Car won't hold a charge - sound like the battery?

[J'sboxie]

also check that all of your lights in the front and back boots are turning off...I think I have read that sometimes a bad switch can keep on a light even after the compartment had been closed...Good Luck!!

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by J'sboxie

also check that all of your lights in the front and back boots are turning off...I think I have read that sometimes a bad switch can keep on a light even after the compartment had been closed...Good Luck!!

Any tips on checking to see if a trunk (boot) light remains on with the door shut? How does one check that, since opening the cover turns the light on?

[Burg Boxster]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Any tips on checking to see if a trunk (boot) light remains on with the door shut? How does one check that, since opening the cover turns the light on?

put your cell phone or digital camera in movie record mode and place in the trunk then close...

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Burg Boxster

put your cell phone or digital camera in movie record mode and place in the trunk then close...

Or one of your kids................

[JoeFromPA]

hehehe....like the cell phone idea better. Less likely to get suspicious questioning

I made it home last night on the last charge that battery will hold. After a 30 minute drive I parked at school, took a 2.5 hour class, and came out....and it JUST started...

But, I had a Everstart Maxx group 48 700 CCA battery in the trunk

[Spinnaker]

I know this is pretty obvious, but did you clean the battery posts and clamps? Thats the first thing I look at when I have starting issues with any car. When they get corroded, they don't pass enough amperage to start the car and won't charge up either. After you clean them, put some anti corrosion stuff on the posts to prevent future corrosion.

[vipola]

For your Car:
Instead of searching blinly for a source of drainage and guessing every bulb individually.. why don't you take a dvom and look at the amp that is drain on the battery? then you'll know if you need to hunt for ghost or not!..
Open you Frunk, plug the Amp-meter in serie with the battery, that front trunk light should go off by itself after a few hours.. after a day or two if it's still taking alot of power out of the battery THEN you can start searching for a cause.. now your just searching for a leakage without looking if there is any water on the ground :P

For your Battery:
Charge your battery, and let it sit on a table with nothing plug on it for a few days, look the voltage often.. Initially it will have a little drop for the first few hours, but if it continue to drop under 12v, then you know you ahve a bad cell and your battery is shoot..
If it keep it charge, you can try a 'battery tester' to see how well it recover from a heavy load..
If it dosn't keep it charges or don't recover well from a load, Get a new one