This is a 1991 Plymouth Voyager we have had battery trouble for about 9 months and every time a new battery is put in the car works for 2 months until we have to take the battery back to get recharged. We had Auto Zone do a diagnostic and was told it was a bad alternator so we replaced that. The car worked beautiful for 4 days. Then we went on vacation for 3 days and came back and the car wouldn't start again. Therefore we took the battery back to Auto Zone and had them recharge it. Afterwards the car started again but, were afraid to drive it so we have just been started it each morning and night. I called a scrap yard to see about scrapping the car and they said something in the van's computer might be draining the battery. Any truth to this? Anyone know what could be draining the battery?
Thanks!
2007-08-23 00:25:13 · 9 answers · asked by cubbie041281 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Generally, if your battery isn't being charged then it's your alternator. Alternators go out all the time. Are you making sure to check the voltage on your battery before you recharge it? It could be something else. If, in fact, your battery isn't being recharged with a new alternator, I would say you have something draining your system. Your car won't go very far with a bad alternator so I'm sure that's not your problem.
Take it to a shop and tell them you think something is slowly draining your battery. It could be a short or something. It may sound stupid but make sure nothing is on inside the car when you leave it...like a dome light or something.
2007-08-23 00:36:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a short somewhere in the system. Either that or the alternator, voltage regulator is bad.
With a simple voltage tester. Read the voltage across the battery with the engine off. You should have 12V. Then start the engine, you should now read 13.7V or close to that. If this is the case then the charging system is fine and the trouble is in the wiring.
Put the meter on the amp scale and disconnect the negative battery cable. Put the meter in series with the battery terminal and the cable. You should have a very low current draw. Then start pulling fuses one at a time and see if the current draw changes. When you find the circuit that drops the current, then you'll know where to investigate further.
If you're not comfortable with this, then take the vehicle to an auto electric repair shop.
good luck.
2007-08-23 01:03:34 · answer #2 · answered by Fordman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, there is a lot of truth to that. There might be something in the vehicle that's causing it to pull current from the battery. The same thing happened to my GMC Sierra -- I later found out that the radio was somehow drawing current constantly.
I made a solution out of just pulling the fuse for the radio whenever I stopped my pick'emup.
If you have a few bucks to spend, you can take it to a mechanic that you know, and have them check to see whether or not they can find where the drain is coming from - or, you can do what I did, and experiment.
There's no sense in scrapping out your van for such a minor problem - just play around with it, or have a mechanic take a quick look at it (they usually won't charge you just to find the problem, and if it's as minor as I believe it to be, they wouldn't charge much to correct it).
2007-08-23 00:35:41 · answer #3 · answered by Nix 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I know you say the alternator was replaced but did you get the new alternator tested?
Simple check is to take voltage reading across battery and see if the voltage goes up when the engine is run at a little above tick over.
I could be belt slippage or a faulty alternator even new ones have been known to be faulty.
2007-08-23 00:48:09 · answer #4 · answered by Easy Peasy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like what the guy is talking about is a dead short. It happens when the key is off, but there is still a major draw on the battery. It is the equivalent of leaving the light on. You can check for this conditon with a volt meter. If you search the web you can find more detailed instructions.
2007-08-23 00:34:45 · answer #5 · answered by thepitboss 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you took the alternator to be tested did you take the truck in or just the alternator as well a the battery? Just wondering what the alternator is putting out when its on the vehicle. Also check the wiring going into the alternator as well as the pos wire going to the batter make sure its good. Follow it to where it goes and make sure all the connections are good.
2016-04-01 10:24:16 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would be searching for something that is using current when the ignition is off.Most obvious is a light staying on in the glove box or console.Have you tried looking it over in darkness?
There is a technique used to track it down using an ammeter that someone qualified do.
2007-08-23 00:41:33 · answer #7 · answered by wildmanny2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have an external voltage regulator that may be your problem, your cigarette lighter or dome light/door light or maybe something crossing post and causing drain near battery or starter solinoid but something is grounding out definately.
2007-08-23 00:44:09 · answer #8 · answered by nbr660 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you have an electrical problem something is draining the battery.the dealer might be able to elp you out if they can run a diagnostic test on the onboard computer.
2007-08-23 00:34:29 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋