[Qfrank]

Drove car all day Sunday after sitting for a week, no problems, started the car probably 5 times during the day while running errands. Came home washed it and put in the garage. This morning I thought about taking it to work, dead battery. It has happened before where it will drain it in a day or so. I grab battery charger, set to 2 amp, go to hook it up, and I get a spark from positive terminal, and pop from the fuse area. I then get my trickle charger hook it up, all seems fine. Go to work, come home trickle charger is not on. Unplug, and plug bak in, and nothing, no lights come on. It was warm to the touch. Did the trickle get fried?



I have a completely dead car. Checked several fuses all good, swapped DME etc. All good.



WHAT did I fry??



Stranded in the garage!.



Thanks guys.



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Qfrank]

Battery show 12.6 on the volt meter, and is 2 weeks old.



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

A couple of things - first, if your car is draining its battery in a couple of days, you have a massive leak to ground somewhere. These things are a pain to track down - takes a lot of patience and trial and error, unfortunately. I have a 2003 BMW X5 with a similar problem - need to find a day when I can clear about six uninterrupted hours so I can tear into it. Not gonna happen anytime soon, so I have to put it on the charger if we don't drive it every couple of days or so.



Second, yes, it does sound like you fried your charger somehow. So, it seems to me that the sequence of events needs to be something like the following:



1. Buy a new charger

2. Remove the battery cables, and charge the battery directly from your new charger to get it fully charged up.

3. Do some searching on the internet for the procedure to hunt down a leak to ground. I'm not sure if there's anything on this site; I can't remember if anyone has written anything up for these cars. But it's a fairly generic procedure, so you should be able to find something on the net.



Good luck!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Qfrank]

I unhooked battery and it has 12.4 volts, so it should be charged,battery is 3weeksold.



I heard something click, or pop as if i shorted something out, while hooking up charger. The trickle charger is shot. I hooked it up to my Mercedes and it did not turn on, showing that it is not operating, it was a Schumacher brand 1 month old.



Do we have an over voltage relay that would blow? What other fuse or relay may have popped during this ordeal?



Trouble in Tampa. I not want to have it towed just yet.



Thanks,



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Qfrank]

I unhooked battery for 30 minutes, re-hooked battery, and bingo.....





I had power back to everything. Cranked the car, and went for a high speed drive. All is good. Drove car for 30 minutes and all seems fine. We shall see what to tomorrow brings.



Weird gremlin.



Once I unhooked battery completely it seemed to reset everything after some sort of short.



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Langley968]

A tip: check all wires going to doors, hood and trunk. The wires are getting old and brittle and one may be shorting out at times (and not at other times), depending if the wire insulation is cracked and touching metal.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Qfrank]

Good idea.



I may even just unplug fuse to all interior lights, just as a precaution.



I am just wondering if the trickle charger was a coincidence or if something really burned it out?



Imwill buy a battery tender today.



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[rhudeboye]

Next time it happens, and I strongly feel there will be a next time, simply move the batt cables as you watch the hood light. i have the same problem with my car. but mine will actually shut off while driving. Everything goes DARK radio, instrument cluster etc as if there is no battery. Had it towed the first time it happen and purchased another batt. The last time it happen I started poking around the batt terminals. My buddy noticed the under hood light came back on as I was fishing around. Got in and it fired right up. Took me all the home too. So I'm looking into purchasing a set from higher connections soon.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[DaveN]

I would crawl under the car and check the insulation around the starter motor and the like. Sounds to me like you went from VCC to ground in an arc when you battery tender toasted.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Qfrank]

I have no hood light, PO must have removed.



I will check the starter area, and all wires. It can sit a week no problem with no trickle charge, or go dead in 12 hours. When driving around Sunday, we were opening and closing doors, and the hatch running errands, so could be a finicky wire at the doors as Langley968 stated.



I noticed a small light in the cigarette lighter. Does it come on when you pull the lighter out, and always stay on? I want to unplug them all think.



FQ

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.