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Overnight Dead Battery

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Forum' started by PatO, Jul 29, 2024.

  1. PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    I am not mechanically inclined. What can be draining my car battery overnight? Been harder to start last couple days and this morning (first day of school) dead battery. Battery pretty new - Nov '22.. Luckily, bot a bike and helmets and driver.

     
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    Post #5 by Notmyrealname, Aug 2, 2024 (4 points)
  3. Crystalhead

    Crystalhead ADMIN Admin ★ Forum Moderator ★ ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ ★★ Forum Sponsor ★★ ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    Sounds like a Parasitic draw! Even while your car is off, your battery provides power to things like the clock, the radio, and the alarm system. These things shouldn't have a major impact on your battery. However, interior lights, door lights, or even bad relays can drain a car battery when it's off. //// Make sure also that glove box is closed, trunk is closed, all doors are closed, and keep the key Bob more than 40 yards away from Car as the Bob communicates with the car periodically if the bob is electronic. Best to have a tech look into it as there may be a short, exposed wiring that stops a grounding of current etc. Cheers! Don't fall short out there!
     
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  4. OP
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    PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    Turns out New Energy Marketing by Rob Mall where we bought the battery said the battery was still under warrantee (3 mos. left) and gave us a loaner battery while they send the Motolite to Bacolod for replacement.
    My driver pulled out the phone charger adapter that may have caused the problem.
     
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  5. MikeP64

    MikeP64 DI Forum Adept Veteran Marines

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    I'd hop on over and check it for you but I'm still one year away from retirement to a 13a.

    My go to when troubleshooting hard to find parasitic loads is to clamp an inductive ammeter around the battery positive cable to measure and monitor current draw. Key off and removed, doors closed should tell all the modules to go to sleep. Five minutes works for most vehicles to get the ECM, TCM, ABS and any other modules a modern vehicle might have to sleep. Parasitic load should be less than 60ma and ideally less than 20 ma. Now lets say your measuring 200ma. Start by pulling fuses one at time to narrow things down. If none of the fuses lowers the draw, disconnect the alternator then the starter.

    The easy solution is to disconnect the battery ground when not in use. Ok, the radio clock blinking might get annoying but it's a cheap workaround.

    If you don't want to open and close the hood every time then this 344pp anti-theft device with remotes will serve two functions. https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/...ce=search&spm=a2o4l.searchlist.list.1&stock=1
     
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  6. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    Best Answer
    I am not mechanically inclined either but am wondering if one possibility is that the battery is not charging well during daily use - that could be down to the alternator, maybe loose fan belt (if that still applies, as it did in my older cars) or a wiring issue (and probably other possibilities). A weakly-charged battery is then more likely to run down overnight due to parasitic usage as outlined by other postings.
     
  7. hawk263

    hawk263 DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Army

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    The average life of a battery here seems to be about 4 years (Motolite is reckoned to be the best), but a cheaper one could have reached the end of it's life.
     
  8. Senjenbing

    Senjenbing DI Forum Adept Veteran Marines Navy

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    Another point to consider is the usage cycles. Repeated short journeys will drain the battery over time leading to the scenario the OP mentions. Doing 2km (shopping/school drop or whatever) at an average speed of 20-25 km/h will not fully recharge a battery from the start cycle and the parasitic drain will do the rest.
     
  9. RR_biker

    RR_biker DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    My experience with Motolite is opposite. In a new bought car, the battery gave up after 25 months. Bad luck for me, warranty on a battery was only 24 moths. The replacement battery the dealer installed was again Motolite, this battery lasted almost 3 years. I have much more better experiences with Panasonic batteries, they have indeed a life time around 4 years.
     
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  10. JWBobbit

    JWBobbit DI Member

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    Agree Motorlite 27 months, short journeys never gets a full solid charge.

    New Motorlite installed and purchased a Noco Genius 5 and put that on every 3 months to get a full top up and then it goes into a float charge. No chance of damaging the battery and can sit in there forever.
     
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  11. aldinlapinig

    aldinlapinig DI Junior Member

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    I've had a similar issue before, and it turned out to be a faulty alternator. If you have anything in the car that might be left on, like a light or even a door that's not closing properly, that could drain the battery too. Since your battery's fairly new, it might just need a quick check from a mechanic. I had to deal with this once, and getting it checked saved me a lot of hassle.
     
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