Over the past few months I’ve been having battery problems.
The battery was a couple months old when I bought the car and I’ve been keeping it in the storage, turning the car on and letting it run at least once a week and then disconnecting the negative terminal when I turn it off. But it seems like after a while, the battery dies and the car can’t start up anymore. Luckily the battery was still under warranty (still is).
Now a couple months have passed since I got my replacement and the same thing has happened again- the car has problems starting up. Could it be a bad alternator or am I doing something wrong?
I have the same issue with my car as it has not been my daily driver for over 2 years and it spends most of it’s time stored in the garage.
I myself would turn on the car once a week but that’s seems not to be enough to maintain the battery at the correct working levels.
With that I saw a TV add for the Battery Tender and I’ve read reviews on it and it seems to do a great job for the price. The best part is that wall-mart sells it so no need to order online.
Battery Tenders are great, provided they’re for 12v systems and that the battery is already at operating voltage (12v+). They’re not great at ‘charging’, but they’re great at maintaining voltage.
Do you have a voltmeter?
Jump starting your car on a dead battery is hard on the alternator. If you do it repeatedly, it will crap out eventually.
Have you looked at all your grounds?
Does the battery light ever illuminate?
Turns out my buddy didn’t have a multi meter, thought he did though lol. He tested my alternator by disconnecting my battery while my car was running instead, and it still kept running. Doesn’t that mean the alternator is fine? He thinks its a starter problem.
How long are you letting it run for? Maybe you’re loosing more ‘energy’ from the start/having it sitting around than the alternator can charge in a couple minutes at idle?
Yeah, the battery is around 6 months old so there isn’t any corrosion on it and is tightly secured. Thanks for the advice though!
I’ve actually thought about this too. I usually let it run for more than 10 minutes every time I start it up and move it around in my parking lot. Is that too little? Oh and how do you check for grounds?
Mhmm 10 minutes seems alright PROVIDING the battery is in good condition to begin with. By condition I mean fully charged or near fully charged. I work at a dealership and we always have dead cars, just from them sitting. Sometimes we put them on a charger and other times we let them run for an hour or so, with all accessories off; that usually provides a decent charge
Check all chassis/harness grounds. Meaning examine to make sure they aren’t all oxidized (green, rusted, etc)… sand the chassis connections , scuff them up to ensure a good contact between the cables and the connecting-points.
Main ones are:
The one(s) on the thermostat housing
Battery/chassis ground
Transmission/chassis ground
Valvecover to rad. support ground
Running the car for 10 minutes at idle is not going to be enough to recharge a battery after starting. Especially repeatedly.
Your best bet is to leave it on a trickle charger. Or drive it.
