Need Help Again...

Hello All, After getting my truck back from the mechanic because of my truck not starting (a plug came loose in the kick panel that goes to the ECU) I basically drove it home and parked it because I drive my celica most of the time. I tried to go some where in it on Saturday and the battery was all but dead. So I got out my trusty charger and hooked it up. It took almost all day for it to charge. Now I have one of those digital "shoemaker battery chargers" and in the past it has done a great job of telling me if batteries were bad. This time it didn't. I took the truck for a quick drive to the grocery store grabbed some Ice Cream and when I came back out and started up the truck I could tell that it struggled a little bit to start. I parked it again because I was busy and today I went to start it up and run it over to the auto parts store to have them test the battery but again the battery is all but dead. I have it on the charger again but I was wondering if there is a way to tell if there is something leaching a current off my battery while the truck is off? The Battery was running strong before I had it in the shop and when I charge it up the indicator is still green on the battery making that 2 things that aren't indicating a bad battery (the indicator and the digital charger). Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

They are immaculate. every Oil change I spray them with terminal cleaner and then terminal protectant.

 

Theirs absolutely no corrosion the terminals are clean I keep my under hold very clean every time I wash my truck I clean the engine bay with degreaser.

 

I believe that what Chris is trying to tell you is that a way to see if there is a drain on electrical system is to remove either the positive or negative terminal. When you remove the terminal connector if it sparks when you remove it, you have a circuit draining your battery. See if you see or hear any sparking when you remove your battery terminal connectors and it will help tell you your problem. Good Luck.

 

Just because the terminals are nice and clean on the outside, does not mean they are making a good connection. Spend the five minutes to take them APART, regardless of how they appear, clean the inside of the clamps and the posts to bright, clean metal, then re-assemble snugly. If that doesn't solve the issue, then let us know, and we will continue.

 

Get the battery tested while you take off the terminals to see if they are clean.

Drop off the battery at the parts store and tell them to give it the long test to verify if it is a bad battery. You have another car so it is no big deal.

Before you spend time trying to locate a voltage draw you need to rule out the basics.

 

Its almost like someone said that before.

 

Sounds like you may have a bad alternator; it's draining your battery. Have it checked

 

The Truck was only driven for maybe an entire minute even if the alternator was bad that wouldn't be enough to kill a battery that was just completely charged.

***Edit - Unless there is some other underlying condition such as a bad cell in the battery.

 

This morning I took the terminals loose and cleaned the terminals and posts not more then surface dust came off. I reattached them and put the charger back on. We will see whats up when I get home from work.

 

So I got home and once again the Battery was dead. Indicator ion the battery is still green but this time the charger reported the battery as bad. Hypothetically if there was something leaching off the battery while it was charging could that fool the charger into thinking there was something wrong with the battery. I restarted the charger and and this time disconnected the neg Terminal to see what results I get. let me know what you think?

 

Ok So Battery came up bad while charging it with the neg Terminal Disco'd so I went and spent the $110.00 for a new Battery. I threw it on the charger just a few minutes ago and we will see how it holds up.

 

Since you are getting the green eye on that one cell, it shouldn't be discharged, but that doesn't mean its not sulfated, has a shorted cell, or an open in the buss bar. Glad yer up and running again.

 

While we're waiting for the results with the new battery, do you have you any powered accessories that may be causing a parasitic draw?

Also, are you sure your mechanic just plugged it back in? Was there any electrical work done on it that may cause an accidental short? Even the basic things on a car that always need power like the clocks and immobilizers and things will draw way too much power if there is a short in the system somewhere, thus resulting a quickly dead battery.

 

And this is why I ask the original question from the beginning. While they told me all they did was connect the plug back and it started working I know they were looking and disconnecting other things trying to figure out what the issue could be and that's why I feared it wasn't the battery to begin with.

On a second note I took the charger off last night after it was finished topping it off and let it sit over night. This morning it started up pretty quick. I guess we will see what happens after it sits for a full week. I usually drive my car all week and then take the truck out on the weekends.

 

Report back to us what you find after a week. If the battery is dead, I'd take the truck and the receipt for the new battery to the shop who did the work for you and tell them to find where they shorted it out and pay for the new battery.

 

was the old battery 4 years old?