Battery drain overnight

[bkb88]

I found my problem...bad starter. I stopped by the social security office yesterday to apply for a new card and when I came out I tried to start my car and all I could hear was a knock when I turned the key. I tried to have someone jump start my car because I thought the battery might have been dead but still had the same problem. I ended up having to buy the new starter and install it in the parking lot haha! That seems to have cured my battery drain!

 

[geoph1986]

That's great that you got it fixed...but I'm still wondering how a bad starter would cause battery drain. I've had many starters go on different vehicles and they never killed my battery...can someone enlighten me as to how this is even possible? Or are you saying that your battery was fine all along, and the starter just died?

 

[KobeJ05]

i think what he is saying is that when he tried to start his explorer with the old starter sound like he had a dead battery but it was the starter the whole time.

 

[Delta_1980]

I went through 2 starters in about a month then I coughed up the pesos for a heat shield wrap and haven't even thought about my starter in a couple of years!

 

[bkb88]

Okay guys I guess I'm back to the same problems. My truck started up fine for two days without any drain on the battery that I could notice. Now my truck has sat a couple days with very limited use (short 5 minute or less drives) and now there is barely enough juice in the battery to crank the starter. I have checked to see if my alternator is putting out sufficient charging power many times and it still reads out 14.34 volts at idle. I have also checked for a parasitic draw countless times and not found anything significant, .010 amps and under. I have not taken the battery in to get fully tested yet but if that is not my problem then I am completely out of ideas as to what is wrong.

 

[bkb88]

I tested my battery earlier and it tested at 12.65v. That should be more than enough to easily start the truck right? I have noticed that when I go to start the car my voltage on the gauge will drop below the red marker and slowly crank the starter. Does this sound like bad cables to you guys? I recently replaced my battery terminals with some from Autozone and I after reading some on here it seems like that was not a very good idea. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

 

[geoph1986]

If you suspect that your cables may be bad, try jumping the starter directly from the battery. You could also have a weak battery that just isn't able to put out enough amps. I would try jumping the starter first.

 

[bkb88]

If you suspect that your cables may be bad, try jumping the starter directly from the battery. You could also have a weak battery that just isn't able to put out enough amps. I would try jumping the starter first.

How do I do this?

 

[rocco123]

Mine was a glovebox light that was staying on due to the switch plunger being bent over. just fixed it a minute ago.

 

[huntman58]

A battery can show the right volts but still not have the amp power to start. This is why the lights will work even when it will not start. Best to get the battery load tested and go from there if it’s good then also look the cables over really good and even take them off and clean up the mounting locations for them. One last thing and I say this only because I have done it my self if you have a wet cell battery are all you cells up in water? If not make sure you add distilled water only and then recharge it with the caps off then retest it.