Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange
Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [battery-drain]

A loss of electrochemical potential between positive and negative terminals a car's battery, creating a loss of power, sometimes to the point of being unable to start the vehicle.

192 questions
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Why don't some modern cars automatically turn off headlights when stopped?

I forgot the lights on overnight on a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta and 16 hours later when I came back to the car the lights were still on but the car wouldn't start. Can't the car check the battery level and automatically turn off lights if it had been…
Dan Dascalescu
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Battery drops to 10.5 volts after charging

A few days ago, my 97 Corolla had trouble starting. It cranks but doesn't start, maybe due to a problem with the carburetor. Figured I might discharge the battery, so I stopped my attempts at starting. Fast forward to this morning, I tried to start…
demiglace
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Car battery dead for a while... now it won't charge?

So, my car battery died 4 months ago while it was unused in my garage during the summer (interior dome light left on for months). I went to jump start it this morning, ran it 20km ( 30 minutes ) to work and after turning it off, the battery is 100%…
Trogdoriffic
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2 Volts on Car Battery

My car battery has gone completely flat after leaving my car parked up for about a month. Tried turning over the car today, and none of the lights on the dash light up. Ran a multimeter across the terminals, and it shows 2 volts. This battery is…
Nick
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What would cause a slow drain of a battery?

Have a 2002 Toyota Camry, I got a switch to disconnect the battery, but before that the battery would slowly drain if you left the car for about a week. The solution is fine for now, but how would I go about tracking down the issue, and why would it…
user379468
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Car battery won't charge above 50%

I had a problem starting my car after not driving it for two weeks. After charging the battery with a CTEK trickle charger via the cigarette lighter socket, the car started fine. I had my car battery tested at a couple of garages and they said the…
SilverlightFox
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How do I keep an idle/unused battery ready for immediate use?

I have purchased an Exide Power MF Battery 120 A/H for my home inverter. I need to use that inverter only when there is no electricity. That can happen once a month or like that. So my question is, If I don't use the above semi-sealed battery every…
Sampath
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1999 Ford Ranger Battery Drain

I have had a slight battery drain on my Ford Ranger, enough to kill the battery after a few days of sitting. The battery is new. This is the troubleshooting I have done so far: Tested the battery unplugged at 12.67 volts. Tested the battery running…
Bryce Frank
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How much current should 2007 Mazda6 draw when off?

I've been finding my 2007 Mazda6 battery low in the mornings. This morning, with moderate temperatures, I had to jump it to start the engine. I put a clamp ammeter on the battery cable and pulled every fuse one by one. Only the 10A "HAZARD" ("Turn…
feetwet
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battery fully discharged, got a jump-start, but what do I do now?

My battery was fully discharged (forgot to turn off headlights for a few hours). The car wouldn't even unlock from the remote. What should I do after getting a jumpstart?
cnst
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Starting Enfield with low/dead battery

My bike has a very low/dead battery and it doesn't start. What I did though was, kick the bike for few minutes and later it started, but when I tried to move the vehicle by putting it in first gear it automatically switch off any suggestion on how…
Karthikeyan Santhanagopalan
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Help with Strange Intermittent yet predictable parasitic battery drain?

I'm having an issue where while testing circuits for the offending drain, I will see NO drain for about 30 seconds and then a 6-9 amp drain for about 10; rinse and repeat. Anybody have an idea what components could cause such a pattern? It's a 97…
Matt Hardy
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Nearly drained battery for 2 weeks - how much damage was done?

I recently made a mistake of starting my car, and only driving it for a short trip multiple times in below-freezing weather without letting the car fully warm up. This was after the car had sat for multiple weeks, so it drained the battery to the…
slothstronaut
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Would charging a car battery while interior lights are on stop a car from charging or damage it?

Could charging a fairly modern car with lights on (or any other electronics on) damage it? My car battery drained to a voltage of 5.5V (very low I know) because I left the interior light on for 2 days. I left it to charge with the light still on…
Resquiens
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What would cause a short to ground while driving - how to locate the problem?

So I was pulled up at the traffic lights yesterday in my 1980 Nissan Urvan (E23) diesel after just coming off a 30 minute commute on the freeway when all of a sudden the engine cut out and a few seconds later the battery exploded/ruptured spraying…
norlesh
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