need some educated ideas about battery draining

[tery]

Hi,
So Chastity was sitting for about a week and a half ...just sitting, but has a two month old new interstate battery. I had a cell phone charger in the cig lighter for about half that time, but just one little led on that, but other than that ...no electrical drain that I'm aware of. Can you give me some experienced ideas about what to check to see if it is drawing out juice when the car is turned off. The starter works great , the alt seems to charge the battery fine when it is running, there is no battery light lit on the dash and the battery connections look tight, although the hot side does have jury-rigged set-up with a new cable end spliced into the old cable..The headlights seem dim to me but then I don't think the battery is full up yet, I drove it around for about 20 minutes this evening to charge it up, but when I went to start it it only had about ten seconds of crank before it wasn't strong enough to turn over the engine. Turn signals seem up to speed, interior lights and stereo are fine. The dim headlights maybe that they seriously need to be polished...typical old light haze...
Where should I check first to see if I'm loosing battery when the engine is off??/ t
tks in advance for your ideas.
T

 

[Dirk37]

the hot side does have jury-rigged set-up with a new cable end spliced into the old cable

Picture? If this splice isn't good you will have problems. Also check the terminals are clean, making good contact, and tight.

If you have a multimeter capable of it, I would recommend ensuring that there is a parasitic draw by disconnecting the one of the terminals and measuring the current flow with everything off. Sometimes you get unlucky and get a bad battery, and confirming a parasitic draw will rule that out.

 

[rubydist]

also you need to be aware that jumping the car that has a dead battery and then driving it around to make the alternator charge up that dead battery is a good way to **** the alternators in these cars. the alternator just is not up to the task of putting out that much current for that length of time to recharge a dead battery. you need to get a decent battery charger and use that to charge up dead batteries. the alternator is ok with keeping it charged, but not getting it there.

 

[tery]

Thank you guys very much...The battery wasn't dead, just not enough to kick over after an initial drain, but I hear you about the alternator...And I will check that parasitic issue if it ever stops....SNOWING..here. it melted but we got two inches of snow today...it's APRIL 29th for god's sake!
I'm also going to replace the battery cable with the correct item. Things on Chastity were makeshift for a number of years evidently.
Soon,
T
T

 

[msteiny]

Make sure everything is turned off in the car. I speak from experience on dead batteries. Make sure the trunk light is turning off as well as the visor mirror lights. It sounds stupid but these two items had me scratching my head for a while as to why my battery was dying.

 

[rubydist]

My red 94, which I had for 16 years, died from an engine fire that started from a short. For a time before that, it had an unexplained draw on the battery - sometimes it would barely start the car, other times it was fine. I think (obviously I cannot confirm) that the two main battery cables from the battery to the starter rubbed together until they shorted in a serious way.

So, if you continue to have an unexplained battery problem but the battery tests fine, I would suggest a very careful examination of the main battery cables.

 

[sperold]

Until you find the culprit, you can install a manual disconnect on the positive terminal of the battery.
Go to Walmart in the battery section and you will find and accessory with a green **** on the top of it. It attaches to the positive terminal and hangs over the side of the battery where it has a terminal where you hook the positive cable of your car. When you tighten the green ****, you have power to your car, when you loosen the ****, you have isolated the battery from your car. It costs less than $5.00 and is great for people with 3 cars, where 2 are idle while one is driven (sound familiar?).
That will look after the overnight drain and storage time drain, but the issue is still there. It gives you more time to find the problem without constantly pulling your battery cables.

 

[rubydist]

just remember there is not a lot of room between the hood and the battery, so don't get one of those disconnects that sticks up from the battery or it will not fit. (And you will have an amazing light show when you close the hood the first time...)

 

[tery]

I'll take a pic of the "set up" that is on there now before I replace it this weekend...barring more rain..., I'm also gonna get under Ginger and replace here starter which has that loose solenoid cap or whatever that I posted. ...Finish putting the other seat in Babe and maybe get out the carpet from Ginger as well. I bought a lighter weight power washer that should do the trick with a little grease cleaning soap. I've been having very good results with that ZEP industrial orange cleaner, diluted to about 50%