tarun900

I had a very long, detailed post typed up, but when I hit submit, it asked me to log in again, and I lost it all...so besides @()@)!! this forum software, I guess I'll retype a quick summary of the issue:

- car battery is suddenly draining overnight. Happened yesterday and today. Lights and stuff turn on, but not enough juice to crank on engine. Had to get jumpstarted.
- took it into AutoZone, battery test w/ engine off said battery is good, but not getting charged. Battery test w/ engine on said it is a problem with the voltage regulator.
- since about last August, I have randomly gotten the ebrake + battery lights turning on, but it usually went away once my RPM's got past 2000. When it happened at night, I noticed that all the lights inside and outside the car were extra bright, and all the mechanical items that were electricity powered became super fast...power windows moved especially fast/responsively, same with windshield wipers (so i assume that means alternator was overcharging).
- once car is on, it stays on. This makes me confused why it would be an alternator issue, since if the alternator was bad, wouldn't the car just shut off after a couple minutes? (this happened to me in the past....I got this alternator new back in August 2013 along with a new battery, and at that time, the previous alternator before that was bad, and it drained the battery - car would last for maybe 3 minutes after getting jumpstarted, then would just shut off)
- have had leaking oil out of the engine in the front and back for a while, but the front leaking oil has been getting on the voltage regulator. Not sure if that's what has caused this issue.

One last quick note - when the e-brake + battery lights came on, I did notice that when I revved the engine, there was this higher pitch sound/whining that came...not sure if that was from the alternator. I hear that same noise the past 2 days (since the car had to be jumpstarted yesterday morning) when I accelerate.

Also, AutoZone employee checked the belts, everything was taut, no issues there.

Any tips to isolate what exactly the issue is? If the alternator was bad and it wasn't charging the battery, then I'd assume the car wouldn't stay on for a long time (after I jumpstarted it both yesterday and today morning). At the same time, if it was a battery gone bad AND the alternator was bad, then the car still shouldn't remain on because it would just drain the battery again real quick.

At the same time, just because the alternator is bad, I don't understand why the battery would suddenly get drained overnight (but not when the car is off only for 4-5 hours...I had to do that yesterday and today, had it parked somewhere while I was running errands for 4-5 hours, and the car started fine).

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Sounds to me like it's your alternator based on the several clues you gave. Check all your connections. If they're solid, then your fairly new alternator already took a crap on you and is on its way out.

tarun900

But I'm just confused, when the brake light + battery came on and everything got brighter/faster, that meant the battery was getting overcharged.

But now it's getting drained? And what explains the fact that the car is able to remain "on" after I'm able to jump start it? (and i'm able to start it again from rest a couple hours later, but not after sitting overnight though apparently)

Would anyone recommend that I get at least the front engine seals replaced as well? At least then the leaking oil might not potentially ruin a brand new alternator/voltage regulator either..

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I agree it's probably the alternator. When an alternator fails, it is usually the regulator inside that dies. All the other parts of the alternator are usually ok. The regulator is a circuit that smoothes the output of the alternator. It tries to keep the voltage steady while the current output changes. The regulator in your new alternatir must be bad in that it is letting the voltage get too high.
To test this out, get a multi meter to test the voltage at the battery terminals. With the engine running you should see 14.2 volts. As you increase the revs to 3000, the voltage should not change that much.

tarun900

Okay guys, I got multimeter readings today.

While car was off from overnight, battery reading was 9.35V. After I tried to start and failed, it dropped to 9.14V.

Once car was jump started and on, it read 14.12V across battery terminals.

Does this help better illuminate the cause?

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

With the car running, do the same test with your multimeter but turn everything on...the headlights, air conditioning on full blast, rear defroster and then see what the reading tells you.

tarun900

Ok, re-did it with full load (while car is idling). Got 12.71V.

Then turned off everything (while car is still on) - 13.77V

I'm taking it into Sears Auto tomorrow, and they're gonna do a full load test. My diehard gold is still under warranty, and they said they'll replace it if it turns out it's cause the battery isn't able to hold a charge.

tarun900

Sears's test is apparently showing that the battery is good but low charge.

If the car remains on indefinitely once it's been jump started but drains overnight, then it has to be a bad battery or a parasitic drain I would think? I've had a bad alternator previously, and the car basically wouldn't stay on for more than 3-4 minutes after being jump started.

Regarding parasitic drain, nothing has changed in my car over the last week, except we had snow in Texas, and this battery was purchased in Miami about 19 months ago. Not sure if the weather is what made it go bad faster.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Your readings do suggest that the alternator is good. You can test for parasitic drain using Chrome91's method shown here;

https://maxima.org/forums/garage-wor...ml#post9017901

I actually have a friend's car who is in the exact same position as yours right now. Once I charge the battery I will use Chrome91's method with a twist; use the multimeter instead of a bulb. It is a little more risky.

What you do is set the multimeter to measure current. A parasitic drain is going to be on the order of maybe 0.5 amps or smaller, but better to be safe.

Start off by setting the multimeter to the biggest current it can measure, like 20 amps.

Now, you connect the multimeter into the system like this; negative battery-->negative terminal on multimeter. Positive terminal on multimeter-->vehicle ground (metal of car body is best)

DO NOT START THE CAR!! By doing that you'll be attempting to push 500 or so amps through the multimeter and it will naturally self destruct
Just turn the key to the RUN position where all the dash lights light up.

Now, adjust the multimeter from its highest amp reading, like 20 amps, to 10, to 1 etc, until the meter is sensitive enough to pickup a reading.Once you get a reading, goto the fusebox of your car. Remove the fuses one by one until you find one where the current reading drops to zero, just as described in Chrome91's method. Once you've found your sudden drop in current, you've found your parasitic drain. Leave the fuse out until you can repair as neccessary. Or leave the fuse in and take it out when you park your car as a temporary measure.

If you can't find any drain, replace the battery.

tarun900

dwapenyi, thank you for the detailed post. I got another update since I've been at Sears today morning - so he did the 30 minute load test, battery was still showing good. But since it was under warranty, they gave me a new one. Also tested for parasitic drain, it was 0.0. At this point, we thought then that the old battery was just bad (which could have been the case but for a different reason...see next).

Then, he turned on car (with the new battery in), and the reading was almost 18V :-O. Started smelling really bad from the new battery overheating I guess.

Then he unhooked one battery terminal to see what the alternator was putting out on its own....it spiked to 30V! And the engine started having spasms/check engine light came on. Safe to say, we shut it off real fast.

Alternator was barely under warranty, but it's price went up since the time I bought it last, so I had to pay for labor (150) and the price difference between old/new alternator price ($60). With tax, about $223. I just gave them the go-ahead to do it.

All the lights and stuff still work, I was worried the 17.8V/30V spasm might have blown something.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Like I said before, your clues pointed to an alternator. When you said, "When it happened at night, I noticed that all the lights inside and outside the car were extra bright, and all the mechanical items that were electricity powered became super fast...power windows moved especially fast/responsively, same with windshield wipers (so i assume that means alternator was overcharging).
- once car is on, it stays on." this means that the voltage regulator has a mind of its own and was putting out extra current, while sometimes it didn't put out enough current (battery and brake lights on (typical)).

Meanwhile, all of this over and undercharging was wreaking havoc on your battery too.

You also said, "front leaking oil has been getting on the voltage regulator". You need to address this. This could be the reason why your alternator failed so quickly.

tarun900

Wizard, yes getting the oil leaks fixed is a high priority now.

It appears the CEL keeps staying on now, giving code 1605 (apparently it says something is wrong with the communication between the transmission control module and ECM) and the fuse keeps blowing. Sears has replaced it several times and it keeps blowing (it is a 7.5A one). The technician is trying to figure out what's going on; there's also a burning smell coming from the gear shifter thing inside the car, which is where the TCM is located.

I wonder if the 18/30V spike earlier jacked it up.

Any thoughts? Technician is taking apart my dash to get to the TCM.

Edit: The TCM is fried. They're ordering another one, and I'll have to bring the car back on another day. I guess it happened after the 30V surge, considering the CEL came on when that happened. They let me drive off with the car, but I have to step on the gas much harder than before to get the car to move. I'm guessing this is a side-effect of the TCM not working.

I spoke to the guy at the desk about them covering it, since the CEL came on when the mechanic took off one terminal of the battery, and then the voltage spiked to 30V. He said he will have to talk to his manager about whether they will cover it. They have to find the part first, which might be hard. He was saying he would right now but no way to know for sure if it was already on its way out. I said you can talk to the mechanic, there were no note about any check engine line when the car was brought in, but it came on after the 30V surge.

Oh even better - my Pioneer audio system thing is fried too. Lights up, but display is glitchy and no sound (i'm guessing my speakers probably got blown too). Lucky me....lesson learned - don't let the car mechanic disconnect the battery while the car is on. But to their credit, no one expected to see 30V in it.

tarun900

I'm guessing having to step harder on the gas than before is a side-effect of a fried TCM?

tarun900

Wanted to post an update. Sears agreed to cover the blown transmission control module.

After driving around for over a week with a car that doesn't shift, it runs normal again. I also got the valve cover gaskets replaced by a mechanic friend for $55 (and the seals came as a set for about $52 from AutoZone).

Only concern left is, we noticed yesterday and today, at least after highway driving, what appears to be transmission fluid sprayed over the battery and the intake area. And the transmission fluid dipstick is like semi-popped out. After putting it back in, it popped out a bit again earlier today and more fluid was sprayed around the battery area. I am hoping that this issue was due to the faulty transmission control module. I just got the car after it was replaced, so I will be actively monitoring it after I drive around the next couple of days whether the ATF dipstick keeps popping out and spraying fluid everywhere. If so, I have no idea what could be causing it...some kind of pressure? Hopefully as I said, it was just a side-effect of a non-functional TCM.

vqmaxman

Wizard was right its the alternator the whole time,the battery can go bad first or the alternator, the best way to find out is to get them both test while car is running. The battery can get checked out too while your at it. The battery testing with the car off it's in the 12.4v range,to much info,now This just lead you to a tcm issue,because the jolt just toasted the tcm check the harness and ecu, should of left it there or get it towed. The tranny pressure line is high or the torque converter seals could of just erupted.Miguel

tarun900

No codes for ECU - after they replaced the TCM yesterday, no check engine lights.

Would the torque converter seal being broken make the fluid splash in the front of the car, at the top? It's getting on the battery and some of the hoses by the radiator.

vqmaxman

I would first check the tranny housing to the engine, first to see any visible cracks and any damage done to the tranny, check the breather hose on top of the tranny if the fluid is shooting from there, it's possible that the tranny has a blown torque converter seal and now the pressure line is blowing it up in the hose or the discharge pipe. The best thing you can do is take a good pic of where the fluid is coming from and clean the area first before the pic to see where and what's it's coming from.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

The whining is a bad diode in the alternators rectifier bridge . Bad diode is also a direct short draining your battery overnight.

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