QuestionPlease help me if you can. The dealership, an independent electrical shop and a mechanic I highly respect have not been able to.
I am back to charging my battery every 3 days or so in order to ensure it starts the car. When the problem began about a year ago I replaced the battery. Within 2 weeks it was dead so I returned (after a jump-start) to the Les Schwab I purchased it at and had it replaced.
Two weeks later - dead battery. This time a tow to the dealership, where diagnostics indicated I had NO problem. They blamed Les Schwab's battery so I returned there for a new one. After that I made sure to watch for lights that didn't turn off, checked the trunk light, disconnected my radar, turned off the audio system, heater etc.
Two weeks later, same ol', same ol'. Road service jump-started me and I went back to the dealership, furious for a misdiagnosis. They wanted me to pay for the same test and I said forget it, went to the electrical shop. Their test came up negative also. I bought a jump start box. As the days grew shorter and nights longer (used headlights daily) the jump-start box wasn't adequate. I went to the mechanic near my workplace and challenged him, said I didn't want to pay for "trying", if he lacked confidence I'd go elsewhere. He tore my dash apart, replaced one of two breaker boxes and the battery. Still no fix (he never charged me). I began regularly charging my battery. Then the longer days of summer arrived and charging was required only every 2 or 3 weeks (rarely used the headlights). Now it is once again a royal pain.
I've been late for work and used a lot of vacation time dealing with this. I still owe $10,000 on the car and refuse to sell a lemon to anyone without disclosure, so I'm stuck. I contcted the Chrysler Corporate office to no avail, they send me back to the worthless dealership. My son attends Benson Polytechnic HS in Portland OR and might be able to work at the problem there, if you could give them some ideas. If there is an "official" way I need to make this request, let me know. I'm beaten down and at wits end on this. Thanks for whatever you can do,
AnswerHi Patrice,
First you need to determine whether the alternator is charging the battery when you are driving the car. And second you need to determine what the draw on the battery is when you are not driving the car. On the first, I would wonder if you have a voltmeter on the dash and if so does it's needle read higher when you are driving the car than when it sits at rest with the ignition switch in the run position but the engine not started?* On the second, I would use a simple volt-ohm-ampmeter to measure the current flow in the battery circuit when the car is parked. Just disconnect the battery - post cable, insert the meter with the amp position selected and the meter leads jumped between the cable and the post, and read the current flow. You might check that reading a couple of times during the period when the car is shut down in case something changes. But between the voltage supply (alternator) and the current drain (so called "ignition off draw" value) you can tell which is the problem. Then we can go about determining what component is responsible for the malfunction.
So let me know what you find out from these test possibilities.
Roland
*If the dash doesn't have a meter related to the charging function, then does the charging warning light illuminiate when you simply turn the ignition switch to the run position. And then if you have a voltmeter you could measure the battery voltage at rest and compare it with the voltage when the engine is idling.
