OK, heres the situation. My 2 year old Optima Red top stopped holding a charge and needed to be jumped off after sitting more and a couple hours. So Sat. I went to Pep Boys where I got the first one, and after 3 hours of them "testing" the old battery (Company policy they said) they finally gave me a brand new one off the shelf. Go to install it in my car, and the new one was completely dead, and I had to be jumped off at the store. Since then, it barely has enough juice to turn over, and if I let it sit overnight, Its too low to turn over. I tested it with the voltmeter this morning, and the battery voltage is right at 10 volts. With the car running, the battery tests at around 12.87 volts. When I checked it when I got to work right after I turned off the car, it was at 12.8 still. Is this battery bad too, or is it something more severe like the alternator?
Heres a side note to whats going on. When the radio is on, I get HORRIBLE engine whine. When I press the brake pedal the radio cuts out for a moment. And lately, if I have the window down, and have been driving for more than 15 minutes or so, The switches go dead and I cant roll them back up or get the locks to work. At that point I have to pop out the swtch panel, unplug it, plug it back in , and it works again. WTF is going on with my car?????????

 

Your voltage at the battery when the car is running should be 13.5 Volts. If it's lower then that chances are your alternator is bad, which is why your battery isn't doing so well.

 

fock...........

 

Sound's like the alternator..

 

Something is draining power from the battery while your car is off. And I can't see the alarm system doing that. Do you have a system/amps/other electrical stuff that uses power and may not be cutting off and draining the power overnight?

Could definately be the alternator also.

 

Check the voltage using the positive terminal and a secure ground and see what it is. That should give you an indication if the alternator is recharging within spec. Per Haynes manual, it should register within 14.1-14.7. If its not, then its likely your alternator. If its within spec, then its possibly a connection on your battery.

That engine whine that you hear is more than likely coming from the passenger side. Open up your hood and identify the source. I'm betting its the alternator working O/T

 

I was definately going to say alternator...that is the issue...just swap it out and you're good to go.

 

Yeah, if its testing at 12V while charging.... has to be alternator

 

the engine whine is coming through the speakers when the radio is on. Damn it and I cant afford a damn alternator for another week and a half
I'm screwed....

 

Ya I do have a system, but I dont think theres a problem. I'll check just to make sure though

 

If its coming from the speakers, isn't that a sign of a bad ground?

Check your local junkyards. They should carry some alternators. I was quoted roughly $40-$50 for a used one with a lifetime warranty.

 

I went through this a few months ago. Car died and stranded me, checked the voltage and it was 12V while running. Replaced the alternator w/ the high output one Deezo recommends, now it's 14.1-14.7 at idle.

I'm also having problems w/ voltage drain right now. It's very frustrating, I have no stereo at all right now. We've pulled every fuse in the car and checked w/ a multimeter, can't find the problem. If I leave my car for more than 8-9 hours, it won't start.

 

I had the same problem last week and it was my voltage regulator which is in the alternator, I had the car jumped and something went horribly wrong, my gauge cluster lit up like a christmas tree and i saw smoke and then none of my needles would move so i took the gauge cluster apart to find a burned up capacitor ordered a new one from Dave B plugged it up and everything seems to work except the speedo, ran trouble codes and got P0500"speed sensor" P1130"swirl control valve" P0460 Fuel level sensor" Im Pissed!!!!!!!!!

 

Why bother with Optima Battery, especially they are getting a bad rep for it.

 

I would suggest you go and get the battery charged up fully, and when you get home remove the terminals (either one also ok) from the battery - IE - the battery is connected to absolutely nothing on the car.

Next morning reconnect the battery terminals .............. do you get a decent start then?

 

That is exactly what I'm doing right now. When I get home, I pull the negative terminal. When I park the car at work, I've measured about a .1V drop every 2 hours. When I park it, it's at 12.4V. It's about 11.96V 9 hours later. Car struggles to start then, but that is partly due to the larger injectors I have. Even with a full charge, the car is hard to crank.

 

Shadow, it could also be your starter...if you haven't changed it...I noticed that my car was slow cranking after I fried my starter, but upon replacement...it fires right up

 

It could also be as simple as a dud battery.......... at switch-off my battery will sit at around 13 volt for maybe 30 minutes ...... definitely not at 12.4 immediately after switch-off

I don't know what sorta load your suspected drain is drawing - what did you measure with the multimeter ito current flow with everything switched off ?

 

It's done the same thing w/ 3 batteries now. My Optima red top, then I got an Autozone battery because the Optima died. And now this is the 2nd Autozone battery in the car.

And Nupe, I will look into the starter. It is original, so it's old. Thanks.

 

If you sure on the battery issue - OK then....... (IMO that battery is not ok with 12.4V on switchoff but thats just me)

What is the size of the current drain you experience and measured with the multimeter?

 

It's not that I'm sure, but the car is doing the same thing w/ 3 batteries. And this new one is 12 days old.

I just checked, and it was a 3.25 amp drain. It's something related to the AltS fuse. When we pull that 7.5 amp fuse, drain is gone. Can anyone tell me what part of the alternator that switch is for? When it's pulled, the car doesn't charge while running. It's 12.4V while running, put the fuse back in, it's 14.3V.

 

OK - this is the end for me.

I am only a lowly VG owner and cannot possibly help with all the fancy stuff going on in your carriage as long as I dont have one of the FSMs for that - since I dont, sorry this is the end for me and your AltS fuse path.

Hope one of the other guys with a FSM and experience on your particular vehicle stop by soon.

One last question though............

If you leave that fuse in its position and remove the fat cables (or all of them) from the alternator, do you still experience the drain? (If no drain with cables disconnected the alternator/voltage regualtor is the culprit - maybe ALTS = Alternator Supply ............ or thats my thinking anyway!)

 

Shadow

I have seen and read your other thread on the same topic, and must say that the problem seems to be more widespread than just a single vehicle.

In the other thread not one of the people posting mentioned the result of the experiment I suggested yesterday - IE - leave the battery connected and the AltS fuse in its position and remove all cables from the alternator (keep them well apart now) - do you still experience the drain then? (Given that nobody seems to be certain as to exactly what the fuse's purpose is I would say that this experiment is the absolute only method of exonerating the alternator/voltage regulator completely - yes I know you replaced it already, but in the light that nobody else seems to have any bright ideas it may be worth investigating.....)

I have seen a post saying that the connection on a window winder got reversed at some stage (?) - this could easily have blown a protection diode somewhere causing the miseries ...................... did something similar happen to you maybe?

As a really last resort:
What exact brand of multimeter have you got?

I run on a Fluke and I have an inductive current probe that can measure DC current by simply clipping the tong around any given cable and see where current is flowing ................. all else fail it could be a simple yet time-consuming task of clamping and checking every wire you see - you must surely then be able to tell which device is drawing the current in the supposedly "off" state - much less of a destructive process than cutting wires allover and having to join them again.....

 

I was surprised too at how many people have battery drain problems.

It is definitely worth looking into, and I will do that this weekend and see what happens.

That was actually me who had the window switches reversed. The only reason I don't think that is causing my troubles is that it happened 4 years ago the first time my car was painted and these problems only started happening in the last 6 months or so.


I'm just using a regular Radio Shack multimeter that I've had forever. But I have access to the type of multimeter you are referring to, so if all else fails, I will have to check every wire for a problem. My car has been ripped apart and rebuilt so many times that I wouldn't be surprised if some of the wiring was faulty.

Thanks for all your help.

 

INteresting about the Window issue. I have problems with mine after running for about 20 minutes. the switches stop working and I have to unplug them and plug them back in.

The Battery is holding at around 10 volts. Doesnt matter if its been running for 30 minutes or sitting overnight. When I started her up this moring I tested the voltage, and it was at 13.86. I have read elsewhere that if its between 13.5 and 14.5 its fine. I cant afford a rebuilt alternator at the moment, but I've found a used one for $35with around 95k on it. Since the one I have now has 220k on it, I should be ok I hope.

 

this is just because you dont' have focal utopias.. tsk tsk tsk.. i told ya.
j/k..