Battery problems

[boostjunkie333]

I shouldn't say "problems," but I am having a rather difficult time making up my mind..

Ok, so I HAVE an Odyssey PC680 battery...and as it stands...if I wait over 2 days without cranking my car & driving somewhere, i'll get in it the 3rd day and itll be dead as a hammer. The turbo timer will still register about 10v or so, but the car wont even so much as turn over once....like....AT ALL. I get in, put the key in, turn, and NOTHING, excect lights and my turbo timer telling me I have more than sufficient voltage for a crank...

Either my car is playing jokes on me, something's a miss.

Any suggestions as to what this could be?

Ok, on to why I started this thread, I was curious about 2 other very similar batteries(similar in size, roughly 13 lbs), one is made by Dyna Batt, and the other is made by Hawker. I can't decide which I'd rather try next(if in fact my problem is the battery, of coarse). I hate it when I research and one site sais they are awesome, and ther other sais they suck big time. So here I am, bc I trust you guys haha. Everything you have told me thus far has been a nail hit on the head. So, with that being said, I was wondering if you guys had any experience or knowledge of these...

Included is the link to all three sites, including the batt I already have in case anyone wants to REALLY compare them like I did.

Also an answer to the "why's my car playing tricks on me" question would be splendid.

Thanks for reading my painfully long thread

[boostjunkie333]

dyna batt:
http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm

Hawker batt:
http://home.flash.net/~ivc1/cobra/minibat.html

Odyssey PC680 batt:
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm

[Blackcrow64]

I've never heard of Dyna batt or Hawker before... Have you looked at Optima batteries too? They are usually the battery of choice by most DSMers...

Now let's move onto your starting problem to get some more info. On the third day when you have no starting power at all, do you just jump the battery and then it starts fine? It seems the fact that as long as you start it every two days it'll start up shows us the alternator is recharging the battery just fine. The fact that it isn't holding a charge past the third day shows us that it appears that either something is constantly draining the battery or the battery is going bad.

Let us try this as a test. When you have a chance that the car can set for 3 or 4 days without being used, let it set. But unhook your positive cable from the battery while it sets for those days. After that time, hook the cable back up to the battery and try to start the car. If it starts right up then your battery is holding a charge fine and that would point to a wiring problem and something is draining it while it sets off. If you reconnect it and it doesn't start for you then it would point to the battery not holding a charge anymore.

How old is the Odyssey battery?

[boostjunkie333]

The battery is about 2 years old...possibly 3.

And that's an awesome idea...im kicking myself for not thinking of that...

I'll try it and see what happens...

I cant imagine though that there would be anything draining it that fast in just a few days, also, it is still registering that theres 10 volts or so when it wont start...and 10v is plenty to start a car...

I dont have any neons or crap like that or a sound system or anything...

[boostjunkie333]

Hey! so, something happened...

i plugged the battery up after what WOULD HAVE been the correct amount of time for it to die like usual, and this time, when i went to start the car, the dash lights came on brighter than usual, and it cranked up with more umph than ever... haha..

I just KNEW it was gonna be dead, but i turned the key and it fired up with a vengence...

So now i know its not the battery...but what could it be? i dont have a sund system or anyting that might drain it...or anything like that

[Blackcrow64]

Turbo timer wired wrong possibly? I was looking through your sig for electronics but only saw that as something to really stick out as a possibility. Anything electronic you've added or changed?

[boostjunkie333]

so...

I checked EVERYTHING

All factory wiring, my boost controller, fuel controller, cd player...everything...

One thing i did notice was that the glove box, when closed, sometimes the light inside is still on, i guess bc its old, and whn i press the glovebox in the light cuts off inside, my question is, can a little light like this drain the cranking power of a battery? i thought they had like a parasitic draw or somehting....

[vanilla gorilla]

Originally Posted by boostjunkie333

so...

One thing i did notice was that the glove box, when closed, sometimes the light inside is still on, i guess bc its old, and whn i press the glovebox in the light cuts off inside, my question is, can a little light like this drain the cranking power of a battery?

Yes it can.

Oh, and 10v is NOT enough to start a car.

[Blackcrow64]

Yeah that light very well could be the problem... I say pull the bulb out and try a period of time again and see if it starts up ok after the 4 days I think it was? If so, that would be the problem.

[boostjunkie333]

will do...ill let you guys know what happens