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Residual current draw? Posted by Bill Homer [Email] (#3427) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Bill Homer) on Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:57:55 In Reply to: Battery recommendation, deeph8, Fri, 26 Sep 2003 06:48:31 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The reading of 10.2 VOLTS (not amps) that you got right after starting is normal, this shows the lowest voltage during the cranking. Readings of 13.6 - 13.9 VOLTS are also fine while the car is running, and shows that the Alternator and Voltage Regulator are porbably OK.
You may have a bad battery, they sometimes fail after a short time which is why they come with warrantees - I assume that the previous owner did not give you the paperwork for the battery. If the car can sit for a day or so and still start up, you may have a small short or other current draw somewhere which is using some current and draining the battery over time. Obvious places to look are the interior lights and especially the trunk light staying on. Otherwise, look in the archives for how to check for residual current draw - Ari recently wrote a nice procedure on this.
The big problem though is that once a battery gets fully discharged, it does not have the same capacity that it had before due to some chemical changes on the plates. A few full discharge cycles will kill the battery.
posted by 136.182.2...
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