Dead Batery

[LennyF]

Curious has anyone else had the same experience? The battery goes dead after the doors were left open for 20 to 25 minutes.

I was loading the car for a weekend trip, bringing luggage out as it was packed. Between trips out to the car I left one or more doors open. When I tried to start it the battery was dead. This has happened more than once.

The battery is not that old and only a few small LED lights should not kill the battery in that amount of time. Anyone else ever had this happen?

[VBdenny]

The problem is called Florida. Heat kills batteries and Florida is hot. Expect a mid-grade one to last 3-4 years there. Most people think cold kills batteries when it just reduces their output and shows up differently in the north. Not such a good life for the juice packs when they are hot and I've had relatives there experience failure in less than 3 years. Not all batteries are created equal, even those which are identical.

First thing to check is the condition of the terminals. Most likely problem before battery. Good luck with it all.

[datarecovery]

If you have a voltmeter you may want to check and see whether you have an item that is causing such a huge drain.

Did you leave the key and or the headlights on at the same time?

It could be a incorrectly grounded or shorted alternator?

As VBDenny mentioned, it could be the state of the battery and the environment, but 20 minutes seems like a really short time. I would ordinarily expect a light left on or a door left open overnight to cause such a dead battery.

So, to checking what is causing the drain. Remove the NEGATIVE battery cable.Wair 10 minutes to allow the air bags to dissipate the battery charge. Put your meter on the 20 VOLT DC setting and attached a probe to the NEGATIVE battery mount and the Negative cable. What is the voltage?

Keep the probes as before and pull each of the fuses in your fuse box and see which one, whne pulled, has the voltage go to ZERO. That is the culprit circuit.

Continue your diagnosis to find out what on that circuit is causing the drain.

[LennyF]

The problem is called Florida. Heat kills batteries and Florida is hot.

First thing to check is the condition of the terminals. Most likely problem before battery. Good luck with it all.

Ordinarily I would agree with you about the “Florida” thing, but this was a cool morning in January.

The battery terminals are Very clean in the battery tests “Good” when I have it checked.

Also, the book calls for a 600 CCA battery, I put a 750 CCA battery in last time I replace it.

[VBdenny]

Yeah, with that 750, you shouldn't have a problem. I have had batteries that had one weak cell which caused something like this. I would certainly try what data-rec suggested as it will determine the weakness. The heat destroys the battery over time. The more time it is exposed to higher heats, the shorter the life. Overall, a battery in Florida experiences much more heat over its life than say a New Hampshire battery. Disconnect for a day then reconnect and see what happens. If it starts right up, it is not the battery. If it doesn't, it is the battery. Much easier to track down than an intermittent problem.

[LennyF]

The battery has never failed start the car except for the few occasions where one or more doors what is left open for a relatively short period of time, 20 to 30 mins.

Since this battery is now 38 months old I am going to replace it. Thanks for all your input and suggestions.

[datarecovery]

Hi Lenny to me, that still does sound like a short time to wipe out a battery.

I suppose after 36 months it could drop down easily below 11volts. Having lived up North most of my life, except for CALI, haven't seen that happen.

I still think you might want to check the rate of the parasitic drain.

If I lived closer I'd help you with it

[Chuy]

If the battery has caps, check the fluid level. I check every oil change and have to top off every 2-3 oil changes. Always use distilled water.

The one time the battery died on my wife' ES350 was due to a faulty alternator. Quick test is to measure voltage at battery terminals with a volt meter. At rest voltage should read 12.6 volts +/- .3. With engine running at idle, voltage should read 14.3 +/- .5 volts. Put a load on battery by turning on headlights and fan at high setting; voltage will drop a bit but should return to the voltage before the load, give or take .1 volts. If readings are low, before replacing alternator, check all connections and clean with wire brush if corroded.