Is It My Battery????
Is It My Battery???? 6 months ago while I was driving my volts started to drop off. I made it to the shop, and the the car/battery died. The alt was bad, and they replaced it. Last sunday when I started my car after shift it was at 10 volts, I couldn't even make it to the shop before the battery was completely DEAD. I got towed, and they ran every test. The problem seemed intermitten, they'd get low voltage and then proper volts back and fourth. then we noticed the positive terminal was a little loose. Tightened it and everything worked for bout 10 minutes, and the volts dropped off again. So they assumed they got a bad alt. Thursday after shift, the same thing...this time the shop covered the tow. Battery was dead again, charged the battery and ran all the tests again. The alt was putting out 70 amps, all the battery test, starter tests etc came back good. and she held voltage! We couldn't get her to act up again, we checked every ground and connection, fuse and could find nothing wrong! And the battery wouldn't start draining off again.
So Friday evening Im leaving to work I start the car, battery is at 10 volts again. So I call in and head to the shop, before I could get there the volts jump back to the normal range, so I turn around and get to work. This morning I start the car 10 volts!!! I hurry and leave and the battery dies as I pull in to the parking spot. WTF
help please!!!
So Friday evening Im leaving to work I start the car, battery is at 10 volts again. So I call in and head to the shop, before I could get there the volts jump back to the normal range, so I turn around and get to work. This morning I start the car 10 volts!!! I hurry and leave and the battery dies as I pull in to the parking spot. WTF
help please!!! 
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: Brownsville, texas
how could it be your battery? if you have replaced it a few times already?
i think its pretty hard to get a defective battery due to its pretty much just acid/ or whatever it is inside. i would say maybe it a electrical problem? theres something thats staying on that not suppose to and its killing your battery. do you have a sound system? are the amps staying on?
any modifications you done to the car that are related to electrical
?
i think its pretty hard to get a defective battery due to its pretty much just acid/ or whatever it is inside. i would say maybe it a electrical problem? theres something thats staying on that not suppose to and its killing your battery. do you have a sound system? are the amps staying on?
any modifications you done to the car that are related to electrical
?
how could it be your battery? if you have replaced it a few times already?
i think its pretty hard to get a defective battery due to its pretty much just acid/ or whatever it is inside. i would say maybe it a electrical problem? theres something thats staying on that not suppose to and its killing your battery. do you have a sound system? are the amps staying on?
any modifications you done to the car that are related to electrical
?
i think its pretty hard to get a defective battery due to its pretty much just acid/ or whatever it is inside. i would say maybe it a electrical problem? theres something thats staying on that not suppose to and its killing your battery. do you have a sound system? are the amps staying on?
any modifications you done to the car that are related to electrical
?
I think there are plates inside them, if for whatever reason one comes loose contacts another there can be a short inside the battery...just thinking...
Last edited by TFord; Oct 24, 2009 at 12:35 PM.
FWIW, Les Schwab has a battery tester that can usually identify a defective battery, but if it's intermittent it might show up as good when tested..........?
What grounds did you check? There are some ground wires on the back of the driver side cylinder head. If the engine has ever been out of the car, these often get overlooked for tightening.
Mike
yeah, I think the first thing to do is get the battery load tested at Schwab. Make sure the battery cables are good and tightly connected at both points. If those things check out, the next thing is tracing the voltage drain. This can be done with a simple DC volt meter and then pulling fuses. Good luck
It could be a defective battery/plates like you suggested. If it is, then it's going to put a serious strain on your alt and voltage regulator within the alt. If left unchecked it willl eventually cause your alt to go bad prematurely. I'd replace the battery and see if the problem continues.
FWIW, Les Schwab has a battery tester that can usually identify a defective battery, but if it's intermittent it might show up as good when tested..........?
What grounds did you check? There are some ground wires on the back of the driver side cylinder head. If the engine has ever been out of the car, these often get overlooked for tightening.
Mike
FWIW, Les Schwab has a battery tester that can usually identify a defective battery, but if it's intermittent it might show up as good when tested..........?
What grounds did you check? There are some ground wires on the back of the driver side cylinder head. If the engine has ever been out of the car, these often get overlooked for tightening.
Mike
