New battery is dead

Black GT

Active Member
Sep 8, 2018
148
9
28
Jacksonville, Florida
I have been fighting a battery issue for awhile now on my 01 GT. Originally I had a 4 year old never start that died because of age I am sure. I had bought a wrecked car from a auction that had a less than a year old napa legend battery in it that was dead. I took it to napa and they gave me a brand new napa legend battery that I put in my GT. Anyway that battery worked great for a couple of months. Then it got to where if my car sat for a couple of days it had to be jumped. Now if it sits overnight it needs to be jumped. I tested my alternator with my multimeter and it says it is charging 13.9 volts at idle and it falls off to 13.8 at around 1500 rpm's. From what I remember a alternator should charge over 14 volts at idle and increase as rpm's rise. Wondering if my memory is correct and if I should replace my alternator?
 
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I would diagnose first before replacing. Do a load test first, while engine running turn on all your accessories, headlights, ac, fan, wipers, etc. and see where the volts go. They should drop some, but still should read above 12.8.

And remember at all the parts stores, they can come out to your car with a battery and load tester to check it for you if you don't have the equipment.
 
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I would diagnose first before replacing. Do a load test first, while engine running turn on all your accessories, headlights, ac, fan, wipers, etc. and see where the volts go. They should drop some, but still should read above 12.8.

And remember at all the parts stores, they can come out to your car with a battery and load tester to check it for you if you don't have the equipment.
I checked it with everything on and it was charging 13.8 volts
 
It sounds like you have a big drain. Not this kind, but something that’s pulling current with the key off. Put a test light (an incandescent bulb) between the positive terminal and the positive cable with the car off. If it lights up, then you can pull fuses to see if it is on which circuit. If that does not narrow it down, get back to us as there are other, less likely things to check, and more precise ways to check how much is leaking.
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