Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 19:07:32 GMT From: "Radar166" <Radar166nopsamo.com> Subject: Need Some Advice on Charging System Saab 9000
Every day last week after work, ( last week was a cold week) I barely had enough battery reserve to spin over the engine. Luckily after a few short groans it always started. Each time, before cranking, the in dash digital voltmeter was in the 11.5 to 12.0 range ( not pretty). Each night I put it on a charger and in the morning, I had power to spare. On Wed it was in the shop and I was told that there was nothing wrong with the charging system or the battery. All connections have been cleaned and tightened. The battery is 12 months old and is an 850 CCA . I tried to get a replacement as the batterty has a 6 yr warranty with a no cost replacement for 24 months. The garage refued, saying that the battery load tested fine and that the problem had to be with the car......however....no problem could be found with the car ( catch 22) . The drain on the battery with the car parked,( alarm not set) was 50 milliamps. That certainly is not the problem. I insisted that this problem was directly related to the cold, not the car. The output of the alternator is a steady 14.2 - 14.3 with lights ,heater and sound system etc all on. Right now I have the battery cable lifted and an ammeter hooked up in series. I am only seeing the same 50 milliamp draw. I turned various accessories on and off to see if anything was staying energized but the load always returned to 50 milliamps. I have been monitoring for about 3 hours and all is still well. I just opened my garage door so the temp will fall to -16. I will monitor the drain throughout the night and see if the drain changes. I am not sure what to do next except maybe I should go to a different garage where I will probably have to buy a new battery and forget my warranty. One thing that I did notice that was my fuel pump really sucks down my battery. If the car has been parked for a few hours, the fuel pump will cut in as soon as the key is in the on position. I noticed that it pulls the battery voltage down by .5 volts. That pump must pull some serious current. I dare not try to measure it as my meter is only rated for 10 amps. The pump is fused at 20. Any ideas of what I can do myself before going off to another garage??
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