Jumping 95 every day

[nickyg1478]

Hey guys. I've got a starting problem with my 95. If I leave it out for more than a day, it will not start and needs to be jumped. I've done a parasitic draw test and nothing was drawing on the battery when the car was off. The battery will be at a full charge after jumping/driving around, and ill come out a couple hours later to check the battery and the battery will already be dipping down to the low 12s. It continues to drop until it won't have enough power to start the car.


I took it to a mechanic and he said he found a wire in between the dash and engine that was causing the problem, and it started fine for a couple weeks but now it's back to the same problem. I don't see how a wire could be drawing power when I had already done the parasitic draw test and found nothing? My alternator is good and my battery is fairly new. Granted its been around -5 degrees the past few days, but I don't think that solely could cause this. Please lend me your opinions! Thanks

 

[SunlitComet]

Charge it fully in a warm garage and leave in a warm place for several days. Load test it once a day to see how it fairs.

 

[nickyg1478]

Thanks will do. It might actually be my battery I think

 

[2000tahoeZ71]

Just because it's new means nothing. Hot and cold make them do weird things.

 

[kcb37]

Have the battery load tested, if it has a bad cell, or is weak, thrown around during shipping it very well could be the battery.

 

[nickyg1478]

Alright so I just kept it outside (my garage is near the same temp as outside) but I bought a load tester. I had the battery fully charged and tested it 3 times. Every time the voltage stayed between 9.5 and 10 volts when load tested. Isn't this normal or should I just go buy a better battery? I'm thinking about an 800 CCA vs 550 CCA that I have now. I also did another parasitic draw test, but noticed for the first few times I connected the leads the numbers would bounce around between 2-5amps. Then it stayed at .05 amps for the rest of the time. Is it possible to have an intermittent draw? This is driving me crazy. Thanks for the replies

 

[SunlitComet]

Well the parasitic draw seems fine and that is the max draw. The inrush might just be capacitors in the equipment installed just recharging themselves. Minimum cca should be 600 but I always put 800+ as a minimum. The load test should be 300 amps.

 

[nickyg1478]

I'm saying I want to buy a battery with 800 CCA. The load test didn't give me any options to switch amps all mine had was an on/off switch, and when I held it for 5-10 seconds the battery dipped from 12.4v to 9.5-10v

 

[foreverfalcon40]

Get yourself a Sears DieHard Platnium which is a AGM Deep Cycle Battery that is an Odyssey ReBrand and poops on Optimas. I think it puts on 880 CCA and not sure of the RC. Side and top terminals to help you wire things nice and clean! Best of luck!

Have you checked to see if the repaired wire broke some place else and shorted?

 

[nickyg1478]

Thanks again for the replies guys. Foreverfalcon, yeah I bought an interstate AGM for my other car and threw the duralast gold from that car into the tahoe. Haven't had a problem since, even in the cold weather. Looks like the battery was just shot!



Thanks