My car's dead.. help..
 

The battery seems like its dead. The last time it happened, I replaced the battery and all seemed fine. Its been two months now since I replaced the battery and its dead again. I jump the car and everything's fine but the battery won't hold a charge. I turn it off after 20 minutes and start right away and nothing happens.
I thought that perhaps there was a loose connection somewhere leaking power from the battery but I've checked everything that I've done electrically and it all seems fine. Is it the battery or perhaps the sign of something else, the starter perhaps?

Thanks.

Could your alternator be going?

I would assume no because I had it replaced under warranty... But what do I know? Any way to check?

My car does the exact same thing. When I leave the car off overnight.. only when its really cold outside... I wake up with a dead battery. I have to get a jump to start it up. Now that its a little warmer, I havent had the problem, however I do notice the lights on the dash are a little dimmer than normal when cranking up. During the day.... it starts on a dime, with no problem. If I leave it off during the day for an extended period, it'll take a few cranks to start but it always does. I was told it might be my alarm thats eating up power.. but I dont know. I already replaced my starter and battery... twice. I have yet to do the alternator but I might soon.

Problem is, with me, a jump doesn't fix it. I get it running but the second I turn it off, its dead again.

The only thing I can think of is the alternator. Even if you got a new/rebuilt one, it may still be bad. I worked for an auto parts store and it was not uncommon to have freshly rebuilt starters or alternators that didnt work.

You might want to go somewhere where they can check to see if your alternator is recharging. In the most extreme case, you might have to take the alternator out so they can put it on a bench and see if its putting out amps.

Go to autozone and have them test the alternator and battery. Sometimes batterys have an internal defect and can randomly die-sometimes though they can "test" ok. Make sure the alternator belt is not loose. Make sure all connections are free of corrision at the battery terminals, and check some of the battery cable/ground straps. I assume the battery is a quality battery, with decent CCA, and that you haven't had record cold temps lately. Some people have said the starters went bad and caused a similiar scenerio. Good Luck. If the alarm is ok, it shouldn't drain too much power. Make sure that all interior lights, etc. shut off when you turn off the car.

Thanks everyone for all the advice, I will try to take a look at the car this weekend. Its been so long since I drove my own car, I miss it so much..

Its the alternator for sure. Here's a simple test as to how to check, loosen the positive and negative terminals, so you can pull them off with your hand. The battery is only needed when the car starts, once its starts the alternator takes over so if you disconnect the terminals once the car has started, when you remove the terminals and the car turns off its definitely the alternator. If not something else going on.

I hope you do realize thats an old school method. With newer cars you cant really do that unless you wanna risk burning up a few things. Believe it or not, a current spike can end up frying some electrical components when you disconnect the battery cables and let the car run.