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car battery keeps dying...

17K views 34 replies 24 participants last post by  Charlie-III 
#1 ·
hey, hope everyone is well.
i have a problem with my car/battery and i was wondering if someone could help out...

about 2 months ago my battery died for the first time, i didnt think i left anything on but it happens so i got a new battery and moved on. then about 3 weeks ago my car died again, i didnt think i left anything on again but it died, so i jumped it and moved on again. now yesterday my car died AGAIN and i am positive i didnt leave any lights on or anything bc i have been extra cautious knowing that the battery died twice before recently... is there anything else that could be wrong? any ideas would help. thanks guys
 
#2 ·
Do you have any sound system things installed? My amp kept pulling power even though the car was off and the alternator went because of it. Also make sure the termanels are really clean and the clamps are tight on them. If there isnt a good connection between the 2 then youll have that trouble.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Have you had the alternator tested? That's the first culprit to the battery dying. The largest indicator of your alternator not working at all is both battery and ebrake light on your cluster will be lit up, however if the alternator is working but not putting out the proper voltage, this signal may not show up.

If your alternator is only semi functioning and not putting out enough voltage, the car is possibly draining power from the battery to compensate for the lack of voltage the alternator is putting out. Once the car is started, the alternator should power EVERYTHING including partially recharging the battery, however if it wont put out enough voltage, it is unable to restore the power the battery uses during startup. (Which is the highest power draining process your battery encounters)

Hope some of that rant helps. Post up again if the alternator is putting out the right voltage (any shop with a code reader can tell you) and if the alternator isn't the problem, i have another few ideas you can try =)
 
#8 ·
It could also be an aftermarket component that you installed, if you have any. I have this problem right now (if my car sits for more than a day or so), and I suspect I have a switched/constant wire flip-flopped somewhere in my aftermarket gauges.
 
#10 ·
haha u guys are so quick to be dick heads on this site it amazes me. i didnt bring my car to my cousins shop to be looked at yet, he just tested the alternator for me bc he has a tester at his home so he just looked at it quick after a family dinner one night.

lol now to those trying to be helpful... im suspecting that my wires are probably a bit corroded so im gonna bring it to my cousin soon. ill let everyone know what the issue was when i find out shortlyyy.
 
#26 · (Edited)
So wait...you call me a dickhead for suggesting your mechanic cousin should be able to fix this....and then do what i said in the very next paragraph?

:3_confuse

I'm not sure why you started this thread? You got the answer(more of a suggestion on how to fix it), but instead of taking the terminals off and cleaning them yourself, your just going to take it to your cousin, which i suggested you do in the first place, but got called a dick head.

Thicker skin, your gonna need it. That wasn't anywhere near being a dick head.
 
#12 ·
My tib is doing the same thing.

It would die after anything more than one day of not driving it. and its winter, so more or less i just want the alarm to work since I'm not driving it.

If I jump started it, my voltage gauge would read about 14V so I figured it was just the battery.

I jumped it off my truck, drove to the car parts store, got a brand new optima red top and all seemed fine, showed about 14V on my gauge, stoped at a red light and it dropped to below 12V .. wtf ... so I figured its just going through some charing cycle or something, drove around for a while to let it charge and thought nothing more of it.

Got home, parked it, and checked 2 days later ... dead again. So I pulled out the fuse from my amp power wire (incase it wasn't fully turning off), and jumped it again. let it charge up and let it sit again.

for the next week about, I'd hit the buttom on the remote to make sure the alarm was still on, and all seemed well. and then all of a sudden it's dead again after a week.

Possible voltage regulator issue? Since its an internally regulated alt, I'm thinking of just upgrading to the Santa Fe alt since from what I read its a bolt on alt with no modification needed, and it puts out a little more juice.
 
#14 ·
Netstat, just as a test, try this if you don't mind. Pull the interior fuse (fuse with yellow casing around it) in your interior fusebox the next time you have to let the tib sit for a couple days. I'm willing to bet that your battery won't be drained.

I'm interested to see if anyone else has the same draining problem as me.
 
#15 ·
removing the bcm fuse will also disable the alarm tho... so it kinda defeats the purpose.

I know its not just the drain of normal onboard stuff, because it didn't do this last winter.
 
#18 ·
sorry i dont mean to steal the thread but its almost same topic...but i notice that when i dnt have my car running but i want to listen to music while washing my car. and if i leave it on for about 15mins the beast wont turn back on? so would this be fixed if i just got a new battery??...thanks guys...
 
#19 ·
If you have your car off but key on ACC just to listen to your music then yes the most likely cause would be your battery...probably has a bad cell or is just weak. Im assuming that you still have your stock battery. If so then I would get it checked under a load test to see if it holds up, but I would still get a new better battery...that might solve your problem. Anyways you are really not suppose to leave your car on just to run your accessories with the engine off for a long time.
 
#21 ·
I had a bad ground from the LEDGLOW I had set-up as it was a continous drain according to my electrician. (I do have periodsat times to where the car would sit for a week to 3 weeks btw.) I had to say goodbye to the little Kinetix battery among previous Optimas Red and YellowTop, I also had to go with a high-powered alternator(well a stronger one than the rebuilt alternators out there for our car) and thankfully have been issue free since.
I did have the LEDGLOW reconnected to a better ground and connected safely as above mentioned technician did not secure their live wires while under the dashboard. :3_headsha

I know the Voltage Stabilizer is basically a capacitor, though I did not see it as a great help overall.
ParkerBro, does have a point as I would watch DVD's with the engine off knowing some are 90 mins, so I can see how that lead to problems at times too even with non-daily usage.

Best of Luck, hoping yourself and your cousin can find the source and correct it...knowing it took the electrician 2 days to go thru everything and determine the cause in my case (a bad ground).
 
#23 ·
Hello,
Somewhere in the car is a load that is killing the battery. If you have had any electrical work done recently you should be returning to have it looked at. It could be a bad motor somewhere (antenna motor, window motor, blower motor). You can disconnect the negative terminal from the battery until you get it fixed. It won't hurt anything.
 
#24 ·
Yes this is called Parasitic Drain on the battery, and yes it will drain your battery overnight, but we're not sure if this is the problem he is having since he said that he believes that he didn't leave or have any accessories on the following night.
 
#25 ·
i had the same problem. i will tell you it is either one of two things, either your terminals are dirty/corroded thus the connections are bad or its Parasitic draw.
chances are its the first one, i was haunted by this problem for a year because of that simple reason. go to autozone and buy some terminal grease and coat the inside of each terminal with it and then tighten them down TIGHT. if a connection was your problem it will be gone now.
if its parasitic draw thats another story
 
#31 · (Edited)
#35 ·
Could be, but if not plugged in, then how? You need to measure amp draw and pull fuses until the drain drops off.

Oh, and please don't bump threads more than a month old, start a new one and reference an existing one if need be.
This is covered in the FAQ.

Thanks.
 
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