bad battery?

[progress1vebmx]

I recently replaced my alternator in my car... I charged the car up and it ran fine. I left it running and drove it around for about 30-45 minutes. I turned it off and a few hours later I drove it again for a few minutes.

A few days later.. the car won't start because the battery is dead. I had my friend try to jump start me, but my car just wouldn't start. Fans lights and everything else worked though... just didn't have enough to start. As soon as I disconnected the cables the car didn't have any power at all. No lights, radio, nothing.

I also might add that previously the car had been sitting for about 4-5 months. Although the car did work fine after charging the battery...

 

[Rickracer]

Are you sure your terminals/connections are clean?

If so, remove the battery, charge it thoroughly, and have it load tested. Often the dealer for that brand of battery will perform this service for free (esp. AutoZone et.al.) If the battery tests good, you may have an excess draw somewhere. There will always be some draw, PCM and radio memory, sometimes a clock, but anything beyond a few milliamps will kill a battery in the long run. Anything over half an amp of draw should be checked out. You may want to check and make sure your glovebox lamp/console lamp/courtesy lights/trunk lamp aren't staying on.

 

[83ttypecooled]

Hi!
Good advice EXCEPT anything over about 50 MILLIAMPS should be suspect. If you have a .5 amp draw(500 mA) ,you should consider that a parasitic draw, no good.I'm not saying you have such a situation, just pointing out what you need to look for.
Dale

 

[Rickracer]

I said.....

....anything beyond a few milliamps ( without driving it ) will kill a battery in the long run. I also said...

Anything over half an amp of draw should be checked out.

My point was, if the car sits idle for more than 30 to 45 days at a time you may want to disconnect the battery, pull the fuses for radio memory and ECM keep alive memory, or trickle charge the battery. Some manufacturers actually recommend that in the owners manual. The best solution would be to get an automatic float battery charger. With them, once the battery is charged, it drops to about a 50 milliamp trickle, (just enough to supply the parasitic loss)If it has more than half an amp, or 500 milliamps, of current draw, that is not parasitic loss, it is a draw, and there is a problem somewhere.

 

[progress1vebmx]

Well it turns out it was the battery. Thanks for all the help!