Dead Battery
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 951
Likes: 0
Dead Battery
A friend of mine has a '91 which he doesn't drive a lot. This last time he let it sit for 2 weeks and when he tried to start it the battery was dead. He said a friend of his said it is the alarm system draining the battery. I find this hard to believe. Can this be so?
Racer
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Micco FL
Re: Dead Battery (92TripleBlack)
Ditto to the above...so this mean that if he doesn't have a cheap alarm there is one of three things happening.
1) Something else in the car has been left on;
2) The battery has a dead cell (is just shot); and
3) There is a dead short in the system.
1) Something else in the car has been left on;
2) The battery has a dead cell (is just shot); and
3) There is a dead short in the system.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 951
Likes: 0
Re: Dead Battery (92TripleBlack)
Thank you for the replys. I'm sorry I didn't mention that yes it is the factory alarm. Also he just bought the car 4 months ago. He said he keeps the car locked and accessories and lights off.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 452
Likes: 2
From: Lynnfield MA
Re: Dead Battery (Steve Grodin)
When a battery gets old, it can seem to start the car fine, but even something like
leaving the interior lights on overnight can finally kill it off. (Watch those vanity
lights, too!) ;-)
If the battery can't be proven to be less than 4 years old, just replace it.
If it has a more recent date code, you'll want to do an amperage-draw test
to make sure that something hasn't changed recently to put a draw on the
battery.
leaving the interior lights on overnight can finally kill it off. (Watch those vanity
lights, too!) ;-)
If the battery can't be proven to be less than 4 years old, just replace it.
If it has a more recent date code, you'll want to do an amperage-draw test
to make sure that something hasn't changed recently to put a draw on the
battery.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Re: Dead Battery (Steve Grodin)
A good battery can sit for 2 weeks in a C4 with everything off and should be able to start the car, but....... lead acid batteries self discharge about 1% every day even if disconnected and they do not like sitting idle for long periods of time and lead sulfate collects on their plates . Lead sulfate is a good insulator and this reduces the battery amp hours and CCA rating. If you leave your car sitting for weeks at a time, it would be a good idea to get a battery tender, or if you have a battery charger, connect it to the battery and get a timer and set it on its daily minimum interval (usually 15 minutes) and have the charger on for the minimum interval each day. If your friend replaces the battery but still leaves it sit idle for long periods, this kind of service will shorten the life of the battery.
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Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,286
Likes: 4
From: Guam
Re: Dead Battery (jfb)
Rather than bang your head against the wall. I would just replace the batttery first. Since it is old, it is probably about to fail anyway. Start with that and then observe the voltages to ensure that everything is still in working order. I am confident that the battery is the culprit.
:cheers:
:cheers: