Battery dies every three weeks...

[pjr300]

I have been experiencing an ongoing problem with my battery, and it's getting a bit frustrating.... about every three weeks the battery dies.

Example: Saturday morning, I decide to run around a bit with the car. Go to the post office. Come back, start the car, and go to the gym. An hour later, start the car and park it at home in the garage. An hour later, I go to start it.... dead.

10 minutes on a "Battery Tender" and it has enough juice to start the car.... which lasts about 30 hours before it is back in dead zone.

If I leave the tender on all night, it will fully charge the battery..... and will start just fine for about 3 weeks, until it reaches dead zone again.

When I try to start the car, all dash lights come on. I hear a click in the engine bay. Volt gauge only goes to 12. But literally driving it an hour earlier, it read 14!

Battery was replaced late last summer. However, did not have the Tender on during the winter, and it did run dead at one point.

Open to thoughts and suggestions. Gets embarrassing to have a sweet ride that always needs a jump!

 

[chumch]

I make sure to put my car on a tender if it is not driven for more than a couple of days at a time. There is a fairly high drain on the battery from the oem theft deterrent system that can kill the battery with in 3 weeks of not being charged. Also, your battery may have irreparable damage from the winter without charge--could be why it won't hold a charge. My suggestion would be to put it on a trickle charge if you are not going to drive the car for more than 4 days or so and see if that helps. If not you might need a new battery (yours still might still be under warranty) and then make sure it is on a charge when not being driven for periods longer than a couple of days.

 

[Valhalla]

^^^^^^This. chumch has detailed this well and correct. Even aftermarket alarms will pull on your little battery. Get a tender that turns itself off when fully charged. These can be the ones that stay attached to the wall plug or the ones you mount on the car. I opted for a Shumacher that is mounted by my battery. My reasoning was if my car does lose it's charge somewhere, all I need is an extension cord and a couple of hours. The one that mounts in your garage wall plug will do you little good if you are on the road somewhere.

An added plus is the car "feels" better with a fully charged battery. It starts faster and just seems to run better. JMHO.

 

[nsxnut]

You drove the car around... If your alternator is working properly the battery should be fully charged.
After sitting for an hour it is dead... Something is WRONG.

You don't seem to have a problem if you put it on a tender.

Your battery may be week but I suspect you have another problem.

First things first...
Charge you battery over night and than go to local auto parts store and have them load test the battery.
If the battery is good you have an intermittent load. and I suspect a big one.

I have an OEM battery and I never use a tender and it can sit for a few week and will still start.
Sure the alarm may drain it slowly but a few days no issue. If you know you will not be driving it for a few weeks at a time a tender is a good idea. But every weekend it should be OK.

If you are using a racing battery than they need to be kept on a tender.

Later,
Don

 

[nis350]

It all depend on how long you drive around. It takes quite a bit of juice to start the car relatively speaking. If you drive it for 5 min., then restart etc... You might be using more juice restarting the car than it recharge in a few min duration.

I have been experiencing an ongoing problem with my battery, and it's getting a bit frustrating.... about every three weeks the battery dies.

Example: Saturday morning, I decide to run around a bit with the car. Go to the post office. Come back, start the car, and go to the gym. An hour later, start the car and park it at home in the garage. An hour later, I go to start it.... dead.

10 minutes on a "Battery Tender" and it has enough juice to start the car.... which lasts about 30 hours before it is back in dead zone.

If I leave the tender on all night, it will fully charge the battery..... and will start just fine for about 3 weeks, until it reaches dead zone again.

When I try to start the car, all dash lights come on. I hear a click in the engine bay. Volt gauge only goes to 12. But literally driving it an hour earlier, it read 14!

Battery was replaced late last summer. However, did not have the Tender on during the winter, and it did run dead at one point.

Open to thoughts and suggestions. Gets embarrassing to have a sweet ride that always needs a jump!

 

[pjr300]

You drove the car around... If your alternator is working properly the battery should be fully charged.
After sitting for an hour it is dead... Something is WRONG.

You don't seem to have a problem if you put it on a tender.

Your battery may be week but I suspect you have another problem.

First things first...
Charge you battery over night and than go to local auto parts store and have them load test the battery.
If the battery is good you have an intermittent load. and I suspect a big one.

I have an OEM battery and I never use a tender and it can sit for a few week and will still start.
Sure the alarm may drain it slowly but a few days no issue. If you know you will not be driving it for a few weeks at a time a tender is a good idea. But every weekend it should be OK.

If you are using a racing battery than they need to be kept on a tender.

Later,
Don

Intermittent load?

I wonder if the after market HIDs or radar could be contributing to this issue...

 

[ftuhy]

Do you have an aftermarket alarm system or sound system? Those can be a source of current drain when the car is off. As with others here, my OEM battery is fine for about 3 weeks when the car is unused. So, in the winter I use a float charger.

Without some voltage measurements to be sure, it sounds to me like you could have a defective cell in the battery. One thing to try is after a full charge (from your battery tender for a few hours, or a good 1/2 hour drive & the car's voltmeter reading in the 15 - 16 V range), disconnect one of the battery cables. Let the car sit overnight, then reconnect the cable. If the battery is "dead" then, its the battery.

One other possibility - corroded battery /cable terminals. I know your battery is fairly new, but if the battery has a slight vapor leak near the terminals or the cables weren't cleaned with the new battery install, they could be corroded. Clean them with a battery-terminal wire brush (a plumbers copper pipe cleaing brush also works for this) , flush with a mixture of baking soda & water, followed by plain water, then reconnect.

 

[pjr300]

I do not have an aftermarket alarm; the sound system is factory; the radar is off when th car is off; and when I park the car at home in the garage, it's not locked, so it doesn't drain the battery.

I charged the battery today; it only goes a tick over 14V. If I try to start the car with the lights on, it won't turn over until I shut them off.

We think it's the battery. Going to run it down once more and return it to NAPA.

 

[shawn110975]

get new battery. note: to keep batteries alive longer drive car daily. I have had the same battery in my NSx for 3 years now.

now we dont have battery issues in Florida since our temp is about the same all year , but you guys up north always have issues cold one night warm the next.

battery tenders In my book hurt the battery. when you get a new battery throw the tender away your battery will thank you

 

[dablackgoku1234]

I have one of these just for winter storage: http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1...395/greenknob__69934.1310319005.1280.1280.jpg

I use pull the battery and lug it inside to charge over the winter. I put the battery on a tender every 2 months and it would "only charge" for 30 mins. Then I got lazy and just disconnected the battery all together while still in the car. 5 months later without any tender on it, it starts right up. So I got even more lazier, a quick disconnect knob. Whichever route you take, you have to disconnect the battery. The car while "off" drains a lot of juice and you can read about it here

Good call on returning the battery. If they give you a refund, I would take the money and buy the 7lb battery instead. Otherwise exchange for a new one, clean all the crap off the car terminals before reconnecting it, and make it tight.

You might want to look into an alternator issue if the problem persists with a brand new battery.

 

[IndependentLemming]

Had the same issue using a standard battery. Once it goes dead they never work as well. Double check the battery terminals (if it will not move by hand its fine). I went with a Yellow top Optima and have had zero issues since. That's with a radar detector, 7" pad and after market stereo with amp. Also take a min and grind the metal away on the bracket that holds the battery near the positive post. Battery's can slide around a little if it shorts it will kill a battery real quick and never make a spark.

 

[Briank]

Take it to auto zone and have the battery and Alternator checked out but it really sounds like a loose battery terminal or the body end of the negative cable.

 

[Hapa88]

There's a quick test you can do to see what the battery is getting and if the alternator is working.

The NSX has a battery gauge in the bottom right corner of the gauge cluster. When the engine is off, but the accessories are ON, the gauge should read right at 12V.

When the engine is running, it should be closer to 14.4V (over 12V) as shown below. If you aren't running close to 14.4V then there's an issue that your alternator may not be charging the battery.

 

[pjr300]

Well... charged the battery overnight and drove about 70 miles the next day (Friday). Pulled the battery and took it to Napa this morning. They tested it and the best it would read was about 12.8; they replaced with no questions.

Sounds like I better tender straight thru the winter if I don't drive or pull it.

 

[Hugh]

Battery was replaced late last summer. However, did not have the Tender on during the winter, and it did run dead at one point.

That is what doomed your battery. If a car battery is left in a discharged state for a length of time, a chemical reaction known as sulfating occurs and renders the battery useless. For more info, Google the term "battery sulfation".

 

[pjr300]

Ugh... new battery 8 days ago but I think a problem still exists.

Car seemed slow to start today. Put the tender on and looks like battery was just below the 80% mark.

 

[Hugh]

Ugh... new battery 8 days ago but I think a problem still exists.

Car seemed slow to start today. Put the tender on and looks like battery was just below the 80% mark.

Take the car to an AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts store and have them check to see if there is an abnormal current draw. Something might be shorted and causing the rapid drain. Hopefully you installed a decent battery and not a POS DieHard.

 

[pjr300]

Thx! Will do.... PS it's a NAPA battery....

 

[Hugh]

Thx! Will do.... PS it's a NAPA battery....

NAPA batteries are made by Exide. They are good batteries. I just have bug up my ass about Sears since they have been caught re-selling used batteries to consumers. There are only 3 manufacturers of car batteries in the US who sell under many different brands. (Johnson Controls, East Penn and Exide.)

 

[pjr300]

Thx for all the comments guys! And the winner is: bad connectors on the battery cables. Ugh.... all that grief for a $5 part.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

My battery volt gauge never reads at 14.4 if that's in the middle. But it reads closer to the 14 tick mark.

It is at 12 when acc are on and pops up to 14 when starting.

However I find it strange that when I engage the clutch it drops down unless I keep the rpm's higher then normal. Like higher then 1500 rpm's. Is this an issue or do others experience it?

 

[ftuhy]

Steve,
With AC, stereo, lights, and other accessories all turned on, this could be normal. There's also a long list of possible things going south, such as corrosion between battery posts and battery cable connectors, corroded ground connections, reduced alternator output, etc.

Do you change to a different size crank or alternator pulley with the turbo addition?

Its 2 months away, but I'll have a DMM with me at NSXPO, if you're going, and can check it out then.

 

[kennyc]

My issue was with the dome lights.

I had the same issue - battery died, replaced the battery, that died too a day or two later.

It turned out my dome lights were in the on position but the master switch was at the off position. I don't know why but turning off the dome light switches fixed my battery drain issue.