Why does my car battery die after a few days?
If at any point during the night you can actually read the book, you’ve diagnosed the problem. Most likely, whatever is happening is happening intermittently, which is why the battery doesn’t always die when you park the car for a few days. In the interim, you can buy yourself a “trickle charger,” (sometimes called a “battery tender”).
What causes a car battery to start intermittently?
Reconnect the ground cable and re-check the voltage. It will either be completely normal or on occasion the electrical load from the cars computers etc. will cause the voltage to take a significant drop. Then hit the starter while measuring the battery voltage at the terminals.
Can a two year old battery die intermittently?
Clean the terminals, yes. Especially if they’re visibly corroded. It’s unlikely for a two year old battery do die intermittently; however, weirder things have happened. When a battery is intermittent, one of the plates inside is sloshing around, shorting out and not shorting out. Again, unlikely. The starter, however, might be the problem.
What happens when I buy a new battery?
I have had cars give every sign of a bad battery issue but a faulty starter motor produced such a high drain upon trying to start that it very quickly drained the battery and only adding a second one (for a jump start) allowed the car to crank fast enough for the engine to fire. What happened when it didn’t start – no lights at all on the dash?
What causes a battery to go intermittently dead?
I don’t often see this mentioned but it can be a beast to diagnose because it is intermittent in nature and the problem “internal” to the battery. Internal to the battery are the “inter-cell” link connectors. (years ago they were external) They can become defective and cause intermittent dead battery symptoms.
Is it normal for a car battery to go dead after a few days?
If you were leaving the car for a couple of weeks and the battery went dead, I’d say that’s not abnormal nowadays, given all the electronics that draw power when the car is off. But it’s ridiculous for a car to fail to start after only a few days.
What should I do if my car battery is intermittent?
If it’s not the battery, be prepared, intermittent battery issues can be a pain to diagnose (and to live with). We had a stuck AC valve which would drain the battery in a night, but would only stick once a month or so…took forever to figure out.
Why does my Car start intermittently after starting?
A faulty alternator is typically intermittent, which would explain the intermittent issue you’ve described. Barring that, and assuming the battery and starter are indeed fine, I would next check the spark plugs and finally fuel injectors.