Battery Draw

[stephenertelt]

Hello - I have been getting the low battery message lately and the battery gets low without the car doing anything but sit there for a couple days. I left it for a week a couple times and the battery was dead both times, had to jump it.

After leaving it for a day of two, I checked it on the Gap IIDtool and it says the bettery level was at 26%. Is there a way on the Gap IIDtool to see what is drawing so much from the battery?

And an FYI for anyone else having battery issues, I found a portable jump starter online which has worked perfectly anytime I've needed it, an incredible tool to have without needing someone to jumpstart you.

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[ftillier]

How old is your battery? You may be due for a replacement.

 

[stephenertelt]

The battery is only about a year old. I had it checked and the status was good.

 

[Nechaken]

I believe the IID tool should have a "live value" of quiescent current or quiescent drain -- would give you an idea as to how big the current draw is.

I'm also speculating if it would be helpful to fully charge the battery, then do the battery reset option with the IID tool ? Presumably that would align the charging algorithm to the actual state of charge.

 

[stephenertelt]

Thanks Nechaken. I have seen the "live value" option which I've used when it's running. I suppose I could try that with the car not running and see what's causing the most draw. Thanks.

 

[itsaguything]

Define “good”.
If it is disconnected from the vehicle,
charged to 100%,
and left sitting on the bench for 12 hours minimum,
It should read 12.6v or better following the resting period.

A battery reading of 12.3v is a battery only capable of holding 50% capacity… And that is definitely not good.

>90% of issues are battery related.
<5% of issues are quiescent drain.
And the battery test takes the least amount of effort to perform.

 

[powershift]

The parts counter does a simple voltage reading and if its above x then its good. They don't load test it and that is what you need. Or it might be better to replace it because there really aren't any general stores doing battery load testing.

 

[ktm525]

hmm our two local parts places both load test.

 

[Nechaken]

Spitballing here, but I'd thinking turning on the hvac fan, headlights, and heated front/rear screens would put a decent load on the battery, no?

 

[powershift]

More accurately, O'Reillys doesn't load test.