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1) A drain somewhere. Could be the ignition is faulty. Or, a dome light will drain a good battery in a week. Try removing negative lead from battery overnight and see.
2) Shorted diode in alternator. Try removing lead to alternator overnight and see.
3) Bad alternator not fully charging battery. Is "charge" or "gen" lite on while driving? Does it come on with head lights? Check voltage at battery with engine at fast idle. It should read 13.8 to 14.4 volts with headlights on.
4) "short-tripping" and/or hard-starting car. If you only drive a few blocks a day, this isn't enough to charge the battery. If your car is hard-starting (like Mine!) it can cause excess load on battery; possibly warping plates and reducing capacity. If car "slow cranks"; it's a sure sign of low battery.
5) Bad battery. If a plate is warped or battery is old and sulfated, one or more cells will go dead or reverse. Try putting a charger on battery. It should come up in a few hours. If it keeps drawing current, you have a bad cell. Replace battery.
6) Do you talk on a CB all night? (Didn't think so-!) I had a friend who did this, then kept complaining his "battery bad". Car batteries are not intened to be used for constant load, not even the 3 amps or so from a stereo or CB for 12 hours. A marine or RV battery is.
Make sure all connections clean and tight. Keep Distilled water level up in cells--so you can see it--use a Flashlight, Not a match to see!
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∙ 12y ago
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What could cause the battery to drain when the car is off?
Dead cell in the battery or something is on pulling power from the battery. If it is a dead cell the battery must be replaced.
Should your car turn off while is running if it has a bad battery?
If the cause of the dead battery is from the charging system failure, yes.
Locked 2004 odyssey that has a dead battery the key fob will not work because the battery in the car is dead. The alarm will go off and i do not know how to turn it off. what do i do?
If the battery is dead the alarm will not go off
Will car battery go dead if ignition is left on?
if anything is running off the battery (visibly on) the battery will eventually go dead
What if the battery is dead and you jump it and it starts but the car won't start back after you turned it off is it the battery or altinator?
Sounds like the battery has a dead cell
If you have to jump start your battery every time you cut your car off what is wrong with it?
Dead battery, Alternator not charging, Ignition off draw draining battery,.............
How long can you leave your headlights on with the car off before your battery goes dead?
depending on you battery usually between 2-4 hours if you leave your headlights on. My Car battery was completly dead after almost 4 when i wrote my exam.
Why a car won't turn on when the Dashboard Lights and Gauges go on and off quickly?
loose battery connection, or dead battery.
How do you jump start a dead battery of a BMW 2001 528i?
Best to take battery off car to re-charge. If jump started off of engine block power surge can cause costly repair of delicate electronic circuits and computers
Would your car shut off and power windows stop working because of a dead key battery?
yes because the battery is what helps the car power most of the car.
Why dead battery in morning 1987 El Camino?
you possibly have something draining the battery when the car is shut off, with the car shut off pull the positive cable off the battery and then just touch the cable to the positive post of the battery and see if you get a spark, if you get a spark you have something electrical draining the battery.
My Car headlights stay on when car is switched off?
They stay on cause they runnin off the battery. there should be a car headlights switch somewhere by your spedometer stuff...
