Battery not good or something else

[wpatters1229]

All of a sudden my 2000 for exp. started having battery issues. It will lose a couple of volts and be down to around 10.5v. It will barely turn over but just enough for it to start. Then after letting it run for a minute or two it starts just like normal. I have looked at AC voltage while it is running to see if the alternator has point diodes and AC voltage is around .025 which is good. I looked at current draw and while pulling every fuse and relay the current draw did not ever change and was pretty steady about 2.5 to 3.0 ma. I have read that sometimes there is a problem with the starter circuit or the starter relay drawing down the battery? OR is this just a battery that is going bad?
It is also weird that after you run it for a while and it shows a full charge it then starts to slowly lower the voltage until it stops are around 10.5 v and just stays at that level. Maybe what I am seeing is a bad cell that is leaking down? It is a sealed battery so I can not check each cell.
Advice Please..

 

[Hamfisted]

How old is the battery ? If it's 5 years or more then it's a good bet it's just the battery failing.

 

[wpatters1229]

OK was just checking fuses again. On the fluke meter at 10A setting is shows .22 amps between the + lead and battery. When I opened the drivers' door the meter started going up and down and there was a clicking sound for about 20 seconds and then settled down. I can not find the button or switch for the open door. Does anyone know where that is? If not I can just climb in the car to check fuses.

 

[Hamfisted]

If you still have low voltage you could have a number of relays clicking. How old is the battery?

And the door jamb switch is located in the door latch mechanism. It's a bit of a chore to get to.

 

[Aspen03]

.22A...220ma is a fairly high parasitic draw, anything above 50mah is generally considered unacceptable, that is if you want to reliably start your vehicle after sitting for a day or two.

Opening the door is causing the vehicle to "wake up" and you're lightly getting a good surge of current through it with the various modules, lighting, etc which explains the meter hopping around. The charging up and starting after isn't a mystery, that's how a battery would present that has a draw or drop in voltage due to a cell issue. Failed cells don't usually function just fine for a significant amount of time. You'll usually see rapid voltage fall off. A single failed cell would give you a 10.5v nominal voltage as each generally produces 2.1 in a fully charged state. I'd get it tested either way, may save you some time. Worst case you'll know what it isn't and won't take but a few minutes.

I just went through that with my battery. You could just watch it continually fall on the meter up till the point it wouldn't do much of anything. It happened quickly, inside of 30min. My battery had a few years on it, closing in on 5 and had been particularly abused this past year due to eating in it several times, radio on...vehicle off though I always did drive after those sessions apparently not enough though.

 

[wpatters1229]

Hey thanks. Getting to the door switch what a pain. Why do they do that? Anyhow after charging the battery and it shows 12.xx voltage then you can see it slowly discharge until it reaches 10.5v and it stays there. From the math that says i have a bad cell and would explain the all of a sudden problem. I think I just need to spring for a new battery and see what happens. I do not know how old it is.

 

[Trainmaster]

Check that your rear wiper shaft isn't frozen up and the wiper's not trying to park.

 

[1970Maverick]

It's the battery. Last year I had all the same symptoms you're having now. Batt was 3 1/2 yr old.

 

[wpatters1229]

Just for the record the wiper motor and mechanism were removed since the frame holding the motor was broken. Bad design. Too much force on the frame when the door closes...eventually cracks the frame. Too much $$$ for a new assembly...We never had rear wipers growing up so why start now??
I think I will try just replacing the battery. Another $165 ... always something.

 

[Don Hall]

COSTCO member? They only carry Interstate. Considerable savings.