Ooops battery is drained

[jcb986]

Get a 12V trickle charger for around $30...let charge for 8 hours.

Drained mine too, was able to unlock door with key and pop the hood, charged for 6 hours. Cranked one time and started.

[fatmike]

Trunk light is the culprit?

I, personally, would go buy a new high end battery. You spend a lot of money on your car, and a battery is relatively cheap. The hassle associated with a dead battery incident, in my opinion, is just not worth it.

[boxster6354]

How old is your battery?

Maybe still under warranty, I had done the exact same thing and agree that drained batteries are so - so after a full charge, took it to O'Reily's and they did a test on it and said it failed and brought out a replacment and said it was still under warranty by two weeks.

[944boy]

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

[extanker]

Originally Posted by 944boy

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

smart move and a very good tip

[Boxtaboy]

An Autozone battery carries a 2-yr replacement warranty. If you bought the battery last year, you can just bring the battery in, claim stupid, and just say your battery went dead. See what they say. They may just test it, say I won't hold a charge, and give you a brand new one.

Not exactly ethical, but it's an option.

[Perfectlap]

^you are very wise in your deception
That's exactly what just happened...except I didn't even get into why it was dead before they rolled out a new battery. Actually they checked it with the volt meter thing and said it was kaput. They charged me $30 saying my warranty expired but that they would give me $60 for the old. I guess it was longer than a year. Now I have another 2 year warranty. Good thing I didn't go to Costco.

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by 944boy

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

I didn't think the CTEK could bring back a dead battery.......I take it that you always park your car near an outlet or are you powering the CTEK with something else?

[944boy]

I left it on charge for a day or two. I ride the bike to work most days anyways so I was in no hurry to get the battery charged. I have an abundance of garages so I am parked close to outlets. The old battery was dying so it would have to be tended and the replacement is a 5yr old optima from my race car. So its still not phenomenal. Someday I will get a new battery for it.

[jaykay]

I am going put my pigtail in as well. It is a good idea even though I never have a n outlet handy......................seem to remember that it has a cap to keep it from shorting. Where did you hide the plug exactly?