Battery Drain - After 1 week

[DrCactus]

Hey guys, my car was sitting for just over a week in my garage when I tried to start it yesterday and the battery was dead (Battery is only 2 years old). From what I could see no lights, doors, latches etc were open. Any idea what could be happening to drain the battery so fast ?

Currently I have a battery maintainer hooked up to it now to get the juice back in it. Do you think I need to hook this up every time I think it will sit for a week?

[jcslocum]

You do not need a tender for 1 week!

There are a few ways to test, depending on your skillset. But first, have you installed anything lately that would have a draw on the batt?? Is this a new problem or just the first time she sat for a week?

A volt meter is easy to use or even a test light can be used, depends on what you have at hand.

Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIKNnwEjIs

[DrCactus]

Seems to be a new problem this year after taking it out of Winter storage in March. I did not install anything new, still same old stock car.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

I have a garage queen that would sit for about a week before taking it out to drive and the battery doesn't drain. I too just invested in a battery tender due to it now sitting for much longer periods of time and it wont be driven very far distances anymore. Do you drive the vehicle often? Sitting and short drives also tend to shorten battery life. Posted our tech article about the battery below if you want some additional info.

Porsche Boxster Battery Disconnect Switch / Battery Buddy Installation - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article

[GaryMulcahey]

My battery was brand new. All last season I disconnected the battery at night or it would be dead by morning. There was a drain on it for sure. Pulled all the fuses and relays. That was not the problem.
It was the regulator for sure so I replaced the old alternator with a new one and all works well. I will get the original alternator rebuilt to keep as a spare.

G

[RandallNeighbour]

One thing most owners forget to check is the front and rear trunk lamps. If they're burning when the trunk lids are down it will drain the battery in a week. Not sure if the newer models turn them off after X hours or minutes to save the battery, but in my 1997 they don't automatically turn off.

[embryoguy@mac.com]

My solution was that when I went to reset the mileage, the knob did not get pushed out all the way so now I manually pull it out pull all the way and that was somehow good enough to drain my battery after a week.

Good luck!

[78F350]

I had a battery less than 2 years old with the same trouble. I even brought it back to the auto parts store for testing and it checked good. It was not. I think that it was a combination of factors: Long time between short drives. One time complete drain from the trunk light being left on. New battery and no trouble since.

Battery tenders... I had one that was plugged into a power strip in the garage. my wife saw the strip turned on and wanted to save power, thinking nothing was being used in the garage, and turned it off. My tender turned into a drainer for about a week before I noticed.

[BirdDog]

It shouldn't go dead in a week. My car has sat for 2 months and still started.

My guess (and it's just a guess) is that your battery is defective (if only 2 years old). It should still be under warranty. If it were me, I'd replace the battery before going crazy trying to trace down weird power drains.

You definitely should not have to hook up a battery conditioner if it's only sitting for a week.

[DrCactus]

Is it possible that my alternator is not charging the battery anymore? Is there a way to test alternator ?

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Is it possible that my alternator is not charging the battery anymore? Is there a way to test alternator ?

There are multiple ways: with the Durametric software, using a multimeter, or with a load tester.

[GaryMulcahey]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Is it possible that my alternator is not charging the battery anymore? Is there a way to test alternator ?

If you take it for a drive, does it charge up the battery? Does the battery go dead if you are using the car a lot or just when sitting for a few days?
Take the car to your local and get them to test the system. Takes just a few minutes to put the gauges on it and find out if there is a drain or if your battery is need of replacing.
My system was pulling power when everything was off. The first season was not bad. It took a week or so for the battery to die. Last season it was over night. Like I said it was regulator/alternator.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Is it possible that my alternator is not charging the battery anymore? Is there a way to test alternator ?

Set your multimeter to DC volts and connect to your battery and start the engine.....Should read 14+ volts. Alternator is OK and is charging the battery!

[rexcramer]

I bought a cigarette lighter, USB charger thingy, it also has a digital volt readout that displays to a 10th of a volt. It is as accurate as my meter. I keep it plugged in most of the time. I think I paid +/-$8 on Amazon.

[356Guy]

I bought a multimeter with a DC clamp on ammeter to test things like this. Haven't tried it yet I would say defective battery (it happens), charging system problem as mentioned or a system drain. You just need to do some testing.