Dead car battery...again. Advice?

"FKA-RacecaR" (FKA-RacecaR)
10/02/2014 at 09:31 • Filed to: None

Second time in about as many weeks. I do not think anyone left a door open on the care. My daughters have a hard time remembering to close the doors all the way. But not sure that was the case this time.
Going to have to jump it later when my wife gets home. I am off most of next week, so I am thinking of pulling the alternator and having it tested. Any other ideas?

DISCUSSION (16)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:33

Kinja'd!!!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:38

I'm guessing you had the battery itself checked before you thought alternator. Could be a drain somewhere in the system. Depending on age alternator failures are relatively rare these days.

extraspecialbitter > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:38

That definitely sounds like the alternator went kerplunk.

ttyymmnn > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:45

Have the battery tested for cheap somewhere before going through all the trouble with the alternator.

FKA-RacecaR > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/02/2014 at 09:45

Battery is only about a year old or so, but I thought about testing it tonight.

The car is 18 years old. And I am not sure I have ever changed the alternator.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:55

Does the car have a voltmeter in the gauges? If so does it stay pretty constant or does it go up and down with revs and turning the headlights on and off? If the voltage varies wildly that is a pretty good sign your alternator is having issues. You should be able to get it tested, but might be a PITA to pull it out.

You say the battery is only about a year old. Is it maintenance free or does it have caps to check the water levels? If maintenance free check the eye, it should be green. If it has caps pull them and check the water levels. Use safety glasses and keep flames away. Some batteries might have a translucent case that will let you see the fluid level without pulling the caps. Even if it shows good it probably wouldn't hurt to get it load tested. Even though it is only a year old they do sometimes go bad.

crowmolly > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 09:57

Get the battery tested first (you can have a cell die in a newish battery) and if that's no good pull the alternator. If it's still the original one it may be faulty.

Or if pulling the alt isn't too bad, get them both tested to save you a trip.

FKA-RacecaR > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
10/02/2014 at 10:04

No voltmeter on the car.

The battery is maintenance free, and I will check the indicator on it when I jump it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 10:14

I once had an intermittent battery going dead issue that was a dirty trunk light switch...

505Turbeaux > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 10:32

what kind of car and year? alternators can last a hell of a long time, and if the battery warning light isnt on when you drive it, it is charging. This is likely not an alternator issue, but a dead cell in the battery or something. Is it dead dead or just low on juice when you try and start it?

FKA-RacecaR > 505Turbeaux
10/02/2014 at 10:36

'96 Camry.

It is dead dead. No clicking. No anything. No battery light on either while driving.

505Turbeaux > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 10:45

yeah likely a dead cell in the battery then. Hopefully you have a warranty!

Squid > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 11:35

Get a cheap volt meter from harbor freight and check your resting voltage and your voltage after you jump the car. You most likely have a parasitic draw in your electrical system. If you don't want to deal with tracing wires and all that pay someone to figure it out. But most likely a parasitic draw is your culprit, but bad grounds could do it as well.

Mattbob > FKA-RacecaR
10/02/2014 at 14:25

once you rule out everything else, here is a method to narrow down drains. Don't do this unless you are comfortable working with car electronics.

1) put a Meter in series with the positive lead of your battery, and wait till the drain on the battery steadies out. If it is more than a reasonable drain, you have a parasitic loss. (reasonable depends on the car, 100mA isnt too bad for instance)

2) start pulling fuses one at a time, watching for the drain to go away. If the drain goes away after pulling a fuse, you have narrowed down the issue to a subsystem.

3) investigate that system further.

4) profit.

505Turbeaux > FKA-RacecaR
10/03/2014 at 10:23

hahahaha yeah that'll do it. Bonehead :)

Mattbob > FKA-RacecaR
10/03/2014 at 10:31

it happens. nbd