Question:

Hi Kevin,
     My 1999 Mitsubishi Montero is acting strange:
draining the brand new battery in two days even when just parking in the garage.

     Remote key does not open the locks, only clicking noise generated. Engine starts and runs while battery is still charged.
Is it possible that this condition is coming from faulty alternator?

Answer:

     Alternator is possible, but it is probably an accessory inside the vehicle. 
The first thing I would check is the alternator charging voltage.  With the vehicle running, measure the voltage at the battery with a voltmeter.  It should be between 13.5 and 14.5 Volts.  If it’s below that, I would suspect the alternator.

     I would also fully charge the battery and have a garage perform a load test.  It’s not unheard of to get a bad new battery.

Once those two checks are done it’s time to find the drain…

     The best way to check for drain is to use an ammeter, hooked inline with the negative cable at the battery.  With everything off, and no key in the ignition, start pulling fuses until you find the circuit causing the drain.  Your radio and ecu will probably cause a slight drain, and 50mA is not uncommon so don’t think you have to get the drain down to 0.  You are looking for a circuit causing over 500mA to drain your battery that fast.

Question:

Kevin,

I have a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer that has a dead battery every time I turn off the car, but also leave the radio or air conditioner on, or leave any devices on whatsoever. This is weird because the radio is no longer playing and looks exactly like its off, but somehow, even with the car completely off and the keys completely removed, if the A/C or radio switches were left in the on position, then the battery will be dead if I return a few hours later, or overnight.

These devices never used to do this before — whenever I used to turn the car off and remove the key, these devices would not only go dead also, but they would also cease to draw power and deaden the battery.

Does anyone here have any ideas what might be going on? Im going to show this message to my brother, so if you have any ideas whats going on, he will be able to understand what youre explaining. Thanks.

- Rebecca

Answer:

I would do a full checkup on the charging system.

1. Remove battery, fully charge and load test it. Most parts stores can test your battery or a mechanic should be able to do it for you.

2. With engine running, check voltage, should be at 14 Volts or above. If not, your alternator is not working properly.

Question:

Stats: 2002 Nissan Sentra GXE, auto transmission, power locks and windows. No recent work, however I keep all the maintenance up to date.

Yesterday my car suddenly acted funny. While pulling out of my neighborhood, my CD player suddenly turned off, then faded back in as if I had turned it back on. At first I thought it was the CD, but after switching to my radio it did the same thing. The sound would disappear, then fade back in after a few moments. It did this about 6-7 times during a 15 minute trip.

I never lose engine power or the ability to control my car. I did notice the following though: The radio display and pre-sets are kept, for 1:5 sound drops my airbag light would come on, for 1:10 sound drops my odometer and speedometer would shoot up then return to normal, no loss in A/C. No other lights on my dash would light up, nor would any other gauges misread. Finally, I could hear a faint whine when Id shift gears. It sounded very similar to something I heard years ago in a friends car. He installed a radio that was too powerful, so if he ran the A/C and the radio at the same time it would make the same whining noise. It makes me wonder if my problem is a power issue.

Question:

My 1996 Toyota Corolla DX does not alway start. The first couple of trys the starter does not make a sound and the car does not start. Then when I try to start the car again it turns over like nothing is wrong. Do I need a new starter or something else?

Answer:

I would have the battery checked first, as well as the battery terminals and cables. Most intermittent start problems are related to corrosion at the battery terminals. Any competent garage can clean the battery terminals and inspect the cables for wear.

Question:

My car is a 2003 Ford Taures SES. Every other week , I get a hiccup in the electrical system, everything flicks out and comes back on, a few random warning lights will light up, go out and the car keeps running. There is no common denominator, like turning on the AC, when this happens. To make it even weirder, Ive gone out to my car to start it, put in the key, and when I turn it to the start position, I completely lose all electrical power, lights, radio, dashlights, the 1st time this happened, I turned the key to off, and then back to start and it restarted. The second time, I left the key in the ignition, and popped the hood to see if there was a loose battery cable, as I was lifting the hood, I heard the key in the ignition/door ajar chime start up, and I went back in and the car started fine. The 3rd time (this evening) I got the weird power flicker, but this time the car stalled, and when I went to restart it, I lost all electrical when I turned the key to start. it did finally restart after sitting for a minute or two. Ive checked the battery cable and the connectors to the fuse boxs but they are tight and wiggling them does not replicate the problem.

Answer: