I have a 2000 Mercury Mystique with a 2.0 liter engine and am wondering if the battery is too small?

Question

The battery seems to drain after about 200 miles. I tried looking it up but with no luck. At first I thought it might be the alternator but every other one I had to go bad just did suddenly and there was nothing to do but change out the alternator.
How do you determine if the battery is adequate?

Answer 1

i own a repair shop,and you do this by the cranking amps it has built in to it,,but yours sounds like a bad alternator draining the battery because the size of the battery wont make it drain in that few of driving miles,you need to take it to any auto zone and have them check it while its in the car,they do this for free and then you,ll know for sure what it is making it go down,,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 2

A bad battery will kill a good alternator, and also if you are testing the alternator on the car running, a bad battery will show that the alternator is bad. A bad starter will kill both the alternator and the battery. All three components make up the starting/charging system. Any one of those components will throw off testing overall if any component is tested on the car. My answer: pull the battery out and have it tested by itself. If it tests bad, that's prolly all your problem was, but you need to replace the batt. and test the alt on the car. If it's good, pull the alt off and have it tested. The results of that second test will tell you if its the starter. honestly it sounds like your alt. and batt are decent, but your starter/cable connections/or something else in your car (bigger stereo) is pulling constant or too much juice. If the alt is not putting out enough juice to run everything in the car and still have some left to keep the batt. fully charged you'd be getting the problem you have. But normally if the alt is going bad, the amount of time it takes to drain the batt should be getting progressively shorter plus in the latter stages, your car won't start anymore and your batt. will be bad. A few of the most common problems leading to "undercharging" the batt. is a weak alternator (or bad diode), bad ground connections (which could be any electrical device in the car), or a bigger stereo (which robs the alt. of needed power to charger the batt. properly)

Answer 3

like dodge man, the cold cranking amps should be on a lable on the battery, any battery catalog will list your battery by application
and the required cca`s. the alternator should be putting out about
14.6 volts. and using a test light check for shorts while the car sits overnight. disconect the negative cable and put the testlight
between the post and bat. cable. the light shouldn`t lite. open the door to turn on the dome lights and it should light. these are the charging system basics and you should be able to pin point your problem hope this helps

Answer 4

Check your fuses for an alternator fuse. May solve the whole problem. Most auto supplies can test your alternator. Only take s a minute to take a voltage reading.