I usually drive this car about once a month or so and i always have to jump start it. My garage doesn't have an electrical outlet for a trickle charger either. Someone told me my alternator might be the problem. Any theories? My mechanic is so far away i would rather try and take care of this problem myself.

 

You can buy a manual battery disconnect switch for about $10:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/...atalogId=10101

You might also try to see what your current drain is when off with a multimeter.

 

I Had the same problem. turned out it was my air pump . the electrical clutch on the pump went bad and created an electrical draw that killed the battery over night. also make sure the door is closed and the interior lights are off when parked. you have something on and its drawing a load.

Jeff

 

run the car and take the ground battery terminal off if the car turns off then its your alternator

 

You have one or more of the following problems:

1. Crappy battery that won't hold a charge.
2. Crappy alternator that won't charge the battery.
3. Crappy electrical draw that is draining the battery.

You will likely have to do some wire testing to find the drain if that is the problem. First check aftermarket additions (if you have any) like alarm systems.

 

If it were the alternator, the car wouldn't keep running long after you started the car with jumper cables. It is either an internal short in the battery, a battery that won't take much charge, or excessive current draw while the car is off.

 

If your battery has been drawn down that many times, it's probably toast. A good battery should last a month without a draw on it.

To test the alternator output all you have to do is put a multimeter set for DC voltagte on the battery terminals while the engine is running. If it's 12V or below the alternator isn't working, if it's closer to 14v, the alternator is working. Do this test with a new battery.

Also get a float charger if you drive your car that infrequently. They're $10 at harbor freight.

 

Use a digital multimeter and measure across the battery terminals while the car is running. You should have over 14v. If you don't, your alt is bad. Also, let your car run for a while to charge up your battery. Then, remove your negative cable and measure the voltage. You should have over 12v. Let it sit overnight (with the cable disconnected) and check your battery again. It should still be over 12v. You can let it sit a few more days and check again. If it drops, you have a bad battery. If both check out OK, then you have a draw somewhere.

To check for the draw, place the car in it's resting state (doors locked, however it is that you let it sit in the garage). Set your multimeter to amps, and remove the neg battery cable. But the black multimeter lead on the neg batt post, and the red on the neg batt cable. Touch the cable to the post for half a minute so everything powers up, then remove it while still keeping the multimeter leads connected to the batteyr post and the cable. You should not have over .05 Amps. If you do, then something is draining your battery. Start removing fuses until the draw drops to find the culprit circuit, then narrow it down to which component within the circuit is causing the problem.

 

i had a similar problem last month and as i troubleshoot the charging system, it turned out that i had a bad battery. make sure that your battery is holding charge. goodluck.

 

stop giving advice

as has been stated. check for drain first as this will be a problem with a good or "bad" battery that will not hold a charge, and you can do it without needing to load test the battery. then charge and load test the battery. a month is a long time i would look into a trickle charger

 

get your battery and alternator tested at your local store.. if that is good get out a current tester and starting checking major lines, its probably a bad wire or something is not turning off and is constantly drawing power if it is not the battery or alternato.

 

Do you have a PowerFC? Apparently the PowerFC constantly pulls an appreciable ammout of electriciy from the battery, even when the car is off. I've killed my battery twice because of this.

 

i do have a PowerFC. i guess i'm going to have to take it to my mechanic. thanks everyone.

 

Why not just get an outdoor extension cord and a trickle charger? I know if I were to store my car for a long period of time that is exactly what I would do.