• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

new battery keeps dying

D

deuce

New member
Ok to start its not my car, it belongs to a girl I like. It wont hold a charge, if it sits for like an hour or more the battery dies. Its a 1995 pontiac grand prix se, its got a new battery and alternator. I have no clue what's wrong with it, I do body work and under car care, n some small wiring jobs (speakers, amps, bypassing the ignition so it starts like a race car lol) but nothing like this, only doing it to impress her. So any help at all will mean a lot to me. Thanks in advance.
 


you need a volt tester, test the battery with the cables un hooked, note the volts. should be 12 volts or a bit higher. then hook the cables back up, car off, see if its the same, should be real close. then start the car and test again, it should be showing at least 13 volts or more, but you dont want it to more then 14.


if the volts drop, car off and cables back on, you have a parasitic draw somewhere killing the battery, after market radio hooked up to constant power, or something else.
 
Thanks, I didn't even think of checking the volts. And TexasTanker only if it was her staying on lol
 


Voltage would only work if you had a quality DMM that was able to check to quite a few digits.

Other methods involve measuring current while the vehicle is off. Be sure you know how to use an Ammeter. 50 mA or less is typical for older cars with basic security. Some more advanced vehicles can draw upwards of 200 mA.

If you see a large draw, its time to play, pull the fuses and measure current. A tedious game that no one enjoys.
 
deuce said:
Ok to start its not my car, it belongs to a girl I like. It wont hold a charge, if it sits for like an hour or more the battery dies. Its a 1995 pontiac grand prix se, its got a new battery and alternator. I have no clue what's wrong with it, I do body work and under car care, n some small wiring jobs (speakers, amps, bypassing the ignition so it starts like a race car lol) but nothing like this, only doing it to impress her. So any help at all will mean a lot to me. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
goto scottykilmer.com. he has a video on this very subject. the video tells how to find a battery drain.
 
Easiest way to start off is charge the battery and unhook it. Walk away for a couple hours as it appears to die quickly from your description. If you come back and the battery is dead w/o being hooked up, it's a bad battery. This does happen.

If you still have a charge, then start the draw testing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top