URGENT: Just started college, battery is dead every morning

FlavourShot

FlavourShot

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Every morning I go to start it, the system struggles and my alarm goes off. I have to jump it with my booster pack to get it going and even then it barely starts.

It runs fine while it's up and running, and the battery doesn't die again until I leave it overnight.

Can I leave the battery unplugged overnight to prevent this in the meantime? Like I said college just started and I can't afford to have a dead car every morning.

The battery is brand new and I already checked for aftermarket parts and lights that might be staying on.
 
FlavourShot said:
Every morning I go to start it, the system struggles and my alarm goes off. I have to jump it with my booster pack to get it going and even then it barely starts.

It runs fine while it's up and running, and the battery doesn't die again until I leave it overnight.

Can I leave the battery unplugged overnight to prevent this in the meantime? Like I said college just started and I can't afford to have a dead car every morning.

The battery is brand new and I already checked for aftermarket parts and lights that might be staying on.
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It shouldn't be a problem unhooking the battery like that but it will have to relearn every time you unplug the battery. Have you had the alternator tested? Otherwise, you likely have a parasitic draw. My 2001 had one and it was a bad AC cluster that caused it which was causing the aux water pump to never shut off. I am not saying that is your exact problem but it may be a place to check and make sure everything is shutting down when the key is off for a good amount of time.
 
DaleGrib said:
It shouldn't be a problem unhooking the battery like that but it will have to relearn every time you unplug the battery. Have you had the alternator tested? Otherwise, you likely have a parasitic draw. My 2001 had one and it was a bad AC cluster that caused it which was causing the aux water pump to never shut off. I am not saying that is your exact problem but it may be a place to check and make sure everything is shutting down when the key is off for a good amount of time.
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Haven't had the alternator tested but I'm taking it to a shop next week. Parasitic draw is what I feared unfortunately. How much of a hassle and cost was it to fix your AC cluster?
 
FlavourShot said:
Haven't had the alternator tested but I'm taking it to a shop next week. Parasitic draw is what I feared, unfortunately. How much of a hassle and cost was it to fix your AC cluster?
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An hour of labor to figure out what the cause was and it cost me like $50 on eBay for a used cluster and it was very easy to change.
 
Do you have remote start? I bought a used vehicle once with an improperly installed remote start\alarm and if I drove it every day it worked fine but it wouldn't start if I waited like 3 days.
 
SultanGris said:
Do you have remote start? I bought a used vehicle once with an improperly installed remote start\alarm and if I drove it every day it worked fine but it wouldn't start if I waited like 3 days.
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Nope. Everything is factory as far as I can tell. The only thing I installed aftermarket was a radio, but I've had that in for over a year at this point.
 
How new is new for the battery? I bought two new ones from AutoZone, duralast gold, for my f350 and they both failed within a year. They have a 3-year warranty though so I got two new ones for free.

My original interstate batteries lasted 7 years.
 
SultanGris said:
How new is new for the battery? I bought two new ones from AutoZone, duralast gold, for my f350 and they both failed within a year. They have a 3-year warranty though so I got two new ones for free.

My original interstate batteries lasted 7 years.
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It's not even a month old yet. I had two new batteries in my car within 2 months, because I suspected the new one I bought before my current one was a dud so I exchanged it. Obviously now that wasn't the case.
 
First... check the fuse/relay center in the trunk... for any white or green corrosion/powder. Take a good look at the bolt/stud where the negative cable grounds to the body in the spare tire well... especially if you have a sunroof.

If that checks out ok...

disconnect the battery cables... and get a good charge on the battery, (12.6 volts). Then reconnect the positive cable... and put a volt meter between the negative battery terminal... and the negative post.

Any draw seen on the voltmeter over a few volts will mean a parasitic draw/drain... which is most likely if it's killing the battery overnight/every night.

Start pulling fuses and relays one at a time... until you see the large draw disappear. That will tell you which circuit the issue is on.

Also... you may want to check that the interior lights are shutting off with all doors fully closed. That would include the trunk light too.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
First... check the fuse/relay center in the trunk... for any white or green corrosion/powder. Take a good look at the bolt/stud where the negative cable grounds to the body in the spare tire well... especially if you have a sunroof.

If that checks out ok...

disconnect the battery cables... and get a good charge on the battery, (12.6 volts). Then reconnect the positive cable... and put a volt meter between the negative battery terminal... and the negative post.

Any draw seen on the voltmeter over a few volts will mean a parasitic draw/drain... which is most likely if it's killing the battery overnight/every night.

Start pulling fuses and relays one at a time... until you see the large draw disappear. That will tell you which circuit the issue is on.

Also... you may want to check that the interior lights are shutting off with all doors fully closed. That would include the trunk light too.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks. I'll do this when I get home and get back to you
 
I forgot to mention that when the car is running, the alternator should be putting out approximately 1.5 volts over battery voltage... so around 14.2 volts on a fully charged battery.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
I forgot to mention that when the car is running, the alternator should be putting out approximately 1.5 volts over battery voltage... so around 14.2 volts on a fully charged battery.
Click to expand...

Checked the lights, everything turns off as it should (including the trunk, glove box, etc.). Checked the battery terminal chassis contact and it was a bit less than ideal but very minor so I gave it a sand down. I guess I'll have to borrow a multimeter cause I can't find mine at the moment lmao.

Leaving it unplugged again for the night and will check back when I get ahold of a multimeter.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
Start pulling fuses and relays one at a time... until you see the large draw disappear. That will tell you which circuit the issue is on.
Click to expand...
I have the same problem with my 1996 Lincoln Continental here in the UK.
When you pull the fuses, bridge each fuse holder with an ampmeter or multi meter set at amps, this will give you the exact drain at each fuse. It could be a number of fuses? You can then identify circuits to test from the fuse diagram.
I have not had a chance to trace my faults but found a battery isolator on ebay that is quick to operate.
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