Battery constantly dying

[kobie]

I've had to replace my battery every 1.5 years or so on my '01. It's been sitting in the garage for the last two years and I replaced the battery about two months ago. I cranked it up today and the battery is dead again. The doors stay closed and the headlights stay off. What could be causing the battry drain? It shouldn't be related to the issue that's kept it in the garage- faulty power steering motor. Suggestions?

[Y33TREKker]

Any chance you used one of the maps lights on the rear-view mirror close to the time before your battery started going dead?

I was having the same problem with my battery running down and for the life of me couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. It just so happened though that after I'd recharged the battery once again during the diagnosis phase and was getting ready to call it a day, I'd already turned the garage lights off for the night but looked back into the garage one last time and noticed that one of the map lights was on.

During the day and with the garage lights on when I was trying to determine the problem, the interior was bright enough that I just didn't notice that little map light being on. Simple mistake, but it sure drove me nuts for a few days.

[etlsport]

How often do you drive it? If you dont keep the battery charged it can quickly lose its ability to recharge. If its jusr ditting in the garage you probably need a battery tender yo keep it charged.

as a battery discharges a growth called sulfation occurs on the positive plates. When you recharge the battery much of the sulfation is removed in the reaction and the specific gravity of the electrolyte will return to normal. If the battery is left sitting uncharged the sulfation continues and hardens, preventing the chemical reaction from happening, and sometimes growing enough to penetrate one of the plate seperators causing an internal short

[Ldub]

How often do you drive it? If you dont keep the battery charged it can quickly lose its ability to recharge. If its jusr ditting in the garage you probably need a battery tender yo keep it charged.

as a battery discharges a growth called sulfation occurs on the positive plates. When you recharge the battery much of the sulfation is removed in the reaction and the specific gravity of the electrolyte will return to normal. If the battery is left sitting uncharged the sulfation continues and hardens, preventing the chemical reaction from happening, and sometimes growing enough to penetrate one of the plate seperators causing an internal short

Holy discharge BATtery MAN...

You Sir, are a battery Jedi...

[Triathlete]

Obi-watt-kanobi

[Y33TREKker]

Very true. They just don't seem to make batteries like they used to. Batteries even 10 or so years ago seemed to be less susceptible to plate corrosion/build-up and would hold a charge longer. Current batteries just don't seem to hold up as well though unless the vehicle they're used in is started up and ran on a regular basis.

[Cobrajet]

I had the same issue with my Mustang GT. It just didn't get driven enough to keep the battery fit. I invested in a Battery Tender for my Mustang as well as the new Pulsetech Battery Maintainer for my motorcycle. The battery on my bike was suffering the same inactivity failure, but the Pulsetech is supposed to have technology that reduces the size and number of sulfates, and maintains the charge at 100%. After my bike refused to start one weekend I hooked the Pulsetech up for one week, and then disconnected it for one week. The bike started right up after a week off. I leave it on all the time, but may switch between the bike and my lawn tractor, which got a new battery this year. Hopefully my expensive batteries will last for many more years now.