battery voltage drops when terminals connected

[96talon420a]

I went out to start my car and it would not start and the headlights, radar, fans would not turn on. As soon as I connect the positive and negitive terminal to the battery the voltage of the battery drops to about 6-7 volts keeping my car from starting but when the terminals are disconected the voltage slowly rises to about 10.5-11V
Is there just a major voltage drop going on What could be causeing this?

 

[Lofty]

A bad battery.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Sounds like a bad battery, but I would also check the output of the alternator to make sure it's up to par. You need to see at at least 13.5 volts at the battery with the engine running on a good charging system. Voltage should be anywhere between 13.5 to 14.8 volts normally with the engine running.

 

[NHerron]

Like Scott said, bad battery. Sounds like a shorted cell

Did you ever check the running voltage before this?

 

[96talon420a]

I can not get the car to start to check a running voltage because the second I connect the terminals the voltage drops to much to start it up, the car has been sitting without starting for about a week now and it use to run at a running voltage of about 14-14.8 V.
Should I just buy a new battery?

 

[Tyeler18]

Go have your battery tested.

 

[96talon420a]

When I hooked up a DVOM and set it to Ohms and checked the resistance across the positive battery terminal to the negitive battery terminal I got .32 ohms is there suppose to be resistance across the terminal connectors?

 

[Lofty]

Forget about doing that.
Whats the voltage of it sitting without a surface charge? Seriously go to get your battery tested. Most places do it for free. This shouldnt be too terribly complicated .

 

[NHerron]

That's normal but not a correct test there isn't a reason to check resistance between the POSTS. You're car probably had a good amount of parasidic draw over that week since you're battery is now totally wasted. When the battery isnt hooked up to something, it has absolutely no load on it. When you hook it to the car it now has a load (example radio memory) plus the internal resistance of the battery.

It seems your battery is pretty dead! You might be able to TRICKLE CHARGE the battery back to health but don't think about using a regular car charger. The plates inside the battery may warp with too much current.

 

[96talon420a]

yeah I am going to get it tested and if it is not up to par I am going to buy an Optima Red Top which I was going to get any way the sitting Voltage of the batter is anywhere between 2-8 Volts and when trying to charge it it gets to about 10.5-11.8 but when I turn the ACC on it drops to 2-8V again
I will let you guys know if A new Battery starts my car

 

[Lofty]

Beware of the redtops, they are now made in Mexico.

Quality went downhill, I've spoke to the reps that come in.

I work for ah. erm. a battery store.

I would expect it to last only a few years, unlike my old that has been through an accident and is from 2007.

That battery is definitely bad, a battery should never drop down that low.

 

[96talon420a]

I will not go for the red top Oreillys told me to go for Yellow top Optima because it will start through thick and thin. Are they quality

And YES a new battery fixed her right up started good and drove it around...Just a Question
How can I prevent a battery from draining like that again?

 

[supermario300hp]

with batteries theres not much to do for prevention, except for keeping the terminals clean and making sure you dont let the battery drain to dead alot. otherwise theres not much you can do.

 

[CrawlinZX14]

Your best solution for. Keeping batteries healthy in my experience is to keep an eye on your alt. If your alt goes out for any reason, your battery tends to follow soon there after in my experiences. As for optima's I have been told they are really not all they are. Cracked up to be for a daily driver. Unless you are constantly deep cycling them its wasted money. And for the love of god, stop only considering voltage in batteries and look at amperage output too. Glad you fixed your problem, but any battery can die at any time for any reason. There is really little to no preventative maint to be done to them. As said, keep terminals clean, and make sure its held in place well so its not being jarred around and possibly grounding out. Those are the best solutions I have seen and used myself.

 

[NHerron]

It's important to know WHY it became so dead. Was it just a very old battery, was a light left on, or did it just die that bad within a week for no apparent reason? Your voltage reading after sitting for only a week sounds like a light was left on.

If the problem is still there, a new battery won't last long.

 

[gofast63]

it sounds like the alternator ?

It could be, but when your battery is old the Eletrolytes just die off.

 

[1983gsp]

If you aren't going to drive the car for a while (two weeks or longer) I would invest in a quality trickle charger. Any motorcycle shop or auto parts store should have them.

 

[96talon420a]

Nothing was left on besides keeping the posts on the battery and it just drained