Ugent help needed...please

[mail2_jb]

I went to pick up my kids from daycare yesterday. The car didn't start in that parking lot. It didn't crank, just a bunch of "tick,tick, tick" sound when the key is turned on. The clock was reset to 1.00PM, radio/cd all reset to factory default. I brought my second car (also camry), tried to jump start. Still it didn't crank. I swapped the battery and the car started. I was relieved thinking it is just a dead battery. (battery light never came on though. Wife was driving the car in the morning and she told, radio/cd was reset to factory default and she thought I might have messed up something ealier. I never touched the car in last week, she was dead wrong this time ). So I took the bad battery and went to autozone, they checked and told it is bad battery. I came back to the car, car started fine, but my cd/radio was reset back to factory (i know this becase i was listening to track 5 on my cd and now it is back to track 1). I went to another shop and the damn cd/radio reset back to track 1. So went back to autozone, they tested the alternator and told it is fine. Then they checked the battery (the one swapped from my second car), and they told it is bad. wtf?, two batteries are gone bad within 2 hours. I gave the bad battery1 for a charge and went home. I was afraid, so i disconnected the battery2 from the car and in the morning re-connected, car started up. Went to drop the kids at daycare and the radio/cd reset again. Looks like something is draining the battery. Nothing is connected to any power outlets in the car.
When the radio/cd resets, it resets the air re-circulation back to off (the middle button between a/c and widnow heater). I am pretty sure, the clock is NOT resetting.
What could be the problem?
I tested the alternator myself: first without the car running, checked the voltage between terminal, It is around 12.5v.
Started the car, put a/c and radio on and checked the same terminal voltage. It is hovering around 13.95 and 13.98v. So looks like the alternator is ok. I didn't check all the fuses, that is my next step. What else to try?

Both batteries are around 3-4 years old, never had any issues at all.
Camry 2000, LE, 4 cyl, 92K miles on it.

Because I didn't want to be stranded, I swapped the battery again from the bad car to the good car and is now driving the good car. I stopped couple of time, and radio/cd never resetted on the good car. So this is not battery related. Something else is screwed up with the oter car. No repair or CEL on that car in a long long time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
John

[carsrus]

Drain would cause battery to loose all power. Not just magically enoughto reset the radio and cd player.

If one battery has been tested bad replace it. 4 years isnt to bad of a run. Bad ground seems to be a more likely culprit. My neg terminal was weirdly loose and would cause something like what your describing.

[fenixus]

check the battery connections for corrosion, oxidation or loose clamps.

Last time it happened to wife's car (shortly after purchase), it was a loose nut sitting on positive battery terminal wire (not the terminal clamp itself) which goes straight to starter.

[Mister_Perkins]

dude did you bring your battery into autozone off of Highway 6?

If so I saw you bring the battery in! lol

[mail2_jb]

So just got back from Sams from where I bought this battery. They checked the wrong battery first and said that one is also bad (eventhough the car starts and no issues with this battery in this car). So I have two bad batteries (one dead, another bad) in one day. I just bought a brand spanking new battery and will put that in the other car and see if I get the reset issue. I am going to buy one more battery soon to replace this running battery. Talk about coincidence

The connection to the post was/is solid. I couldn't move that thing with my hand, it was/is tight. Regarding the nut, i will have to check. I don't see ANY corrosion or oxidation on the battery terminal or the clamp (clamp is original, 11 years).

MP, no that was not me (unless someone invented a time travel machine ). I am nowhere near beltway 6.

[mail2_jb]

so no one thinks, there is a short somewhere in the system and it is draining power from the battery? I am going to check the amp by connecting a mulimeter in series with the battery and compare with my other car. Having two identical camries a good thing in this case

[fenixus]

wow, what brand of batteries are they? seem to have high failure rate?

by all means do some electrical checks and see what the meter shows on running car and completely shut off car and compare between the two cammies you have

[ghettosled]

it is weird that you lose power enough to reset the electronics, but then there is enough power to run them. sounds like something is toggling the power on and off.

[mail2_jb]

Both batteries are Interstate-Megatron from Sams Club.
This time bought a new one from Costco, 36month free replacement, 100month warranty for $59. Not bad, I think.

Checked the new battery with multimeter, 0.03AM when everything is off. So looks like there are no leaks, right? (this is the same on the other camry too).
After the new battery, radio/cd/air-recir are not yet reset. Will post if I see any issues with this car.

Thanks for all the help.
John

[mail2_jb]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

it is weird that you lose power enough to reset the electronics, but then there is enough power to run them. sounds like something is toggling the power on and off.

That is the strange part. Something is resetting the radio/cd/air-recir. But the car cranks and starts without any hesitation.

Anyway, will report if I see this issue after this new battery.

[mail2_jb]

I thought this was over, but wait, there is more...
On friday after work, i saw my radio/cd/air-recir reset on my second car. On the way to get the second battery within 12 hours of replacing my other cars battery, I got stranded on highway (car started fine from work, may be a mile gone and everything died.) Somehow I managed to park it on the shoulder, barely touching the white lines. Towed to a shop, got a new battery and car was fine until this morning.
After dropping kids at daycare, i noticed my cd/radio/air-recir all reset, clock was showing correct time. Car started up without any hesitation. Came to an advanced auto shop, checked battery and alternator. Alternator is fine, battery shows "replace battery" on the tester, but the guy told to get a new post connector. Got it installed now. Not sure if my ass is going to be stranded again

[ghettosled]

just to clarify, on the camry you now have a brand-new battery installed but things are still resetting but it hasnt died while driving or failed to start, as of yet. correct? your cd/radio and so on should has constant 12v power from the battery. unless someone can think of it, i dont think there is anything outside of the ignition system that would interrupt this power feed.

general question to the forum - could this be a bad ground or something in the ignition system severing the power?

[mail2_jb]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

just to clarify, on the camry you now have a brand-new battery installed but things are still resetting but it hasnt died while driving or failed to start, as of yet. correct? your cd/radio and so on should has constant 12v power from the battery. unless someone can think of it, i dont think there is anything outside of the ignition system that would interrupt this power feed.

general question to the forum - could this be a bad ground or something in the ignition system severing the power?

Correct, brand new battery on the car, just drove under 50miles total. The battery connector was not rusted, looked very clean (inside and out and is now been repalced with another one). radio/cd/air-recir got reset AFTER driving 1.5 today in the morning (car was stopped, key removed from ignition while I dropped my kids).