[rhudeboye]

Last week. I came out to start the 68 after a week of it sitting and the battery was completely dead. This is a 2 year old battery so I was quite surprised that it was completely drained. Not even a dash light. Gave the car a jump then took it for a ride. All went well. Parked it then took it in to work the next morning. It started w/o hesitation that morning and evening for my ride home.



That was last Wed. The car sat from then until today. I went to take some clothes to the cleaners and nothing again. Gave it a jump and it started fine. Drove it for about 10 minutes and upon my return home, turned off then back on and the battery was only at 9 volts and the car wouldn’t restart.



(Q1) What has been your experience with battery life span?

(Q2) Are there common problems with electrical components draining the battery that I should be checking also?

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[Anchorman]

My first battery - a Sear DieHard - lasted for nearly five years. It was replaced with an Exide that did well for the first 8 months - then it suddenly died, wouldn't hold a charge. It was just replaced under warranty.



There has been a lot written in various threads about batteries being drained by minor loads that add up to a bunch. My experience, with a good battery, has been that the car can sit for three weeks (a couple of times, even more) and then start without any problem.

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[banditsc]

Have you checked the output from the Alternator?

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[flash]

have you checked the nut that holds the charging cable to the alternator?

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='banditsc' post='59298' date='Sep 8 2008, 05:52 PM']Have you checked the output from the Alternator?[/quote]



No

[quote name='flash' post='59303' date='Sep 8 2008, 06:53 PM']have you checked the nut that holds the charging cable to the alternator?[/quote]

no



Its too dark out. I plan on going at it tomorrow and was looking for a good starting point.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='Anchorman' post='59296' date='Sep 8 2008, 07:43 PM']My experience, with a good battery, has been that the car can sit for three weeks (a couple of times, even more) and then start without any problem.[/quote]

Ditto for me. Also, how long of a ride did you take after you first got it started after it went dead after that first week of sitting idle? You may not have given it long enough to fully charge. It still sounds like there's something wrong with either the battery or the charging system. These things can be tricky, as they can be caused by a lot of things (bad alternator, bad connection, bad battery, bad regulator, leak to ground, etc.), Hope it's something simple like a bad battery...

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' post='59307' date='Sep 8 2008, 08:16 PM']Hope it's something simple like a bad battery...[/quote]





Thats a good starting point and easy enough to test. I'll also check the connections as mentioned earlier. Hopefully I can find it fast and own my own.

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[Darryl]

I was never able to pinpoint my parasitic drain...my car can only sit for a couple of weeks or so until it's too low to start. There's enough juice to make all of the dash lights come on so you think it's gonna start, but then NO! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



WHen I first got the car, it seemed to hold a charge fine. I upgraded the head unit, but nothing else, and one day it was dead. I replaced the battery with an Optima Red Top 35 thinking it was time, but the brand new batttery never did hold a charge very well.



I "solved" my problem with a trickle charger. I thought it would be a pain to use everytime, but it's fine. I got the Porsche Tequipment brand that connects to the cig lighter and couldn't be happier. Now at least I KNOW it's full by the indicator lights on the charger.



- Darryl

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[flash]

mine still does it too - as far as i know, it always has - in the first couple of years, i drove it a lot, so i just never noticed it



i haven't gone through the fuse by fuse process of elimination to determine which circuit it is yet, but there isn't a lot of drain - third battery - new cables - new grounds - new regulator



no clue - i keep the charger handy

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='Darryl' post='59327' date='Sep 9 2008, 05:07 AM']I was never able to pinpoint my parasitic drain...my car can only sit for a couple of weeks or so until it's too low to start. There's enough juice to make all of the dash lights come on so you think it's gonna start, but then NO! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



WHen I first got the car, it seemed to hold a charge fine. I upgraded the head unit, but nothing else, and one day it was dead. I replaced the battery with an Optima Red Top 35 thinking it was time, but the brand new batttery never did hold a charge very well.



I "solved" my problem with a trickle charger. I thought it would be a pain to use everytime, but it's fine. I got the Porsche Tequipment brand that connects to the cig lighter and couldn't be happier. Now at least I KNOW it's full by the indicator lights on the charger.



- Darryl[/quote]



If it does come to it, that's not such a bad investment. I would be fine with a 3 week hold. I'm gonna run a search for that charger. May shoot you a PM if I cant find It.



Thanx Darryl

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[Ryan]

Wish I could help, but both my P cars do as you describe. If I am storing a car for awhile I disconnect the neg cable. This seems to be a common ailment, I wish someone could figure it out because my charging system and battery are fine. Lead/acid batteries don't like to remain at low charge rates for long so I have my charger handy.

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[BBZ 968]

Check the glove-box lid....If it's not closing tightly it will not push the sliding light cut-off down far enough to cut off the glove-box light resulting in battery drain after a week or so .

This has happenned to me on several occasions . I have now modified the switch to ensure a good contact and shut-off.



Cheers Shaun

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[Lonestar968]

I had the same problem when I bought my car. The battery was dead when I received the car at the port. I purchased a new battery and continued to experience battery drainage issues.



I discovered that my glove box plunger switch wasn't adjusted properly which allowed the battery to drain VERY quickly. I adjusted, accidently broke and then replaced the plunger switch. The problem was better (battery held a charge for about a week) but not fixed.



I checked all of the connections that I had patience for and then took the car to Bosch. I explained everything I had done to date and left them the car. They called two days later and told me to come get my car. They checked EVERY SINGLE WIRE in the car (unbelievable!!!) and found the only problem to be the under-hood lamp plunger switch. They replaced the pig tail wire and now I can (and regularly do) leave my car sit for weeks at a time without problems. Most recently, I left it sit from 14May all the way to 9Aug and it cranked up with just a slight hesitation.



Check your plunger switches! It worked for me!!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='BBZ 968' post='59343' date='Sep 9 2008, 07:37 AM']Check the glove-box lid....If it's not closing tightly it will not push the sliding light cut-off down far enough to cut off the glove-box light resulting in battery drain after a week or so .

This has happenned to me on several occasions . I have now modified the switch to ensure a good contact and shut-off.



Cheers Shaun[/quote]



Guess all of us should give that a try as well.



Appears to be a pretty common problem. But my car would last longer in the past. last winter It would sit for many weeks but when I decided to fire it up it would crank fine. Could just be that the battery was stronger then.

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[flash]

yeah - not my problem - i've gone though all the "normal" stuff - it still drains like clockwork, sitting in the garage, alarm off, trunk and dome in center position, hood light disconnected, everything off, yada yada



i would almost swear the wiring was italian

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='Lonestar968' post='59344' date='Sep 9 2008, 07:53 AM']I had the same problem when I bought my car. The battery was dead when I received the car at the port. I purchased a new battery and continued to experience battery drainage issues.



I discovered that my glove box plunger switch wasn't adjusted properly which allowed the battery to drain VERY quickly. I adjusted, accidently broke and then replaced the plunger switch. The problem was better (battery held a charge for about a week) but not fixed.



I checked all of the connections that I had patience for and then took the car to Bosch. I explained everything I had done to date and left them the car. They called two days later and told me to come get my car. They checked EVERY SINGLE WIRE in the car (unbelievable!!!) and found the only problem to be the under-hood lamp plunger switch. They replaced the pig tail wire and now I can (and regularly do) leave my car sit for weeks at a time without problems. Most recently, I left it sit from 14May all the way to 9Aug and it cranked up with just a slight hesitation.



Check your plunger switches! It worked for me!!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]



Sounds like a winner. Looks as if I got a lot of searching to do. How do you test to see if that light is going off or not? I mean, It's kinda like the refrigerator right?

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[flash]

stick your head under the car at night

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[rhudeboye]

[quote name='flash' post='59355' date='Sep 9 2008, 08:24 AM']stick your head under the car at night[/quote]



That was rude. What have I ever done to you?

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[flash]

roflmao - now THAT'S funny

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[rhudeboye]

I thought you'd get that w/o the smiley or just kidding added.

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