Camry 90' wont charge

[Avinator]

Just last week my car just suddenly died and would not start unless i get it jumped! I took the battery to Advance Auto and was recharged for 24 hours. I placed it back in the car and it started fine for two days. I bought a "reconditioned" battery to replace the old, (thinking its a bad battery problem). The car started and after a day it would not start! I went back to Advance Auto to get the alternator checked and it was a good and working. Now, i ran out of ideas about what is causing this problem. It seems like the battery is not getting charged as it runs, so whenever you start it it loses charge or the cranking amp. I need it fixed i got school....Someone help me

Thanks!

[AlmightyCamry777]

Since the battery is reconditioned, have that tested again. New/rebuilt parts that are bad out of the box are not uncommon anymore.

I have a couple more ideas on what i'd check:
-do you have a current draw with the car off? The usual suspect is the trunk light or interior engine compartment light staying on.
-bad ignition switch
-bad starter.

[Avinator]

No, im not experiencing a draw with the car off. I do not think its the ignition nor the starter because the car will start when it is jumped by with another car. The car starts fine with a fresh charged battery, then dies after a number of starts.

[Mike Gerber]

Have you checked for the proper alternator belt tension? It the belt is tight I would check for a dark current draw. Dark current is the current used by the car while the car is off. It's for things like the ECU's memory and the radio presets. You need a digital volt/ohmeter to do this. Remove the negative battery cable. Set the meter to a milliamp scale. Place the 2 meter probes between the battery post itself and the negative battery cable you removed. Take your reading. You should be 25 milliamps or less. If that checks out OK I would then have the alternator tested again.

Mike

[white90dx]

Any extra lights on the dash?

Does the starter make any noise when you try to start it? Single click, multiple clicks, nothing?

-Charlie

[Blakeman]

Check the battery cables as well, I have had a good battery not get the charge it needs because the cables were so old and corroded about a foot down from the battery where I didn't immediately notice.

[toyrolla]

I concur with Blakeman.

If you snip a bit of the sheathing from the cable and see rust and/or corrosion, there's your problem. It's happened to me before with my '81 Tercel.

Also, what tests did Advance do with your alternator?

They should do the charging system test (with the cart), not just the battery or alternator.