I have a '75 Roadster with a new DieHard battery. My battery drains after a couple of days...I disconnected the neg side after a charge and the battery STILL goes dead. Where do I go from here?
HEP ME...SOMEBODY HEP ME!!!!!
Thanks, Larry

 

You go back to sears. If it doesn't hold a charge with no drain, you have a bad battery

 

Thanks for your reply....could it be that there is "something" that is making it's own ground and then draining the battery? Could it be a bad voltage regulator? I'm really lost.....
I'm charging it up right now....I'll disconnect the battery and leave it for a couple of days, I hope you're right!!!
Thanks, Larry

 

 

 

OK!!!!!! Thanks.

 

i went through 3 die EASY golds in 3 years with my 69 coronet, i finally gave up and sold the last one with my old bronco then went and bought a interstate HD and stuck it in, 5 years later that battery went with the car to sweden and was still working like new.

 

[QUOTE=RAGTOP75;1559788598....could it be that there is "something" that is making it's own ground and then draining the battery? [/QUOTE]

With the ground terminal connected there are tons of little drains and when things get goofy there can turn into big drains.
First thing first though. Pull the caps off the battery to be sure the electrolyte hasn't boiled away during repeated rechargings. There should be liquid above the metal plates in the battery. If it's low - top it off with distilled water, not tap water, then replace the caps and charge.

If you have a multimeter, you can measure the current drain when you connect the battery terminals and (BORING) methodically disconnect accessories (either at the accessory or at the fuse box) until you find the culprit.

My experience has been one of two causes. 1. Bad voltage regulator
2. Bubba wiring of accessories

 

OK...so far I charged the battery for an hour, the cells are full. I left the neg gable off and clipped my multimeter between the cable and battery. The meter read 0.00, I opened the door so the acc. lights came on and the meter read 0.03, I installed the digital radio and turned it on and the meter dead 0.04. This doesn't necessarily mean that something off of the positive side could be grounding out does it? By looking at the multimeter with the door closed it reads 0.00. With the info you sent me....if the battery goes dead again,,,,it's the battery. Is this now a fair conclusion? It might still be a voltage reg too tho' right? I will disconnect the neg connection again and look to see if there is a voltage drop in the morning. Thanks again for the help....Larry

 

I just checked out the voltage of my battery after I charged it for an hour and it reads only 9.08 volts..I called Sears and the "expert" says that that's normal. Exqueeze me but isn't a 12 volt battery supposed to have 12 volts?? Any comments are helpful...Thanks again, Larry

 

good luck

 

Much appreciated.....the battery is dead after sitting 2 days. I'll know more on Friday after the car sits again.

 

Lost a couple of volts overnight, went to Sears and you were right, the battery was bad. I got a new one and got it home and it had 9 volts. I have it on the charger now and I hope it reads 12 volts when it's done cooking. I wonder how much a doctor will charge for surgically removing a DieHard battery from an rectal cavity..(if this one is bad)?

 

VIOLA....IT WAS THE BATTERY. Thanks for you help out there, I thought I was going to be in for an expensive re-wire project. Much appreciated........Larry from Wisconsin.

 

Sears has no "experts."

 

If I bought a store battery and it had 9V I would return it immediately. A battery will degrade over time even if it's sitting on a shelf in a store or in a car hooked up. If that battery was not even hooked up and only had 9V then it could have been sitting for a long time and the plates are already starting to decomp and corrode.

 

Larry,
What I always recommend on this forum to members who work on their own cars is to pick up a Milton #1260 Battery and Charging System testor. If not the Milton you could pick up a cheap copy of the Milton from Harbor Freight for under 20 bucks. With this testor you won't be guessing anymore when it comes to a battery being good or bad. I have had my Milton since the 80's and I feel the tool is worth its weight in Gold and a necessity for anyone working on their own cars. You see this testor comes with just 2 connectors one for the positivie side of the battery and one for the negative side. If you feel you have a problem with your battery I suggest you first charge it with at least a 10 amp charger over night. If you have a rollaround charger 2 hours will do it. Then what you do is hook up this testor to the battery. This testor has a built in load switch. Just push the switch to the right and hold it for 10 seconds. It runs a load into your battery just like your starter would do and while doing so you watch the meter. If that battery is bad the meter will bury itself to the left. In the mean time if the battery is good it will show you exactly how many cranking amps your battery is giving you. As I said you would not be guessing anymore with this tool. The other thing that is great about the tool is you can check your charging system in about 5 seconds with the car running. Just hook the aligator clamp with cable from the positive side of the testor to the positive side of the battery and the negative aligator clamp with cable from the testor to the negative side of the battery and instantly you wll know if your alternator and reguator are working and if so how much power is being put back into the battery. I can't tell you how many times this feature and the load test feature helped me out over the years not only on my Corvettes but on my other vehicles. As I said the tool is worth its weight in gold and not very expensive. I strongly recommend you or any of the members on this forum who don't have the tool to pick one up. The first time you get to use it you will know exactly what I was talking about.

 

I have one, and have used it many times. The Harbor Freight version is cheaper and does in fact work great.

 

HERE IT IS :
MILTON 1260

IS THIS THE BEST..........WHAT OTHERS DO YOU GUYS LIKE ?

 

Looks good, I just ordered one.

I have a Delco 6yr battery sitting on a shelf and a restoration battery in the car. I trickle charge both but I'm always concerned about when the resto battery will give out as they have a limited life span. This tool should give a good idea when it's time to replace it without having to find out the hard way.