formula forever

well I had a problem 2 weeks ago with my battery. I bought a new one and after 1 week its really low on charge. I went back to autozone and they gave me a new one again. Im scard this battery will die on me. so what the hell is killing my battery. my car is mostly stock no sound system or anything like that. my battery cables are clean and free of rust.

84redta

iTrader: (34)

Something has to be hooked up either incorrectly or is not funtioning properly that it is creating a larger draw. After market security system, any electronics, are you sure the wiring to the radio has never been played with (common issue), anything new or modified under the hood??? There has to be something in this car that is killing your battery, either that or your alternator or something along the lines of the charging system is weak and slowly killing your battery.

formula forever

but can the alternater cause my car not to start? and can I have it tested at murrays.

1989bird305

I had a similar problem with my 89 firebird. In my case it was the power assist motor for the rear hatch. The whole assembly had slid down, so that when it pulled down on the hatch it could not reach the point at which it cuts off. The result was that the power assist hatch motor would not turn off and neither would the courtesy lights in the car, since the car thought that the hatch was still open. Anyhow, this may not be your problem, but I thought I would throw it out there.

mspieth18

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84redta

iTrader: (34)

my assumption was that it's not fully charging...but you should be getting roughly ~14V at the battery when running if i'm not mistaken. If you are getting a constant while the car is running, it sound like it's working properly. There has to be SOMETHING added to this car, most stock cars don't even do this until they are tinkered with...finetooth comb your car...spend an hour or two, and look for wires in the engine bay that look like they don't belong there, look throughout the car, there has to be something...make sure your door lights are going off and that your door switches aren't back, make sure your hatch is sealing and going down all the way like said above, make sure it's closing, if you have an underhood light make sure that goes off, make sure your accesories plugged into the ashtray lighter are unplugged, there's gotta be something...

but yea you should be able to take the car to any shop and have the alternator tested without even taking it out of the car, then again i don't hold much to them, i had a cutlass i took to advanced auto, and the car at idle at 800 RPMS, it would drop down to 10-11 volts, but when you revved it up to say 1200 RMS it would come to the 13-14 it's supposed to be. Could be but i'm starting to think that isn't your issue. I did with this car however have one issue and that was the battery, i got the cheapest battery they had, called economy, and if i didn't run the car for more than 5 minutes in one session, i couldn't start the car the next day, it needed 5 or more minutes to charge the battery to the point it would start a couple days later reliably. Make sure you are doing this if this is the case that it's just sitting there and your just starting it to upkeep the engine, if this doesn't apply to you ignore.

Stu's Firebird

Besides the alternator, the only thing I can think of is one of the fusible links. Looks like a little white plastic cylinder close to the battery. On my firebird you could drive it after charging and while driving, it would not hold a charge. Instead of 14 volts it would only put out about 8 or 10 volts. Then after the car was turned off, it wouldn't start again.

camaronewbie

If battery dying overnight, this won't help.

If battery dying over the course of 2-3 days, check the fuel pump.

Late at night when all is quiet in the neighborhood, with the key in your pocket, open the hatch, put ear on hump, & listen for the fuel pump - if it's running with no key in car, then you need a Oil Pressure Sending Unit.

My 1992 did this to me, drrove me crazy trying to figure out what was draining the battery slowly like that.

Gunman1704

Ok so what's happening to me is that some days it will fire right up, other days I have to click it 5+ times before it fires up. Would that still be the same reason as any of the above? I've replaced the battery, alternator and starter. D=

netfreak

When I first bought my car I noticed that the dome light and the lights by my feet would just stay on permanently. Running all night on a pretty old battery, it was enough to suck it dry. I just cut all the lights out... problem solved

Tmic87TPI

iTrader: (3)

another idea (this just happened to me) my power locks would lock then unlock, and it would kill the battery in around one day. Im pretty sure it was caused by corrosion on the positive terminal though.

xChAoSx

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Cflick

You really need to check for current draw when it's parked. Do you have a meter ? ( of any kind at all )
Yes, an alternator *can* develop an internal short, usually one of the diodes, that will cause it to charge fine, but get REALLY hot, and drain the batt when parked.

rideon1200

Just finished with same problem. I was given the wrong battery at NAPA. They had given me a battery that had 450 CCA. I also had altenator checked at autozone. They said it was fine, I wanted to see amps it was putting out. Sure enough the diode light light up. Gave me good excuse to buy Chrome altenator, chrome brackets and a bigger battery. I did something stupid and grounded to wheel well. Took me a min to figure needed ground on motor.LOL live and learn.

89RsPower!

Wow it took all those posts until someone actually said to do the first thing you should do in this type of situation. TEST FOR A PARASITIC DRAW. With your meter in series with the battery with it on the ma scale see what the current draw is with the ignition off. If it is below 25ma your good, anything more you have a problem. Begin pulling fuses until the draw drops. Once the draw drops look at the circuit for the last fuse you pulled, within that circuit somewhere is the draw.

CRAMOS78

ok this is to check if there's a drain when the car is parked, correct?
how do you figure out what it is if it drains it when the car is running?????

there is no drain when i leave it parked overnight, whatever i left it with is what it has the next time i go to start it. but after you start it the voltage starts dropping almost immediately

any suggestions

berlin305

iTrader: (2)

You're alternator is bad if you turn it on and it drops voltage. Took check if you're alternator working is take a metal that can get attracted to a magnet start the car if you are not getting any force that the metal wants to hit the back of you're alternator it is a bad alternator. But i would check with a voltmeter if it does b/c i am pretty sure it sounds like the alternator b/c its charging the battery. So when you jumpstart it. it will give it a charge but enough to start but the alternator not putting enough load out to keep the battery charged. ANOTHER WAYS TO FIND OUT. ALSO TO MAKE SURE ANY ALTERNATOR IS WORKING AT ALL..... IMPORTANT INFO PEEPS. START YOU'RE CAR. THEN WHILE ITS ON DISCONNECT THE POSTIVE CABLE OFF THE BATTERY IF THE CAR COMPLETELY DIES ITS A BAD ALTERNATOR. BUT DO NOT REPEAT MAKE SURE THE POSITIVE CABLE NOT TOUCHING ANY METAL CAUSE IT COULD RESULT A SPARK. DO AT YOU'RE OWN RISK BE CAREFUL.

berlin305

iTrader: (2)

its a proven fact that a car will run with the alternator on. The battery is just a resevoir for volts so you can turn the car on and FOR LIGHTS. b/c don't have you're headlights on or it will instantly kill the car also keep that in mind when you do this procedure of taking the pos cable off.

CRAMOS78

thanks, ive tried that though, ive even gone as far as just switching out alternators when they've tested good.

and still the voltage drops when i drive around???????

Nater2491

iTrader: (1)

did you check the flux capacitor

Cflick

Measured how ?

Voltage drop when running can only be caused by four things.
1. Bad alternator. ( includes loose belt )
2. Bad regulator.
3. Direct short on a seriously big cable ! ( will destroy alternator in short order )
4. Bad measurement. It's not really dropping.

Cflick

I wouldn't bet real heavy on that.

That used to be true, but not necessarily anymore !

Some circuits will not charge into a dead or missing battery. It's deliberate. Disconnect the battery, and the regulator sees no load. All Stop !
Worse, some regulators will eat themselves if you try this.
Used to be a good quick and dirty test, years ago. Not so much today, as there is some risk involved.
What Berlin says about a short, a momentary bump of the positive terminal against almost anything, is quite true. It will spark, which could ignite any explosive gas in the vicinity, like hydrogen from the battery, and it will probably destroy the alternator instantaneously.

Toehead

Plus, it is really bad for the ECM if you do that in a FI car. You can burn it out.

The battery filters all the electrical noise out of the system. It is there for a purpose besides storing energy.

CRAMOS78

where is tha regulator??????

ill check the alternator again, i think it might be short.
also when i turn the car on there's this chime in it and it doesnt turn off. like when you leave you keys in the ignition????
any suggestions, i think there might be a correlation between the two

thanks

docs89gta

I would get a different place to test the alternator. I had a bad alternator once and took it to Advance Auto and they said it was good. I still had problems, so i took it out again and went to O'Reilly Auto Parts and the tester station they had tested it as bad with a bad diode being the problem. So, i would get a second opinion on if the alternator is in fact bad or good.

Cflick

Not sure in your vehicle.
Many of them these days, are either in the alternator, or under a sheet metal
cover on the alternator.
It's not like the "old days" where that little box was obvious.

Nater2491

iTrader: (1)

did you check the flux capacitor?

Toehead

You can rebuild the alternator yourself with new bearings, a new regulator, and new diodes for about 30 bucks.

CRAMOS78

ok so im just thinking the regulator is in the alternator itself,

i just put a new engine in it, redid the whole wiring in the engine bay. so its not that.
**note: battery was draining like this before the new engine and wiring.

if the regulator is bad, then the alternator would test bad also, correct?

im gonna go check the alternator, if it comes out good the im gonna hit the interior wiring, thats one thing i haven't touched

Cflick

Question remains, voltage is dropping as measured by what ?
And, dropping TO what ?
Keep in mind that a bad charge wire could cause the voltage at first to go excessively high, restoring the charge right after start, and settle back to where it should have been all along if the battery comes up.
If such is the case, then you don't have a drop problem !

CRAMOS78

according to the gauge.

and the battery is not charging bc if i turn the light on in the evening and the gauge drops even faster, car starts to sputter like there's no juice going to the ignition..........

TIMMYS89GTA

iTrader: (28)

ok,what engine is in the car now?
did you use the same alt. that was prev. in the car?
what wiring harn. are you using in the eng. comp.?
These things are very helpful when tracing down charging problems.
I am guessing here,that you have wiring harn. problems not alt. or batt. problems.
Keep in mind that an alt. only maintains the charge on a battery.It doesn't recharge it. If that was the case,noone would ever have to buy a new batt.

TIMMYS89GTA

iTrader: (28)

have you checked yours?
Thats really not funny,people are here looking for help fixing the problems that they have,not someone continuously qouting a reply from a 80's movie that has absolutely nothing to do with their problem.

CRAMOS78

The original engine was a 305 TB, ITHEN THE SWITCHED TO A 350 TB, Then went to a carb,

i now have a sb stroker with ethe same carb. re-did the wiring harness. im not using the computer,and it was doing this with the old engine also

??????

berlin305

iTrader: (2)

Well one thing to i had experience from is if the belt is worn or not tight enough it won't keep the volts up. Try and tighten the belt and check for wear on the belt. If not that then there is a drain like a short somewhere. And thank you for the note save me time from ruining something sorry i am old school on the old metal trick behind the alt. My gramps showed me that long time ago and it worked well. But yea things changed so i wont' be saying that no more. Have you got the battery checked also. Have them check the battery to and put a load on it the battery could charge and if there is a load it would drop to having a bad cell in it.

Nater2491

iTrader: (1)

Cflick

I'd be happier with an indication from a real voltmeter, across the battery posts.
Also across the terminal connectors at the battery. You might be surprised how little corrosion it takes to screw it up, though usually it won't crank when that happens. Also at the BIG lug on the alternator, which should connect directly to the battery, and measure exactly the same, running or not.
From everything you describe, I suspect an error in the harness someplace, but more data is needed. Real voltmeter checks will be the quickest, cheapest way.

Cflick

Au Contraire Mon Frère !
The lead-acid cell car battery is an electo-chemical storage device. Electrical power is stored, and retrieved both, by chemical changes in the cell as power is drawn, and replenished. It's the byproducts of the chemical changes that wear out a battery. Car batteries do not like to be discharged below 80% capacity, as the chemical changes progress deeply into the lead plates, and cause permanent damage every time that happens. THAT's what eventually causes a bad battery. That and over-charging boiling out the water portion of the electrolytic solution.
The alternator in a motor vehicle absolutely DOES charge the battery, and then maintain a "float" as long as the engine is running.
Keep the terminals clean, and never allow the battery to be completely drained, and keep the water level up, a typical car battery can last ten years or so.

DrewsCam

iTrader: (2)

sounds to me like you have a short in the ignition system if the chime isn't going off .... Maybe the ignition switch isn't fully disengaging. I had a simular problem with my 82 I even went so far as to replace the starter with an aftermarket high torque mini starter because they draw less amps from the battery when it engages. plus they are hellified lighter... also on mine there was a fusible link running the reverse lights that was crushed and drawing amps..I did the pull and test trick with a multimeter and ever since haven't had a problem.. also helped me find alot of scored wire and bad grounds that a rigging mechanic did years before I even got the car. Even found a alarm system hooked up under the passenger side wiring cover that was drawing power but had nothing else it connected too just some thoughts

89RsPower!

did you read through the posts? the battery is dying while hes driving it, not while it sits.

DrewsCam

iTrader: (2)

since you updated the performance of you engine have your given any thoughts that the battery you are installing doesn't have the power to sustain your motor? you may have aslo made a mistake while redoing the wiring harness from tb to carb however since you said it was doing it before I would check the fusible links