2007-11-13 03:23:41 · 13 answers · asked by ROBERT D 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Start with the very basics, the battery....
Has it been serviced or cleaned recently or even getting old. When they get the acid from charging on top of it for years, it builds up and allows the voltage from the positive terminal to travel across to the negative terminal. You can test that by putting a voltmeter lead on one terminal and touching the top of the battery on the plastic, you will see "Spray" voltage from that. Sometimes that can drain a battery overnight. To clean the acid off, use baking soda and water mix, the soda neutralized the battery acid and stops the voltage crossing the top of the battery. This also cleans the acid that has leaked down below the battery holder and covering the car parts below which is slowing distroying the metal there. Rinse off with water when you are done.
Second step it to have a load test done to your battery, drive to a place that sells batteries, like Sears or the like. They have a load tester that they hook to the battery, this takes just a few seconds and that supplies a load to see what the battery can put out. It may be that the battery is just to old to hold a charge and needs replacement. Normally they do that test for free in the hopes that you will buy a new battery from them if you need one.
Should the battery prove to be OK, then you may have a bad alternator or an electrical short in the wiring harness somewhere and that will take someone awhile to trace down that has experiance doing that, and most people don't.
But the next more obvious things to look at is.... did someone just install a device like a stereo, fog lights or even just work on the car... those are where I would look first for an electrical short, because people do screw things up sometimes by accident.
2007-11-13 03:57:31 · answer #1 · answered by fogtender 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Trickle chargers are easy to connect. It's usually just black to black and red to red. If your batt. cables aren't color coded, there'll be a + sign (red) on the battery, usually a large raised plastic . Also a - sign(black). Also, the black (-) cable will be connected to ground- straight to the engine and body somewhere. The red (+) will connect to the starter, a round electric motor looking thing right where the engine joins the trans. Some chargers wil have a voltage switch - set to 12v, A low amp setting (2A) will likely keep it charged overnight. Use the higher setting(10A) if you need to charge it quicker. If you disconnect your battery cable overnight (either one), and the battery is still dead in the AM, the batteries bad. Even a new battery can have a shorted cell. A battery hydrometer is a good test for that if the caps are removable (seldom used old fashioned method of checking charge - all cells should read the same, a shorted cell will be much lower) If the battery stays charged overnight with battery disconnected, car wiring is at fault. You can narrow down the fault by removing different fuses each night (battery connected). Ask mechanic to show you the "maxi- fuse" for the alternator - that's a possibility. I'd start with the dome light fuse.
2016-05-22 23:11:08 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
could be a dicky relay for instance if its a diesel engine, glow relays sometimes stick draining battery of could be a dodgy boot light switch leaving the light on over night. check all your internal lights ( the one in the boot caught me out ) and this was connected to a relay for the alarm too. Also check battery for drain after you've ran the car, if you have a cell down a meter should tell you its dud as the voltage wont level out at about 12 to 12.5 it will drop gradually to about 10 volts. Also you could have a short somewhere for example through the alternator but this is rare with most modern cars
2007-11-13 06:15:41 · answer #3 · answered by lee g 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sounds as if your battery is not being charged properly, or it may have a dead cell. Have a mechanic check the alternator/generator, voltage regulator and battery.
2007-11-13 03:31:18 · answer #4 · answered by Phurface 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Disconnect the positive battery cable before it sits overnight.
Reconnect the cable the next morning, and if it starts as it normally would, its probably the voltage regulator.
2007-11-13 03:36:56 · answer #5 · answered by ric_360 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hopefully it's just the battery. Batteries will tell you when they're done when cold weather arrives,if they're on their way out.
Hopefully it's not the parasitic draw, which is one of the worst diag problems out there. It requires a lot of patience and trial and error.
2007-11-13 03:37:13 · answer #6 · answered by abkwire 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Have you checked the cable connections to the battery? They could be corroded, also you might just need to get a new battery it could be too old..
2007-11-13 03:38:51 · answer #7 · answered by mary10348 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
disconnect positive battery cable and connect test light in between cable and battery/you should only have very dim light on test light from radio and ECM memories/if light is bright start pulling fuses one by one until light dims and that will tell you which circuit it is in//////common problems are trunk,glovebox and hood lights not turning off when closed-if your car has automatic seat belts check mechanisms for clicking noises when doors are shut as I have seen this also///good luck
2007-11-13 03:31:59 · answer #8 · answered by Kentuckygearhead 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
battery is old, short somewhere, check the water levl in the battery sounds like a dry cell maybe.
2007-11-13 03:31:50 · answer #9 · answered by bluebonnets1952 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The procedure is easy but time consuming if you are not mechanically inclined to use a Amp meter.
Removing a fuse at a time until the problem goes away.(ONLY remove accessory fuses!) those candy color ones.
The problem is usually the dome light circuit.
2007-11-13 03:32:54 · answer #10 · answered by izzie 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋