MellonC00

my car is old but in great shape. Recently I started driving only 20 miles per week as it is no longer a daily commute car. On my weekly drive, I get in the car and my clock is trailing actual time by 9 to 10 hours. Consistently.

I thought my battery was going bad. And it was. So I replaced it with a new one and all is good there. Yet I still have the same issue.

Blown fuse? Alternator? Anyone have any idea? Could this be start of an electronic gremlin beginning to possess my car?

salimshah

Check the clock before starting and confirm the the time is not reset to 1am after starting. This would eliminate the drop in voltage at start as a cause to reset.

Gremlins can only be flushed out by disconnecting the battery for 15+ minutes. [take the key out of ignition. Wait 2 mins and then disconnect the battery].

Salim

MellonC00

When I get in the car after about a week of sitting idle, the clock, when ignition is turned to ACC position is already slow by a number of hours and minutes. It doesn't reset itself to 1 o clock.

I read somewhere here that this could mean that My car is not handling the small "drip" of electricity While sitting parked to minor items like the clock and whatnot. I don't know.

thomas1

Could be the tall tail sign of your battery going bad.

6.0PSD

He mentioned he has a new battery already unless new battery is bad again, get it checked to make sure...

Sorry but I don't have any other input to help but hope someone comes up with some ideas to figure out your issue...

MellonC00

Update: Now my idle is all weird. when the car is cold it revs up to 2000 rpm. My car never did that before. There is also a faint plastic smell after I shut the car off.

maxSteel

I couldn't find any diagnostics related to the clock.

Did you ever get that alternator checked? Wondering about the voltage regulator. Maybe that smell is electronics getting hot.

MellonC00

i'm thinking that's where things are heading. Unless other people have some other suggestions I will check out the alternator

MellonC00

The clock is no longer off. But my seat memory simply loses its memory after about 5 days of not driving the car. I still have the smell. My mechanic tells me my alternator check out fine.

MellonC00

well, my battery died again....... after sitting in the garage for just one week. Since the battery was completely depleted, headlights somewhat weak, the smell.... all points to bad alternator. I will have it replaced and see what it does..

maxSteel

Those symptoms alone would not make me change the alternator.

Fully charge and test the battery.
Check the voltage with the engine running, at idle, when revving, with headlights on/off.
Should be consistent at about 14.2V

AdvanceAuto will probably do the battery & alternator test for free

salimshah

Before you buy/exchange bench test the old alternator. Auto retail shops should be able to bench test for free. On my alternator, the diodes had gone one by one. I opted to change the diode pack and the brushes. If you want brushes I have a set.

Salim

MellonC00

some update on this: Back in June, I replace the battery because the alternator checked out fine but the battery was registering low numbers. Fast forward 6 months, and my clock and seat memory are going "bye bye" again. I'm afraid my battery is dying again.

p.s. the plastic smell wasn't from the alternator. It was from the leaking gaskets. I now get about dozen drops of motor oil overnight.

Lexmus

Sounds like a parasitic current drain. You need a DC current meter to measure the current running from the battery when the car is off. Once you get the baseline current, start puling fuses and see if the current changes. Once you do, you know which circuit is at fault and have a chance to fix it

The current should be well below 100 mA.

Lexmus