[Integra2000LS]

Ok so check this out... For some reason when my car sits for longer than 24 hours the battery is dead. Even when it sits for say 12 hours it's almost dead and the car barely starts, and I mean barely. What can cause this to happen??? Is it just a bad battery or is there a short somewhere that may be draining??? I don't have any car audio in the car, it's all stock audio so it's not like I'm sucking it dry with an amp, and my alternator is fine cause it will charge the battery while the car is running, it's just when the car sits for long period of time. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated...

 

[iquark]

Sounds like a short, but just because you should always check if somethings pluged in before you do anyting else, I'd check your alternator to see if you're chargen the system well.

 

[JAYMAN320]

I'd check your alternator to see if you're chargen the system well.

Get that checked first...

 

[B18Chillin]

same thing happened to me a few months back.. could just be your battery is old and it isn't holding the charge anymore.. that's what was wrong with mine.. good luck

 

[randyman]

have Kragen or Pepboys test ur alternator. it should be free. or u can test it urself by starting the car, then disconnect the negative cable from the battery. if the engine dies then it's ur alternator. otherwise, it's time to replace ur battery.

 

[aznmc16]

just buy a new one. $50

 

[Integra2000LS]

I'm going to test my alternator today and see what happens. I always thought if you removed the negative battery cable while the car is on it would die weather your alternator is working properly or not, guess we'll see. Well if it turns out to be the alternator is that something that is covered by Acura warrenty because there's only 30k miles on my car???

 

[Nguyen]

If your altanator is working properly then your car will stay on just as randyman when you disconnect the negative side of the battery. Also about warrenty thats kind of iffy, did you buy the car from Honda/Acura or from someone else. I would definately ask to see if its covered, it can't hurt to ask.

Jason

 

[nov0798]

no, no, no DO NOT DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATT CABLE WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING, if you do so you will damage things. the proper way to do this is to get a volt/ohm meter and hook it up to measure amperage. THEN with the car NOT RUNNING disconnect the negative battery . place the probes of the meter between the negative cable and the negative post on the batt. then measure your key-off amp draw, there should be some amp draw due to the clock, computer etc. but it should not be more than 1/4 of an amp or less usually less. then you will need to start pulling fuses until the draw goes away. then you can isolate that circuit and find the cause. this is the proper way to check a problem such as this. the other check you can do is to unplug the alternator at night and let it sit, if the batt did not go down then you have a bad voltage regulator and the current is draining to ground. at this point you will need to replace the alt.

 

[Integra2000LS]

If your altanator is working properly then your car will stay on just as randyman when you disconnect the negative side of the battery. Also about warrenty thats kind of iffy, did you buy the car from Honda/Acura or from someone else. I would definately ask to see if its covered, it can't hurt to ask.

Jason

The car was bought brand new from Acrua it had 0miles on it when I got it.

 

[Integra2000LS]

no, no, no DO NOT DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATT CABLE WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING, if you do so you will damage things. the proper way to do this is to get a volt/ohm meter and hook it up to measure amperage. THEN with the car NOT RUNNING disconnect the negative battery . place the probes of the meter between the negative cable and the negative post on the batt. then measure your key-off amp draw, there should be some amp draw due to the clock, computer etc. but it should not be more than 1/4 of an amp or less usually less. then you will need to start pulling fuses until the draw goes away. then you can isolate that circuit and find the cause. this is the proper way to check a problem such as this. the other check you can do is to unplug the alternator at night and let it sit, if the batt did not go down then you have a bad voltage regulator and the current is draining to ground. at this point you will need to replace the alt.

Yeah you totally lost me. What kind of damage are you going to go if you pull the negative cable off while the car is running. It's either going to keep running or die, I can't imagine that actually hurting the car.

 

[Nguyen]

The car was bought brand new from Acrua it had 0miles on it when I got it.

Then I would definately ask them about it if it is the distributor having problems in your car. Hope you find out whats wrong with it.

Good luck,
Jason

 

[Integra2000LS]

Then I would definately ask them about it if it is the distributor having problems in your car. Hope you find out whats wrong with it.

Good luck,
Jason

They always give me shit about my mods, I hate taking it to them, that and it's always like a whole day process being without a car. Oh well guess thats better than having to pay to get it fixed.

 

[Integra2000LS]

Well heres what I came up with... I started the car and then dissconected the battery cable and the car does run for a little while and then dies. So I guess what does that mean, cause it doesn't just die right away it probably runs for 3-5 mins before it dies. Also I was wondering if my AEM pullies have anything to do with it??? There is a larger pully on the alternator therefore it makes less rotations and generates less power, but does that mean my alternator is bad or that it's just putting out less power than a regular alternator. But even if the alternator puts out less power why does the battery still die when the car sits for 24 hours or more. Shouldn't a battery hold even a small charge a lot longer than that??? I don't know were to go from here, anyone with any ideas???

 

[PFI Pros]

You need to do a couple of actual tests with a meter to find your problem. Get a volt meter, and determine if your battery voltage increases once you start the car. It will probably be around 11.5 volts with the car off, and typically increases to 14 volts with the car running. If this doesn't happen, diagnose your charging system.

If this checks out okay, the next test will tell you how much drain you have on the battery. You need a meter that will measure amps. What you are going to do is insert the meter between the negative post of the battery and the negative cable, so that the ground runs through the meter. Make sure the meter is set to read amps, you don't want to damage your meter. Leave the car off, and see what your reading is. If you see anything over .5 amp (at the absolute most), you have a drain on the battery that needs to be fixed. You can remove fuses one at a time to see if you can isolate the offending circuit.

If that also checks out, and your drain is minimal, pull the battery out of the car and head down to the parts store for a (generally) free battery load test. It's unlikely that your new car has a battery that needs its levels checked, but if so, make sure that you have enough liquid in each of the cells.

Good luck!

 

[Integra2000LS]

You need to do a couple of actual tests with a meter to find your problem. Get a volt meter, and determine if your battery voltage increases once you start the car. It will probably be around 11.5 volts with the car off, and typically increases to 14 volts with the car running. If this doesn't happen, diagnose your charging system.

If this checks out okay, the next test will tell you how much drain you have on the battery. You need a meter that will measure amps. What you are going to do is insert the meter between the negative post of the battery and the negative cable, so that the ground runs through the meter. Make sure the meter is set to read amps, you don't want to damage your meter. Leave the car off, and see what your reading is. If you see anything over .5 amp (at the absolute most), you have a drain on the battery that needs to be fixed. You can remove fuses one at a time to see if you can isolate the offending circuit.

If that also checks out, and your drain is minimal, pull the battery out of the car and head down to the parts store for a (generally) free battery load test. It's unlikely that your new car has a battery that needs its levels checked, but if so, make sure that you have enough liquid in each of the cells.

Good luck!

Sounds good, gonna give that all a shot tomorrow. My buddy is bringing a volt meter and a trickel charger. Were going to do the volt tests and were going to trickel charge my battey to see if we can charge it full and see if it will hold the charge. I hope to hell that if something is truly wrong, which i think it is, that it's my battery cause I really don't want to go through the hassel of having to put on my stock pullies on and then take my car to Acura to have them fix my alternator...

 

[nov0798]

??????????????

didnt i just post this same diagnosis????

if you read the service manual, it will tell you not to disconnect the - batt cable while the car is running.

 

[dumpedaccord]

battery

take it to advanced auto,pep boys, etc they can tell you in a couple of minutes time whats wrong and its free to test.
but Id be willing to bet its your battery

 

[nov0798]

no its probably not the batt, you have an excessive key of draw.

 

[Integra2000LS]

no its probably not the batt, you have an excessive key of draw.

Yeah I don't know yet, still trying to figure it all out, the pain in the ass is I don't know why the hell I would have a draw like that...