If I leave it untouched for 3 or more days. Doesnt matter if its cold or hot outside. Its been this way since I bought it brand new in 09. I replaced the battery with an Optima Yellow Top battery in February of this year and it still doing it. I brought it to the stealership today and told them I've had it with this ****. They kept the car all day and ran diagnostics on the car. Checked my new battery and the alternator. Of course they tried blaming the new battery that I put in but i told them that its been doing it since Day 1 even with the OEM battery. There isnt any kind of parasitic drain when the car isnt turned on. It was well under the 0.5 acceptable drain when the cars not on (it was around 0.18-0.23). Its a 660 cold cranker and when they ran the diagnostic it was operating at 720. The Stealership says they have no idea why the car does this and that i should return the battery to where I got it or they could replace my 4 month old battery with a new OEM one for 130 bucks.

I brought the car to Pep Boys where I bought the battery from and they ran the same diagnostics on the battery and alternator and found no problems. I am at my wits end with this crap. I havent tampered with any internal wiring and have no idea why this happens consistently. Any ideas or theories would be greatly appreciated.

 

so what happens when it sits for 3 days? do you still get lights etc and just a click when you try to start it, or does it go bone dry dead with no lights etc? how do you start it after it sits for 3 days, do you boost it?

 

Yeah I get lights, radio, windows etc. all my preprogrammed radio stations and seat settings are still there but the engine wont turn over. I jump the car and then it starts up just fine.
Ridiculous.

 

anything aftermarket like a subwoofer? something almost has to be getting a parasitic drain, but if its under .5 on the tests that makes no sense.

only other thing i can think of is let it sit for 3 days and without boosting it or starting it after 3 days, test the battery. if it passed before you let it sit, and fails the test after sitting i would imagine something for sure is getting a draw off of it. if you have a aftermarket subwoofer thats probably it

 

Nope. Nothing. No subwoofer, no system, or dvd player of any sort. The car is bone stock aside from the alarm and remote start that the dealer installed when I bought it.

 

A battery that has lost power to the point that it won't start a car will still furnish enough power for lights, windows, horn, etc. If pushing the start button results in a rapid clicking, then the battery has been drained to the point it is just not quite strong enough to start the car. If you don't even get a clicking noise, then the battery is almost completely dead.

The fact that a jump start will start the car tells us the problem is either that the battery has lost considerable power while sitting, or the cables are corroded to the point inadequate power is getting through to the starter.

Since a jump start starts the car, the cables must be OK. So the battery is losing power.

That can come only two ways - either a cell on the battery is bad, or there is a small drain of some kind taking power from the battery while the car sits. If the dealer finds the battery lost power during the three days the car was sitting, then have him recharge the battery, take the battery out of the car (or at least disconnect the cables) and let the car sit three more days. If the battery has drained power while not connected to the car, the problem is the battery. If the battery holds its charge while not connecterd to the car, then the problem is in the car.

I suspect you will find the problem is not the battery. You said the only changes were an alarm and remote start which the dealer installed when you bought the car. You also said the problem has been with the car since you bought it. Keep in mind that dealers are not perfect. One little mistake in installing the alarm or remote could be draining your battery. It almost has to be either something the dealer did wrong while installing alarm/remote, or somehow, somewhere, a wire is shorting out (like maybe the insulation has rubbed against metal and worn through).

You are more patient and tolerant than I am. I would have this car back at the dealers and tell them that I don't care what their tests show, the fact is that the car will not start if left sitting three or more days, and that is totally unacceptable.

Let us know what you find.

 

^ Agreed on this testing route. One of my friends had an issue with his battery dying constantly (different car) and it ended up being a random relay that wasn't turning off - something factory that was just bugging out.

 

The parasitic drain on the car was 0.1-0.2 when the car was off.
But you did give me a good idea. Next time Im not planning on going anywhere or going to be using the wifes car a lot Im going to disconnect the battery and see what happens when I re-connect them. If the car starts up no problem then I know its something in the car. I really doubt I got two bad batteries in a row. The first one being the OEM one and the second one being the Yellowtop. Thanks guys.

 

Plus one on the comments regarding a faulty install on the alarm/ remote start. a friend of mine has a 2010 Max, and the symptoms as described were identical. The dealer took the car to a different installer and they resolved the problem immediately

 

I like this test and also am leaning towards it being the aftermarket alarm.

 

Well after having to jump start the car three days in a row I decided to go back to Pep boys where I bought the Optima Yellowtop and they swapped it out with a new one under their three year warranty. So far so good but If this battery goes too then Im bringing this car to the stealership and telling them to rip out the old Alarm/Lojack and remote start and re-install a brand new one.
Reedamn****ulous.

 

Battery!!!

 

I am sitting in the parking lot right now with what appears to be this same problem... Start button flashing faintly, clicking noise from under the hood. But it started randomly, and stopped 42minutes later. Nothing I did would get it to stop. Unfortunately I am sitting here at my sons football practice...at 723pm, in the dark, its 41degrees outside, in shorts because I was going to stay warm in the car.