Terminals clean/tight. 16 month old Braille B7548 installed.
Slow cranking and spoiler deploys on startup..Driving short distances, batt. charges and car will crank, start normally. Wednesday A.M. dead batt. Charged to full in 1.8 hrs. Pizza suggested starting with cargo compart "switch". Removed fixture and disconnected lead.. This morning slow cranking (6 seconds or more) and spoiler deployed on start. Not cargo compartment light. Verified glove box light goes out when switch depressed. Verified cabin dome light dims and goes out when doors and deck lid closed. Normal drain with alarm armed 15-20 ma ? Have ammetter w/ ma scale. Disconn. neg batt cable, neg ammeter lead to cable, pos ammeter lead to neg batt. post ? Searches on this topic don't have any resolution to problem other than batt replacement. Don't think that's the issue here. Has anyone had a part other than batt replaced that corrected drain ?
Happy Veterans Day.
V/r
Tim

 

You have identified that the drain is 15-20ma. This is not killing a battery.Can you measure the battery voltage and current while you attempt a start? Get the battery load tested.

Can a dead battery be fully charged in 1.8 hours. 120amp altternator 800ahr battery?
Are you in Alaska....cold temps and old thick oil?
Weird stuff happens with electronics when battery voltage is low- spoiler?

 

I can't see that little amount of draw to hurt a good battery. I would have the battery load tested as well. Take it to where you purchased it and have them check it. A 16 month old battery can be defective.

Good Luck, James

 

James, John,
Thanks for thr responce. Note the question mark after the 15-20 ma. I haven't put the meter to the car yet, was trying to verify the normal current draw as cited by 180 in a related thread with doors, lid closed and alarm armed. Do I have the meter, battery connections, polarity straight ? The 1.8 hr number was a S.W.A.G.

 

The black lead from the amp meter should go to the ground post on the battery. The red lead should go to the cable. Think about the ground cable: it goes to the ground side of the electrical divices, then thru the device, into the positive side, than ultimately back to the positive post of the battery.

I don't know the exact ma draw it should have, but anything less than 1/2 amp should be fine.

 

James, John,
Thanks for the responce. 33 ma with doors and decklid closed. Alarm not armed. Under hood fuse assy. Remove #9 10a fuse, 12.2 a. Roof light, horn, Anti theft alarm, Cargo Lamp, TPMS. Cargo compartment bulb was burned out. Attributed it to probable original bulb. Replaced same. Note: Manually closing the deck lid Latch does not turn off the cargo light (or dome lights either. Must close deck lid to extinguish cabin dome light (and assume cargo light). I'm thinking the 10 w cargo light isn't goin out.

 

33 ma is all fine. I believe that my lights go out with the doors open, I did lots of work when I put third tail lights in my srt spoiler wing, and the battery was fine with the doors open, they eventually went off as I remember.

You need to get a simple load tester or have a load test done, the capacity of the battery may be down due to poor connections and or sulphation of the battery because of habitually low charging voltage which will degrade the batteries ability to store energy.

1.8 hours is dependent on the charger, most batteries are only 50-100 amp hours, cranking current is only a measure of the impulse available to you on short duration loads. 2 hours would require some 25 to 50 amp input to restore the battery. Ill bet your low on capacity. Woody ENJOY,

WEEKEND
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fall colors..........
WEEKEND

 

Waldig,
Roger load test. If bad, Braille owes me a new 7548. Enjoy your weekend hombre. Many thanks.

 

The black slider switch just aft of the dome lights will disable all the interior lights and they will not come on when the doors are open. So there is no need to remove fuses.

 

Check two things. First check with the battery company on charging requirements because AGM designs end t require very specific charging steps and voltage/current amounts. Initial charges in some brands will require on/off cycles for several days to get to 100%. Second check the alarm starter relay and any relays te nstaller may have added to see f they set them up as energized when the system is aremed, that can drop a battery down quickly too.

 

Waldig,
Battery load tested @ local NAPA. Result: "Bad battery, replace battery". Complied with same. NO starting issues Sat., Sun., Mon. morning. Braille B7548 shot in 16 months ???? As noted in original post, terminals were clean and snug. The irony here is I went top drawer in replacing the OEM Varta battery @ approximately 6 years old to avoid this very situation. What is/are correct/normal alternator output ??

V/R
Tim

 

Your charging system may not be at fault here. AGM batteries or the benefits to using them is that some can be deep cycled for use in things like boat where the vehicle will sit unused for some time. However they require a long term (over time) charging plan in place to keep them useful like using a battery trickle charger. This is not what is happening in a car, unless you are driving several hours straight and putting the car on a battery tender.

Having worked inthe car audio biz for years on the retail and supplier side I have seen both view points. It started with the need to be able to address the parking lot player that would kill off a new battery in a few days, so the market responded by selling these batteris to that consumer target so at least they could recharge them and use them more than a few times. This is especially useful for demo vehicles and over the top SPL cometition vehicles.

However as consumer behavior goes so does the spread of misuse and inflated expectations.

For vehicles a standard battery has enough current reserve for normal operation and can be recharged easily and will hold a charge for a resonable period of time.

Keep in mind the cars charging system mat spec 120amp Alt, but that is a spec that should denote "in the perfrect operating condition" which includes temp which will impact perfromance.

 

Infinity,
Many thanks ! The Duralast I threw at the problem will probably last years even out here in the high desert.

V/R
TW

 

Glad to hear that your on the air again. I load test all my batteries frequently as that makes the difference.

GET A BATTERY METER TO MONITOR YOUR CHARGING SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3721-Bat.../dp/B000EVWDU0

Come on 13$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ gotta be worth it...........Woody

 

P1010308.JPG

P1010309.JPGHere's the meter/monitor I went with; FWIW. Even has silver bezel to match!

 

DinaSRT,
SWEET !! Who makes it ? Is there a link to same ? Price ? Features ? Your satisfaction/rating of performance ?

2005 Ragtop
Tim

 

I forget which vendor I actually purchased it from, but here is a link to the manufactures home site. Scroll all the way to the bottom. I think I got it on E-Bay for a best offer of like $35.?? </title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive" /> <link href="cybertext1.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" /> <style type="text/css"> </style> <link href="c

 

Here's another link to same. </title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive" /> <link href="cybertext1.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" /> <style type="text/css"> </style> <link href="c

 

The temperature has been under 40*F the last few mornings when I've cranked the battery before work. When I initially put the key in the starter position, the car cranks for a second and then dies. I then put it in Off for a couple seconds, then back to ON, and a few seconds later turn it to the Start position, where it proceeds to crank a few seconds then start up like normal. Should I replace it or does it just need a charge? It's a stock Mopar battery..

 

I always reckon that unless the car has sat for some time any battery that needs a charge with normal use requires replacement or the charging system is at fault.

Get the battery checked out under load at a auto supply house and check the terminals for corrosion and bad contacts. Have the alternator output checked out as well.

If the battery is five years old, get it changed anyway as it has done its job and owes you nothing.