Continuous battery/alternator issues.
11-28-11, 12:21 PM
#1
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Continuous battery/alternator issues.
Guess I'll start with an overview of the trouble I've had with these issues;
- When I first bought the car and was importing it into Canada, theres a mandatory 72 hour wait period that the car has to wait at the boarder while paperwork is completed. During this time the battery died. I assumed the alarm/immobilizer killed it, so I just got a new (refurbished) battery. Didnt think much of it..
- About a year later I started to have starting issues. Took it to my mechanic and had a refurbished alternator installed. Seemed to fix the problem.
- About a year later I installed my carPC. The PC goes into 'hibernate' while the car is off, which draws a tiny amount of miliamps. Also using an Alpine PDX-5 amp, which is a small amp, so it doesnt draw much either. Got it professionally installed and the installers said the carPC draws a tiny bit more than the stock system did, so as long as I dont leave the car sitting for a number of days should be no problems.
- About 6 months after the install my car started fine, but would want to stall out while sitting at a red light. The rpm would drop really low and the battery light would come on. I had to keep the rpm's up to keep the car from stalling out. Mechanic said the alternator had gone bad again. This time I told them to install a higher wattage alternator to help out with the carPC (even though the audio installer told me I didnt really need it). I think the stock SC alternator is 130 watts? I installed a 150 watt alternator.
- Few days ago, my battery light came on again while at a red light, and the car almost died. Also had problems turning the car on, but it would start the first try. I took it to my mechanic and he tested my battery. He said the acid was almost completely gone. So I took it to a battery shop and they refilled it for me on the spot. Ran ok for another day.
- Last night after work I went to start the car, nothing. The car wouldnt even turn over. No cabin lights. Absolutely nothing!
I'm getting really frustrated with these power issues. Seems like I had different people telling me different things. Battery guy says its my carPC, audio guy says its no way the carPC, alternator guy says something else must be draining my power..
Any insight would be nice. My audio guy used to have a heavily modded SC himself, and he said that even before he modded it there was a higher than normal drain on the battery when the car was off, but it never killed his car. When he tested my car while it was off (with the carPC in hibernate) it had the same higher than normal draw that his SC had. The battery guy however says that the carPC is drawing too much while the car is running.
I'm no expert in how alternator/batteries work in cars, and I really dont want to get rid of the carPC since I've already put so much money into it. Plus its installed the same way many other carPC's are installed (as per mp3car.com) without any issues.
- When I first bought the car and was importing it into Canada, theres a mandatory 72 hour wait period that the car has to wait at the boarder while paperwork is completed. During this time the battery died. I assumed the alarm/immobilizer killed it, so I just got a new (refurbished) battery. Didnt think much of it..
- About a year later I started to have starting issues. Took it to my mechanic and had a refurbished alternator installed. Seemed to fix the problem.
- About a year later I installed my carPC. The PC goes into 'hibernate' while the car is off, which draws a tiny amount of miliamps. Also using an Alpine PDX-5 amp, which is a small amp, so it doesnt draw much either. Got it professionally installed and the installers said the carPC draws a tiny bit more than the stock system did, so as long as I dont leave the car sitting for a number of days should be no problems.
- About 6 months after the install my car started fine, but would want to stall out while sitting at a red light. The rpm would drop really low and the battery light would come on. I had to keep the rpm's up to keep the car from stalling out. Mechanic said the alternator had gone bad again. This time I told them to install a higher wattage alternator to help out with the carPC (even though the audio installer told me I didnt really need it). I think the stock SC alternator is 130 watts? I installed a 150 watt alternator.
- Few days ago, my battery light came on again while at a red light, and the car almost died. Also had problems turning the car on, but it would start the first try. I took it to my mechanic and he tested my battery. He said the acid was almost completely gone. So I took it to a battery shop and they refilled it for me on the spot. Ran ok for another day.
- Last night after work I went to start the car, nothing. The car wouldnt even turn over. No cabin lights. Absolutely nothing!
I'm getting really frustrated with these power issues. Seems like I had different people telling me different things. Battery guy says its my carPC, audio guy says its no way the carPC, alternator guy says something else must be draining my power..
Any insight would be nice. My audio guy used to have a heavily modded SC himself, and he said that even before he modded it there was a higher than normal drain on the battery when the car was off, but it never killed his car. When he tested my car while it was off (with the carPC in hibernate) it had the same higher than normal draw that his SC had. The battery guy however says that the carPC is drawing too much while the car is running.
I'm no expert in how alternator/batteries work in cars, and I really dont want to get rid of the carPC since I've already put so much money into it. Plus its installed the same way many other carPC's are installed (as per mp3car.com) without any issues.
11-29-11, 10:15 AM
#4
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Dont think its a bad ground. I had my audio shop do a 3 point ground in the engine bay, and they checked the grounds of the system itself. I guess it could be a ground elsewhere though?
According to my mechanic the charging system is working well, 14 volts I think?
According to my mechanic the charging system is working well, 14 volts I think?
11-29-11, 10:33 PM
#5
i know this might sound just flat out stupid, but are your clamps to the battery terminals attached securely? no calcium build up or anything? i had a issue that sounds pretty similar to yours, and its becuase when i did my fmic i didn't fully fasten the battery. i hope its something as simple as this man.
11-29-11, 10:36 PM
#6
i know this might sound just flat out stupid, but are your clamps to the battery terminals attached securely? no calcium build up or anything? i had a issue that sounds pretty similar to yours, and its becuase when i did my fmic i didn't fully fasten the battery. i hope its something as simple as this man.
11-30-11, 04:40 PM
#7
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
^ thanks for the suggestions guys, but I think we fixed the problem..
I had a really low idle (like 100rpm) when the car was in 'D' (had another thread about this problem). As mentioned in my first post, my car would want to die when I came to a stop at a red light. We thought this was becase the idle was so low that the alternator would stop working (or barely work, putting out next to no power) at such a low idle, so the car would run off the battery while stopped at a red light, or sitting in traffic (hence killing the battery over time).
I have a carPC so I'm able to monitor the battery voltage in realtime. It would be at 14 volts while driving, and below 12 volts (sometimes as low as 11.5 volts or lower) while stopped. Since increasing the idle the battery voltage doesnt drop below 13.7 volts, and is right at 14 volts most of the time. Looks as though the alternator stops working below a certain rpm, and we've adjusted the idle rpm to sit at about 500 rpm which looks like its enough to keep the alternator going.
Not sure if thats the correct fix for my problem, or just a patch-job fix that masks another issue. What do you guys think? Seems to have done the trick though..
I had a really low idle (like 100rpm) when the car was in 'D' (had another thread about this problem). As mentioned in my first post, my car would want to die when I came to a stop at a red light. We thought this was becase the idle was so low that the alternator would stop working (or barely work, putting out next to no power) at such a low idle, so the car would run off the battery while stopped at a red light, or sitting in traffic (hence killing the battery over time).
I have a carPC so I'm able to monitor the battery voltage in realtime. It would be at 14 volts while driving, and below 12 volts (sometimes as low as 11.5 volts or lower) while stopped. Since increasing the idle the battery voltage doesnt drop below 13.7 volts, and is right at 14 volts most of the time. Looks as though the alternator stops working below a certain rpm, and we've adjusted the idle rpm to sit at about 500 rpm which looks like its enough to keep the alternator going.
Not sure if thats the correct fix for my problem, or just a patch-job fix that masks another issue. What do you guys think? Seems to have done the trick though..
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11-30-11, 07:41 PM
#8
Keeper of the light
iTrader: (17)
Unless you never drive your car and just idle all day long in the driveway it has nothing to do with your dead battery.
There is only ONE correct way to determine if you have a parasitic drain or a bad battery and that is to test for the drain as seen on youtube, google, etc. Anyone with a voltmeter can do it, fuse by fuse.
Given your situation it sounds like a cell has gone bad in the battery, likely from the low acid. The alternator can only carry the car so much when a dead cell is dragging it down. The stoplight issues point to either a worn armature in the alt or bad cell in the battery........ and you seem confident in the alt (even though the regulator can stick as much voltage as you want on the meter and still have a dragging armature).
There is only ONE correct way to determine if you have a parasitic drain or a bad battery and that is to test for the drain as seen on youtube, google, etc. Anyone with a voltmeter can do it, fuse by fuse.
Given your situation it sounds like a cell has gone bad in the battery, likely from the low acid. The alternator can only carry the car so much when a dead cell is dragging it down. The stoplight issues point to either a worn armature in the alt or bad cell in the battery........ and you seem confident in the alt (even though the regulator can stick as much voltage as you want on the meter and still have a dragging armature).
11-30-11, 08:55 PM
#9
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Unless you never drive your car and just idle all day long in the driveway it has nothing to do with your dead battery.
There is only ONE correct way to determine if you have a parasitic drain or a bad battery and that is to test for the drain as seen on youtube, google, etc. Anyone with a voltmeter can do it, fuse by fuse.
Given your situation it sounds like a cell has gone bad in the battery, likely from the low acid. The alternator can only carry the car so much when a dead cell is dragging it down. The stoplight issues point to either a worn armature in the alt or bad cell in the battery........ and you seem confident in the alt (even though the regulator can stick as much voltage as you want on the meter and still have a dragging armature).
There is only ONE correct way to determine if you have a parasitic drain or a bad battery and that is to test for the drain as seen on youtube, google, etc. Anyone with a voltmeter can do it, fuse by fuse.
Given your situation it sounds like a cell has gone bad in the battery, likely from the low acid. The alternator can only carry the car so much when a dead cell is dragging it down. The stoplight issues point to either a worn armature in the alt or bad cell in the battery........ and you seem confident in the alt (even though the regulator can stick as much voltage as you want on the meter and still have a dragging armature).
I'll look up those video's online and see how to do this test. Hopefully that pinpoints my issue.
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