I charge the battery up with my battery charger and if I let the car sit for a few days I cant start up the car. I think its either a bad battery that isn't holding a charge or I got a short somewhere. BTW- the batter is a Optima Red top that I've had since Aug 2000.

Anyone got ideals on now to troubleshoot the problems?

So, far i just charged up the batter to full (12.25V) and its not connected up. I figured if I let it sit for a few days and it voltage drops below 11-12V without anything connected the battery isnt holding a charge.

Now, for testing the short or something causing the large current draw this is what I plan on doing. Connect up the battery and disconnect the Positive Terminal. From there I run it in Series with a Multimeter. I assume if it got a short or is drawing too much current it would show up right? BTW- How much current draw is normal with the engine off?

 

The very first thing to do is have the battery tested by a reputable company. Not some $6.00 per hour stock boy at Autozone.

Then be sure to check all the ground points. If there is corrosion at the grounds, this will prevent the battery from charging properly and prevent it from supplying the correct amount of current when trying to crank the engine. This is the most common cause of the problem you have.

If that is good, than doing what you said will work. You place an ammeter (DVM) set to current DC in series with either wire. Always use the highest scale. Be careful, many people have burned out the 10amp fuse for current and have later assumed that because the meter now reads zero, the circuit is ok. What you would then do with the meter connected and reading, disconnect one fuse at a time and see if any one circuit makes the current draw go down a lot.

Sure wish I lived in Hawaii. See ya

 

There should not be more than a couple of milliamps draw as long as the RAP function has timed out.

 

RAP? What do you mean?

 

Retained Accessory Power.
Its the reason you can listen to the radio and roll the windows up after turning off your car and before the door is opened.
It should be off when you take the readings.
It lasts 10 minutes?

 

Just measured the current draw from the battery with the engine & RAP off. Current draw was 0.19 amps on the 10Amp setting. I assume this is low enough not to kill a battery in 3 days right?

With the engine off and doors opened it registered at 2.xx amps. Just some extra numbers I thought I'd throw out there.

As for the battery its a Optima Red top that I purchased in Aug 2000 but the tag on the battery says free replacement for 36 months. I hope they replace this battery for free. Does anyone know how they check if a battery (cell) is bad? I just dont want them to give me crap about "Oh the battery is good its your charging system!" I know it cant be the charging system cause I charged the battery to full and didnt drive the car for 3 days and i couldnt start her up. Any comments? Thanks!

 

The battery must be tested under load. The cells can be checked individually (if each cell has a cap) with a hydrometer. Much the same way you check the coolant mixture in the radiator with a different hydrometer.

You can check the charging system of the car with the battery in. First check the voltage level across the battery before cranking the engine and EVERYTHING off. Then start the car and as it is running check the voltage across the battery again. As you rev up the engine you should see the voltage across the battery come back up. However if the battery is defective, the voltage across it may not come back up. You can do the same with your charger. In fact you should do it. I see a lot of people assume their charger is good and never checked it to discover it can't handle any amount of load.

BTW always check the battery first.

Did you know there are only a few companies making car batteries. Most batteries are produced by Johnson Controls. One of the many names on their batteries is Interstate. Just some useless trivia for ya

 

I may need to correct the amount of draw I stated before. When mine is totally at rest the draw is .01a on the 10 amp scale. If I open the driver's door it goes up to over 2a. When I shut the door, it goes down to .15a until the 30 second or so RAP times out, then goes back to .01a.

.19a still sounds like you have something drawing on your system. Connect your ammeter and then pull fuses on the dash panel until it goes away. That should help you isolate it further. It could even be the RAP module, itself.

You might want to say "will .19a be enough to kill the battery?". I don't know that for sure (I'm sure it can be calculated), but you seem to have more draw than normal.