Battery draining while parked...

Nissan11

Nissan11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
Marston, NC
Ive been finding that my battery is dead alot lately. It all started this weekend. I parked at the horse show for about 3 hrs and when I tried to start my truck it tried to turn over once and then just made a bunch of clicking noises. Yesterday evening I had to go to the grocery store a few times and every time I went to start my truck the battery sounded weaker and weaker. Last night when I pulled in to my apt I shut the motor off and immediately tried to start the truck and it fired right up and sounded like it had normal battery power. This morning, the motor turned over once and then all I hear is clicks. I had to get a jump from a yota to get to work. I just pulled in to work and when I shut off the motor I immdeiately tried to start it and it fired right up. My bet is that when I leave work it wont start. It seems like the battery is draining from just parking, and I disconnected the off road lights so that cant be it. Any ideas?
BTW, my alternator belt is tight and I put the alternator on this summer. The truck is an 02 Frontier.
 
your best bet is to go to Advance or Auto Zone the next time it is running. They will check your battery and alternator for free. sounds like a bad battery to me.
 
Dead cell? You would have one kick ass draw to kill it in 30 mins. Are you jumping it offf everytime it dies, or charging? Charging would get the batt up to full voltage. But i would vote for dead cell in the batt.
 
So they can check my battery while its running? Im going to have to count on someone jumping me off for the rest of the day unless I can get it fixed today. Im going to leave work in about 30 minutes and go to auto zone. Ive got a heavy duty jump box in the back of my truck that I just charged but I doubt its got enough juice to start my dead truck.
 
Could be loose or weak ground, could be a drain on the batery, could be bad battery, could be... could be...

Start by running the engine to put some charge on the battery, then pull the negative battery cable ( I think neg., someone correct me if I'm wrong). Put a test light between the cable and battery post while the key is out of the ignition. If it lights up, you have a drain. start pulling fuses one at a time until the light goes out. If the light goes out figure out what that circuit is and check the components on that circuit.

Also, do you have any aux. items connected at the battery terminals, winch, radio, lights, etc. that wouldn't be in the fuse box? Remove those connections to start with.

that's a good place to start. that and check all your grounds, make sure they are clean and secure.
 
check voltage regulator. i had a bad one in my old ranger and had exact same problem.
 
what kind of vehicle is it?
 
I'm with Brent. If the battery is good (confirmed), the you must have something drawing power. Easiest method is to do liek he suggested, and start pulling fuses, each time seeing in the light goes out. When you get the irght one, it will... then the real fun begins, you get to trace that circuit out and look for a short.
 
Clean the batt. cables and terminals. To kill a good batt. in 30 min your looking at a big drain like the headlights left on.
 
Well the battery actually drains in under a minute. I drove the truck to my parents house and when I cut it off I tired to start it and it fired right up. I waited 30 seconds and tried it again and it just barly had enough juice to start. 30 seconds after than and the battery was dead. I charged the battery and cleaned the terminals again as well as all the grounds and it started and I got to work. We will see if it starts this evening.
 
battery is bad....autozone has shitty ass testers.

It could be a loose ground but if so, it shouldnt crank as soon as you hook up a jump.
Nothing drains that quick.
 
X2 bad battery. Won't hold a charge.
 
x3 sounds like the battery is OEM if that is the case you have gotten the life out of it. Replace it that will fix your problem i see it all the time at the lot. Advance auto and Auto zone test for voltage and not amperage. A battery can show good voltage but not have good amperage.
 
LANDCRUISER731 said:
x3 sounds like the battery is OEM if that is the case you have gotten the life out of it. Replace it that will fix your problem i see it all the time at the lot. Advance auto and Auto zone test for voltage and not amperage. A battery can show good voltage but not have good amperage.
Click to expand...
Same thing when they check your alternator. It's putting out 14 volts, it must be good. Not if it's not putting out any amps...
 
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