Battery Drain

[Death_Trap22]

Battery Voltage: 11.70-.90
As soon as i turn the key to start, voltage drops instantly to 5v and starts to climb back.

I followed "Luv2Rallye"s guide on battery drains and the light bulb would light dim and slowly die out.

Recently replaced alternator(twice) and new optima red top...

Any ideas ...?

 

[xhackerekx]

change battery for regular.

 

[willydsm]

voltage should be 12v+ normal around 14v. with the car off. sounds like a bad battery.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Battery should be at 12.5-12.7 with the car off, around 14.7v with the engine running. Did it do the voltage drop with the previous battery?

 

[Choch1]

I think the new red top is not the problem. Did you add something that may not be grounded correctly? Or mess around in an area where some eletronic's may be, you may have ungrounded something and now there is a slow but stedy pull of power from the battery when the car sits.... My .02

 

[spook302]

Id put a test light between the positive cable and terminal with the terminal off. Have your fuse box ready to start pulling fuses. You said the light dims out so the draw goes away. As soon as the light comes on start pulling fuses till it shut off quickly(being the fuse you just pulled killed the drain). Figure out what circuit that is and go from there.

 

[StManTiS]

If i remember correctly the optima red tops have a very peculiar charging pattern you must follow the first time around...

 

[cheap90gsx]

Sounds like your harness might have fried somewhere. I had to pull the entire harness to find my short.

 

[Choch1]

Or you can do what I did, give up and let you car sleep on a trickle charger. hahaha

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

If i remember correctly the optima red tops have a very peculiar charging pattern you must follow the first time around...

14-15v @ 10amps for 8-10 hours or 15v @ unlimited amps as long as the temp stays under 120 degrees F (51c). Trickle charge at 14v @ 1amp.