I put a new duralast battery in like a month ago and i m having problems. not sure if its battery or the alternator. I can jumpstart the car and drive around but as soon as i let the car sit overnight the battery is drained and i have to jumpstart again to get it working. I checked the voltage with multimeter when its on and its about 14.2-14.4. So can it be battery? I put the blower at full speed and turn on headlights and the volts drop to about 13.8. What you guys think I should try next?

 

the battery is bad. infant mortality. not uncommon.

 

I have a similar problem, the battery drains only when i left the car parking on my house, when i drive the car every day, the battery seem to be fine, it only drain when i not move the car for 1 complete day.

I replace the battery and the same thing, i went to a battery shop and they tell me that maybe i need a more big battery with more AMP, but i dont know.

I testing dissconecting fuses to see if some component drain the battery, but not luck.

Another idea?

 

Bad Battery.....

 

tats what I am thinking, the battery..first I thought it was my amp for the sub, but I disconncted it and same thing happened..

 

its the alternator, im pretty damn sure... i had this same problem a couple months ago... just get a new alternator.

at first i thought it was the battery too... and the shops i took my car to checked my alternator, saying that it was working.... but i decided to get a new one anyways... and to this day i havent had anymore problems =)

 

^doubtful. if the ALT is bad the car will not run long before the bat dies and the car stalls. also, 14.2 is the proper voltage for a working alternator.

one piece of detail the OP could elaborate on -- is it only dead in the morning. i.e. after the morning jump, is it fine the rest of the day after short periods of engine off? if so, then it is either the battery or corroded/loose terminals (sloppy install of the recent new battery).

 

Could be the battery or something is drawing current while your car is off. Make sure your amps are turning off when you turn your head unit off. With a battery only a month old you should be able to return it for a free replacement

 

I had the exact same problem with my other car (90 Honda Accord), so i replaced the battery and i still had the problem. I went to autozone they put a load on the battery (car died instantly) and said it was the alternator. I thought it wasnt, because the car worked fine when it was driving even with the subs pounding, but after a new alternator problem is gone. Hope its the same thing for the max

 

i test the battery as folow:

First i disconnect the battery and with a multimeter check the voltage on many periods of time, until the battery stop disarching on 11.90 V.

Then i connect the battery, turn on the car wait 5 minutes and then turn off the car with the battery connected. i checked the volts and the battery disarching slow.

On the morning the battery was 2 V.

I dont think that the alternator is bad, something is draining my battery, but no idea how to detect it.

any idea?

 

call the dealer and ask if theres a recall for the ALT for you max.
they have recalls for them

 

Your Alt is bad. Not supplying enough amps to recharge the battery. Replace the alt soon or you'll be buying a new battery again. Batteries can't take alot of deep discharges.
Mine failed a few months back. Had a test done at autozone on the car and my alt was putting out 14amps. It's supposed to put out 120amps. I replaced the battery and the alt.

 

I was told to identify the obvious alternator issue: start the car with battery connected.

Then disconnect the battery and see if the engine still runs - if yes, then it is not the alternator problem.

Now, I did that and could not find the issue with alternator in my case.

I found "carchip" is useful to record the voltage for 300 hours of driving time.

But, are there more ways to check whether problem is with battery or alternator and how to find the root cause of battery discharge?

 

hamimp, DONT ask the same question in multiple threads. i just replied to it in a different thread. i leave it up to you to find.

to the OP, my roomate had this problem with his 88 cougar and he replaced the alt and it didnt fix the problem. his battery was also brand new. i believe he found a bad ground on the engine block that was draining the juice from the battery. so check all the grounds and connections and make sure theyre nice and tight with no corrosion

 

Thanks for the reply. I am taking it to another dealer to check any issues.

Sorry, that I am postiing similar questions in few different threads with similar topic. I dont how can I make 15 sensible posts first. I dont know much about car. So, trying to post where I see similar issues like me. I hope others will understand or give me some suggestion on the posting.

Once I have 15 or more post, I will probably delete the few duplicate ones.