get 1/4 or 1/2 amp chargers you can leave plugged in or even disconnect the battery. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2115147590 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page) > My son, who is now away at college, has an 89 Olds Cutlass Ciera. About 2 > years ago I replaced the battery with a new Sears Die Hard Gold battery. As [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Thanks, > Walter >Is there some way of determining what is draining the power. I tend to >think that the battery is not bad. >Any thoughts on what might be the problem and/or what I can do? > >Thanks, >Walter Disconnect one battery cable and splice in a test lite. With all doors closed, key out of ign. the bulb should not lite up. If it does, this indicates a batt drain. You can isolate which circuit by pulling fuses one at a time until the test lite goes out. Pulling fuses implies the driver door is open and you will have to keep the courtesy switches pushed in. Pete >>Is there some way of determining what is draining the power. I tend to >>think that the battery is not bad. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Pete What about electric clock, keyless remote receiver, under-hood light, other items that draw some current with key off and doors closed ?? >>>Is there some way of determining what is draining the power. I tend to >>>think that the battery is not bad. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >What about electric clock, keyless remote receiver, under-hood light, >other items that draw some current with key off and doors closed ?? With the key out of the ignition, clock and radio presets draw less than 12 volts and will not lite up a test lite. Keyless remote devices only activate and draw current with the remote signal. EMC (computer) has a power supply directly from the battery and also does not draw 12 volts when the key is out. Under hood lite should be disconnected when doing a draw test - missed that one - not all cars have one. Perhaps an obvious area to look is the battery, cable connections and ground straps. The batt may be fairly new, but that tells you nothing. Batteries do fail prematurely. I lay my summer car up for the winter and unless I forget to turn something off, It will restart in the spring as all cars should. One day I'll have a stuck relay or wiring fault and will have the same draining problem. Pete |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.