Drained battery completely...

[83cutlasssedan]

Well, I left my car door open for a few days and the battery drained completely. It's an Optima red top battery and it's only a year old. I've had to jump it three times even after driving for awhile to let the alternator charge it up. It seems to be slowly regaining a charge and it started on it's own after the last jump and drive around, but it was a very slow start. Just wondering if it is normal to take this long for the alternator to charge a battery after it's completely drained. Or is there maybe a problem with the battery or alternator?

Any comments? thanks.

 

[dan2286]

Take it to Autozone or Advance auto and have them test both. It will be free, so thats your best bet in finding what the problem is. I doubt its the battery, most likely the alt., but its not a good idea to just start replacing parts with out testing them.

 

[yourownself]

you shouldn't let the alternator charge a battery from completely dead like that. once in a while on a partially discharged battery is okay, but IF your alternator was okay before, it'll most likely be damaged due to overheating.

if your battery is going completely dead, you probably have some sort of serious parasitic drain, and need to track that down. another thing to consider is either a battery cutoff switch, or a battery maintainer.

i would DEFINITELY replace your battery before your warranty runs out, and have your alternator bench tested while you're at it.

if the warranty is already out on your battery, you should really have it charged before you put it back in the car, whether the alternator is new or not.

 

[83cutlasssedan]

thanks for the reply. It's about -20 degrees C here so I don't think I would have an overheating problem. But can you go back to the retailer and tell them the battery is dead and have it replaced. It does have a 36 month replacement warranty. I bought it at Wall-mart last year.

Thanks

 

[whitey]

the lesson here is don't shop at wal-mart 8)

 

[Uncletruck]

Wal-Mart should change their battery name from Everstart to Neverstart :lol: My favorite battery? Interstate. I can never seem to kill one of them. The one in my LeMans today is the one that was in it when I bought it from the original owner's family in 2000. I don't actually know how old it is, but it's more than 8 years old and has not been removed from the car during the winter.

-UT-

 

[83cutlasssedan]

it's not a wall-mart battery. It's an OPTIMA Red Top battery, as stated in the original post.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I like junkyards for batteries. I usually pay less than $15 for one. I have had the same junkyard battery in my Cutlass for 3 years with no issues.

 

[Uncletruck]

OK, that is an expensive battery. Way more expensive than an Interstate. So it should be good and holding a charge, lets hope.

Do me a favor. Spend a few bucks on a cheap digital multimeter. These things cost about $30 now, much less than that battery did, and they have about a million uses on your car once you know how to use it. You'll thank me for this!

Take a test on the voltage of the battery without the engine running after it sits about an hour or two. Voltage should be around 11.5-12.5 volts.

Start the car if you can with the meter still connected, and see how much the voltage rises. It should go between 13.2-15 volts.

It's about that simple to tell if an alternator is working or not.

I've seen more people dick around with this simple stuff than anything else. You can get a good new battery, new battery connectors, cables, and a new alternator for a G body for less than $200.00. The guy who neglects that pertinent stuff is the same guy who will spend $600.00 for a custom bent stupid *ss Flowmaster exhaust system that literally does dick for how well or fast his car will start or go down the road consistently.

-UT-

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Heck, if you have a Harbor Freight nearby, they sell digital multimeters for under $5. I have bought a few of them on sale for $1.99.