Battery dies so fast

[TeggyLS]

Hey,

I have a question...I was wondering if anyone knew why my battery
dies so fast? I just got a new one, and everytime I go to start it,
the battery ends up being dead. But once I boost it, it runs good
for the amount of time I drive (short periods at this point)

Could this be the alternator? (someone mentioned this to me....)


Thanks for your help.

[Scott82]

Check dome light. charge the battery good and then test it. if the battary is good then yea it could be the alternator , then test the alternator. While the car is running, use a volt meter set on DC volts and see if you et around 14 volts, if so, alternator is good if under 13 volts alternator is bad. Your battery is 12 volts so when the motor is running it has to run around 14 volts or better to run the car and charge the battary at the same time.

[TeggyLS]

Ya, well heres the total story. Got a new battery, hooked it up, started fine. Ran it for a while, shut it down. Re started a few minutes later to see if everything is ok, it starts fine again. Turn it off. come back about 5 hours later. Dead. Totally dead, wont turn anything on. Boost it. it runs fine, run it for a while. Turn it off, wait an hour, start it, runs fine. Leave come back 5 hours later again, and its dead again. Wont run any accessories not even the dome light. None of the lights are on, everything is off.

I bought the car as is. So could something be wired wrong?

[CR50HC]

You said your battery is new. I would suspect the old one died from the same thing that is killing your new battery. I'd check the alt. Do you possibly have some sort of electrical accessory that could be "always on"?

[TeggyLS]

no, there was no battery when i bought it. So i got a new battery.

[TeggyLS]

and ya i was wondering about something always being on, but i did a check, and everything seemed to be off, something must be draining it though, while it sits.

[Scott82]

Check and make sure your door switches are working right, cause if one of them isn't working right, it'll think your door is open and could be causing something to run all the time.

[amy@af]

it really sounds like your alt. if you have the time, pull it out and take it to a shop to be tested.

i have some strange electrical drain on my car. but it only kills my battery when the car has been sitting for weeks at a time. when the alt. has gone bad the car will die much more quickly.

[TeggyLS]

ya, im going to test, it, i already have a replacement if the alt is broken. Just seems that it shouldnt be draining the battery so fast when its sitting still. But ill test it and get back to you guys.

[4G4D Store]

If you alternator is dead, everytime you drive the car it is pulling power from the battery, and starting it is pulling power too. So I'm guessing that after you boost it, you drive it around using most of the battery power, then when you get home, you stop it, then try starting the car again to test the battery, it starts, but it's still not charging, so you are using more power. But ya - I'd test the alternator first.

[TeggyLS]

ya, i just dont see how it, is fine, power is perfect but then after awhile. its just dead, its like i took the main fuse out. Dome wont even glow dim.

[CR50HC]

I wonder if it's possible that you have a "bad" new battery?

[TeggyLS]

im not sure, im gonna have to go take a volt meter out this afternoon, and see whats going on.

[jeef]

I bet its the battery that is bad not the alt. if that battery was every fully dead it will never ever hold a charge.

That's why I buy my batteries from sears. If I kill it I can take it back and get a new one and my 2 year warranty starts all over again haha.

[amy@af]

have you checked the ecu for error codes? you'd be looking for a series of 20 flashes (electrical load)

dome light triggers go bad. when you open the door look on the frame of the car for a "L" shaped piece of black plastic. that is the door trigger. test both sides of the car, push it and let go watching for the dome light to go on and off.

we were supposed to put a replacement engine in a 89 prelude si. guy was going to drop it off sunday. he calls friday to say he needed to drop the car off earlier. that morning his battery died. they recharged it and after driving it died again. he came to the conclusion it was the alt. they charged it again and his car barely made it 5mi to our shop. a combination of what jeef & 4G4D Store replied...i think you are charging it and it's not fully charging, drive which is killing the battery, and come back it's dead.

people don't realize...
-open your door, dome light zaps battery
-put foot on brake, lights zaps battery
-key in ignition; instruments, dash, radio (+amp, for some people) all zaps battery
-turn key, fuel pump and other misc. parts zaps battery

running your car is an electrical load on the battery, which is why we have alt's. you would have to leave your dome light or amps on all night to drain your battery and most likely not even completely kill it. driving the car with a dead alt. draws much more power.