I've put about 600 miles on my new motor and my Battery keeps dying over night with nothing on. I jump started it and a day later it is dead again. Its a Red Top optima and is relitivly new. When i turn the key to the aux position today the pfc reads 6.4volts. Now when i turn it to the aux position the screen slightly glows and the circut opening relays buzzes for a bit. Anyone have any idea where to start looking?

Thanks
~Luke

 

This may sound stupid but, make sure your glove box is closed all the way. Do you have an aftermarket alarm on the car?

 

Borrow a battery and check if the battery needs to be replaced.

 

I would go to a local auto parts store (Autozone, NAPA, Sears, etc.) and have them check your charging system. You want to be sure the alternator is actually charging the battery or eliminate the possibility of a connection problem.

 

As asked earlier, do you have an aftermarket alarm?
Do you have a fan mod on your car?

 

: That's the first thing I check. Seeing how our cars don't have a battery voltage gauge, you have no way of telling anything about the charging system, unless you have a PFC... My FB has a battery volt gauge...go figure!

But the guys are right...it's one of two things: something is draining the battery after you turn off the ignition, or something is stopping the battery from being recharged when the car is on (alternator/electric problem). Autozone does the electric system check for FREE btw. Call ahead and make sure they have the cart available tho, so they can wheel it out to your car and check it.

 

I was thinking about the glove box issue and i'll have to check that but no aftermarket alarm. While my car was running i was getting around 13.8 vlts on my PFC. But i didnt try to restart it after i jumped it. But i'll give that a shot. thanks

~Luke

 

Just check your parasitic draw. Disconnect your negative battery terminal and hook up your amp. meter, positive on your terminal and negative on your post. Normal draw should be between .12mA to .40mA. Higher than that you should start disconecting fuses one by one.

 

/\ yep. also pull the elec connector on the alt. and get the battery charged before you put it back in the car. an alt is not made to charge the battery, just keep it charged. putting a weak battery will shorten it's life. dont forget the trunk light.

 

Check the charging system, alternator, etc...
I have the fan mod and with a small battery it would drain easily.

 

thank god someone posted this it should be a sticky already

 

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Yeah a parasitic draw is definately a good test. Like Levy said, meter in series in amps with the negative battery cable. I had the same type of problem, I went through 2 red top optimas in less than a month. The guys at the parts store said a bad batch. I got a motorcraft titanium battery for cheap and it's worked fine ever since. Weird.
Mike

 

And faster way to check your alternator if you dont have a meter just disconnect your battery while your car is running, your car should be running of the alternator. If you do have a meter, just check the voltage on the battery while the car is running, you should be getting a reading around 14v.

 

just do a load test (parasitic draw)