Electrical question

[spadz93]

About a year ago, I got a brand new Interstate megatron plus to replace the factory battery in my 2010 SS. For a while though, my alternator had been on it's way out (power steering fluid leaked all over it). More recently, I finally got around to replacing the alternator and the power steering pump, and all has been well, except for today.

Hadn't started my car since Sunday (three days time), went out to start it up, and she was dead. Luckily I had enough space in the driveway to push-start it the old fashion way, which was successful.

Is it possible that the alternator being on it's way out for so long shortened the battery's life by that much? Is there a proper way to check for parasitic drain with a regular multimeter? Three days is a relatively short time for the battery to die, so something tells me I either have a dead cell or two, or something's knocking my power out.

[69L48Z27]

Check to see if the alternator is charging then load test the battery. Should tell the story pretty quick. I've never seen an alternator on its way out. Either they charge properly or they don't. Under charging would not damage anything, over charging would be a different story.

[spadz93]

I'm gonna have my local advance auto run a load test and then I'm going to check for parasitic draw, hopefully I find the answer, just was wondering if it were possible for something like that to happen

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[speedygonzales]

Common starting type batteries which is what you and most people have, do not like to be drained down real low. As apposed to deep cycle batteries, they are designed to only go down a little and be charged right back up once the engine runs for a while. Unless you are constantly bringing it down too low, there was no harm done to it.

Why it got low and would not crank is unknown. Keep in mind that lead/acid batteries produce less cranking power as temperature drops. If you have a defective alternator and poor connections (not just at the battery) and the temperature drops significantly, you could have an issue.

Your battery has a 6 month replacement/ 6 year pro-rated guarantee. And no company backs that warranty better then Johnson Controls (they make Interstate). So you will have no problem getting one if it turns out it was bad.

At this point just do what you were intending and see where it leads you. Just don't buy any electrical parts from Advance. They are crap unless they have a name like Delphi or Powermaster etc......Their line of products are absolute garbage.

[LeJ]

spadz, I have to say that's a very nice looking car you have... I really don't like red either, but it looks great

well done

[spadz93]

Originally Posted by LeJ

spadz, I have to say that's a very nice looking car you have... I really don't like red either, but it looks great

well done

Thanks man!

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[camguynj]

Originally Posted by spadz93

About a year ago, I got a brand new Interstate megatron plus to replace the factory battery in my 2010 SS. For a while though, my alternator had been on it's way out (power steering fluid leaked all over it). More recently, I finally got around to replacing the alternator and the power steering pump, and all has been well, except for today.

Hadn't started my car since Sunday (three days time), went out to start it up, and she was dead. Luckily I had enough space in the driveway to push-start it the old fashion way, which was successful.

Is it possible that the alternator being on it's way out for so long shortened the battery's life by that much? Is there a proper way to check for parasitic drain with a regular multimeter? Three days is a relatively short time for the battery to die, so something tells me I either have a dead cell or two, or something's knocking my power out.

Did your car start after and since the push start? Where was the needle on the Voltage gauge ? Utube has a few vids on how to find a parasitic draw with a multimeter. It's a hassle to do on our cars with the battery being in the trunk as you have to watch the multimeter as you remove fuses one at a time looking for a Big drop in the multimeter reading. If have any aftermarket electrical components tapped anywhere in your car I would start the parasitic draw test on the fuse of the tapped circuit.

[jwcassidy1969]

A dead battery or a battery with a dead cell will not run your car even if you push start it. Modern cars with fuel injection will not run without a good battery. When you are able to push start it and it will run you are bypassing the starter using the flywheel to turn it. I would look ar the starter as a possible problem when they go out or have a problem they put a bad drag on the battery on start up.

[Rock-It Man]

Originally Posted by jwcassidy1969

A dead battery or a battery with a dead cell will not run your car even if you push start it. Modern cars with fuel injection will not run without a good battery. When you are able to push start it and it will run you are bypassing the starter using the flywheel to turn it. I would look ar the starter as a possible problem when they go out or have a problem they put a bad drag on the battery on start up.

I agree about checking the starter. If the battery was really dead, the push start would not have worked.