For the last 6 months my 01CL hasn't been driven much, maybe once a week or so. About 6 weeks ago I began having problems with the battery, low voltage, barely starting, etc etc. About a week later the battery died completely and I replaced it, everything was fine for the last 4 weeks, battery voltage sitting at around 12.5-12.65. This morning I went to start the car and I'm getting the same very slow turnover and the new battery (5 weeks old) is again being drained somehow. (Also, the clock was 20 minutes slow). I quickly ran my errands, and on the return home the car almost didn't start. About 15 minutes after I got home, I checked the battery with a voltmeter and it was sitting at 11.65. I checked it again an hour later and it's at 10.9.

While it's possible that the new battery is defective, it's kind of unlikely. This leads me to believe I've suddenly gotten a short somewhere in the electrical system. Never had electrical problems with this car until about 6-8 weeks ago. So my question is, how does one track down a short in the miles of wiring in a car? Could the problem be caused by something else? What bothers me is that it just suddenly started happening during a period of low usage for the car itself. So... any suggestions...? What should I be looking at?

Oh... the terminals are clean and tight. I scrubbed them when I swapped batteries... And there isn't any visible rust on the connectors or battery cables.

'01

 

One more thing, in case someone follows the link in my sig and points out the computer I wired into the ignition as a possible cause... When I replaced the dead battery with the new one 5 weeks ago, I left the car computer disconnected, because I wanted to make absolutely sure that the computer I installed was not suddenly causing problems. The Alpine HU I installed is still connected, and I suppose it could be the cause, but still what concerns me is that this problem just started 6-8 weeks ago, and I installed the Alpine HU and car computer 2 summers ago.

So.. anyway....

'01

 

load test the car and see where the problem is..........maybe the alt is not putting out enough to charge the battery?

 

Most of my recent trips have been short ones, and I suspect short enough that the alt may not have even had a chance to kick in. I took it out on the highway tonight for a good 45 minutes (it started with a 10.67V charge on the battery) and when I got back the battery was at 12.95, then over the next 30 minutes dropped down to 12.88 at which point I disconnected the battery completely, (but at least I know the alt is doing its job).

I'm going to leave it disconnected overnight and see if it holds around 12.65 or if it continues to drop... That should help me determine if it's a bad battery or not, but I'm now thinking my recent driving habits with that car might have actually been the cause... trips so short that the battery was being drained by the starter and stereo but not long enough for the alt to kick in.

Anyway, if anyone else has any ideas or suggestions, please chime in... I'll update this thread tomorrow when I find out if the disconnected battery holds its charge or continues to drain.

'01

 

btw, when alternators go bad they have a tendancy to kill batteries rather quickly

 

It's easy to check to see if the alternator is working. Put your meter on the battery with the engine off-you will have 11-12 volts or so. Start the engine and see if the voltage goes up about a volt. If it does the alternator is good and you need to look elsewhere.

 

If it's an Acura/Honda battery, it's probably a dud.

 

check alternator