Battery woes

[95riosnake]

Well...

Battery problems.



So my car is at the shop for some power upgrades, and my mechanic calls to tell me he has pulled my car into and out of the garage twice now and it has been dead both times. This is not a new problem, it has been happening for a few months now.

The alternator is fine, I had it checked. The battery (Optima Red top), also tested fine. I have been through this damn car hundreds of times checking voltage looking for the draw, and no luck. I've probably wasted 20 hours trying to fix this.

The only not stock things electrical wise are an Apline head unit, a 10" sub and an amp, then autometer A/F, Water Temp, and Volt gauges...with the lead for illumination being tapped into the fuse for the headlights.

The A/F gauge stopped working about a month ago (pegged to rich), could this be the culprit? also I have an airbag light, I think I'll take it to the dealer for a code scan and let them rape me out of $50. Do you think a code scan might shed any light on this?

Any help is appreciated guys, little sh** like this ruins the hobby for me.

 

[HISSIN50]

Dan, you should be able to get the airbag code yourself.

I'd just take the battery to the parts store for another load test (after it's charged up).

Otherwise, 2 mins with your meter in series between the terminal and cable will show what kind of draw you have. If just a tiny amount, I'd feel good about the car and think battery. I know it was tested but if all roads lead someplace................ (depending upon where the testing was done, I've had one place test an item and it passed. I took it across the street to another place and it failed. I like multiple tests/opinion. Just something to consider).

Good luck.

 

[mo_dingo]

Well most car batteries are 100amp/hr rated. and if you have a 1amp draw, in 100 hours or ~4 days, it will be dead. So it doesn't take much of a draw to kill your battery.

I would take a amp clamp and see how much is being drawn off of the battery cable. If it's under .2 amps, then I wouldn't worry. But if it's over, you have to find the draw. Disconnecting the positive cable from the battery and using a multimeter in series to complete the connection will also work.

If you can confirm that there is a significant draw, then you need to remove every fuse, one by one, and wire the multimeter in series to test each fuse port for a draw. You will find it. Just remember, you need to start with the fuse panel under the hood first, and start with the big fuses first.
Scott

 

[CMEFLY]

Did your air bag light come on after battery went dead? If so it may just need to be reset. It is common for it to code up after a battery goes dead. Code 52 is a intermittent or repaired lost battery feed .Very easy to pull code yourself. Do not pay for this. IF you need help pulling code email me i will help you. it only takes a few minutes to do..

 

[True 5.0]

My friend's fuel pump relay got stuck on and was killing his battery.

 

[95riosnake]

Did your air bag light come on after battery went dead? If so it may just need to be reset. It is common for it to code up after a battery goes dead. Code 52 is a intermittent or repaired lost battery feed .Very easy to pull code yourself. Do not pay for this. IF you need help pulling code email me i will help you. it only takes a few minutes to do..

That air bag light has been on for about 6 months now, through multiple times of unhooking the battery for extended periods of time for projects and such.

I don't have your email, but I'd like to know how to decipher what code it is flashing. I remember reading somewhere that there is a way to figure out what code is being thrown, and I'd much rather do that than pay a stealership to do it.

 

[HISSIN50]

Some airbag info courtesy of Joe.

Good luck.

 

[95riosnake]

Some airbag info courtesy of Joe.

Good luck.

Thanks! But how do I figure out what code is being thrown?

 

[bmac50]

Two things come to mind:

Has the starter been checked for dead spots? Has the battery distribution cable been replaced or checked. I found both to be bad here about six months ago and it was a real cluster in finding out both problems. If it's simply a started try tapping on it when the car won't start, if it starts you have a dead spot and need to replace it. As for the battery distribution cable I ended up getting at the dealer because I couldn't find it anywhere else. Even with a nice discount it was $247.00 and the old one had two or three rotted connections.

I'm surprised the garage didn't try tapping on the starter unless they had nothing when they turned the key. You may need to check the cables and make sure everything it tight, also check for good connections.

Mine would start right up at work and I'd drive roughly 12 miles, turn it off the pick up the mail and when I'd go back to the car, nothing, completely dead and this was after changing the started.

Well...

Battery problems.



So my car is at the shop for some power upgrades, and my mechanic calls to tell me he has pulled my car into and out of the garage twice now and it has been dead both times. This is not a new problem, it has been happening for a few months now.

The alternator is fine, I had it checked. The battery (Optima Red top), also tested fine. I have been through this damn car hundreds of times checking voltage looking for the draw, and no luck. I've probably wasted 20 hours trying to fix this.

The only not stock things electrical wise are an Apline head unit, a 10" sub and an amp, then autometer A/F, Water Temp, and Volt gauges...with the lead for illumination being tapped into the fuse for the headlights.

The A/F gauge stopped working about a month ago (pegged to rich), could this be the culprit? also I have an airbag light, I think I'll take it to the dealer for a code scan and let them rape me out of $50. Do you think a code scan might shed any light on this?

Any help is appreciated guys, little sh** like this ruins the hobby for me.

 

[HISSIN50]

Thanks! But how do I figure out what code is being thrown?

If the idiot light itself doesnt flash codes, you can yank softer codes with the diagnostic connector. This is for intermittant codes higher in number values.

There's info in the link near the bottom of the page (about 80% of the way down). Scan for the bold print about DTC 32. Then read the section above that. CMan1914 has posted a nice picture of the connector before if you need it.

Good luck bud.

 

[95riosnake]

well my mechanic sent me a PM telling me he sourced the battery problem:

"Hey, I figured out what was killing your battery, I went to the shop late last night and I decided to put your battery on charge and test it after, the car wasn't run for like 5-6 hours, so everything is cold, well I charged your battery and about 2 hours into it I got my tester and walked over to the car, the first thing I checked was the alternator, it was smokin hot!!! So I took the charger off and put my voltmeter on the battery, if I stood there for like 10 sec and watched it the voltage would drop like .30V, so I unplugged the alt, and the voltage stayed up all the way to this morning... So, go and get a new alternator."

So the dead battery problem is solved. I am gonna pick up a new alt and take it with me when I go to pick up the car, he said he'll let me use his tools for a little bit and I'll throw the new alt on before I drive it home.

I will address the airbag light when I get the car back in my garage. Thanks very much for the help guys! :SNSign:

 

[HISSIN50]

It sounds like you dropped a diode on your old alternator. The draw test that Scott and I mentioned should have shown the parasitic loss (it had to be large if it was creating that kind of heat). Basically, the battery was backfeeding the alternator when the car was off (When the car is off, the diodes prevent backflow from higher to lower potential [batt to alt]).

In any case, nice work getting it seemingly fixed. It should take all of 5 mins to swap alts. Do check your wiring to see how it's doing. On its own, the wiring gets old and vulcanizes (and the charge cable eyelet frays). Add to that any kind of electrical issue, and I'd check it out thoroughly to avoid future issues.

Good luck Dan.

 

[gmkillr]

Dan, you can reset the airbag light yourself, I did it to mine, was pretty easy. Just do a search for the info on how to clear it out.