My Poor Camry is Getting Drained...

[enthuzed1]

Hey all, my first post...
So, whenever I drive the car, the check battery light in conjuction with the parking lights both light up sporatically and many times stay on for seconds at a time obviously from the gauge cluster, and eventually the car will die on the road, and can't be started after that...have to replace the drained battery to get it home....when this happens, there's a lot of buildup on the battery terminals, lots of corrosion.....my alternator is at least 2 years old...this has been going on for a while, but lately the car will drain the battery in 10 minutes....i know accidents can affect the electrical system, and the car was rear ended twice, but that was like 3-4 years ago.....i'd gladly appreciate the help guys, thanks.....

[Cyorke]

sounds like ytou need to have hte battery adn the alternator tested. You should be able to go to Autozone and have them test them for free

[enthuzed1]

The battery is fine, but i will replace the alternator none the less...but it was like this the last time i replaced the alternator, i want to find the direct cause, causes of the problem....

[Eye8Pussies]

are you sure the battery's fine? sounds more like your battery can't hold a charge than the alternator having gone to take a poop...especially if it's only 2 years old

also, if this has happened a good number of times, unless you have a deep cycle battery, your battery is just about dead from all the full discharges that it's experienced

[enthuzed1]

i'm sure, I replaced the drained battery with a new one so i could get home and the new one drained in like 15 minutes

[Eye8Pussies]

for something like this, I would actually bring it to a mechanic to run some electrical tests
it may cost a pretty penny, but it'll save you a lot of headache in the long run

it seems like it's not the battery nor the alternator then (unless you alternator really sucks that bad), but something that is actually a constant drain on your battery



though for real, unless you have every single possible electrical draw in your car working and on at hte same time, htere is almost no way to drain a fully charged battery in 15minutes...

[marc780]

Chances are it is indeed your alternator killing yur battery, but a long shot could be a too-loose, oily or slipping alternator belt. So i'd check that first.

Testing the alternator is simple, all you need is a VOM (volt ohmetter). They are cheap, $10 - $50 at harbor freight and other places.

Just hook up the probes to the VOM meter, and start your car. Set the VOM to "20/DC". Open the hood and put the red probe on positive battery post (anywhere on it), the black probe to the negative battery post. You want to see between 14 and 15 volts going to the battery at idle; 14.0 is exactly right. 13.7 volts is like bare minimum and shows an alternator thats on borrowed time. Any less than 13.7 volts usually means the alternator is scrap, so change it. (The alternator that is.)

[Tercel GTS]

You can't drain a good battery in 15 minutes unless you lay a steel plate across the terminals. What kind of batteries are you getting and from where? The lights coming on indicate a bad alternator, but I agree with the guys here, that battery isn't likely good.