My battery is dieing?

Question

I have a 96 chevy blazer. The alternator is good. The battery is new (2). It will charge up in a couple of minutes when I have to get a jump. But if I let it sit for 8 hours it will not start again.

I have not hooked up any thing that would drain the battery. I have taken it to three places and know one can tell me what is wrong. I have even had my remote checked.

What in the world could it be. Please help. Thank you in advance for your time.

Answer 1

It sounds like you have a short somewhere. They are realy hard to find. Start with test one. Get your vehicle started and disconnect the negative terminal from your battery , if your vehicle stalls it's the alternator. Test two. Make sure your battery is charged and disconnect the negative terminal when you let it sit for 8 hours or more. reconnect the terminal and see if it starts.If it starts you have a short somewhere that is drawing power over time. If it does not start you have a faulty battery. Put the battery on a charger and bring it to a local automotive shop and have it load tested. Even new batteries can be faulty.

Answer 2

your ground or return may not be operating properly, as in the altenator could be running properly, but not charging the battery

Answer 3

You cannot charge a battery in a couple of minutes. You don't say where you purchased your battery, but if you bought it from a retailer like K-Mart, Autozone, or Advance, you may not have gotten a fully charged battery. It may have been partially charged, but I suggest you get a full charge from a battery charger for at least a couple of hours.

Once it is fully charged, you can put a battery tester on it to see if everything is okay. Since you don't believe you have a slow drain situation, it sure sounds like a battery that is not fully charged.

Answer 4

I've seen shorts on the wiring cause that but it usually took longer for the battery to go dead, but it wouldn't hurt checking them to make sure  

Answer 5

You do not have a bad alternator as far as the charging aspect is concerned. You may have a bad diode in the alternator that is not stopping it from charging but is draining the battery when the car is off.

The best thing to do for now is fully charge the battery and disconnect the negative cable from the battery for a day, if the battery stays charged and will start the vehicle when you hook the negative cable up it means you have a short in the vehicle. If the battery dies when disconnected you have a bad battery, even if it is new.

By the way, the alternator cannot charge the battery in a couple minutes fully, it only performs a "surface charge" so when you apply this test get a small 110v battery charger and use 6 amps or less to "trickle charge" the battery. It should take overnight.

Answer 6

whel now you unhooked the battery while it was running(a bad thing with all the electronics in that car) now you may have a bad alternator

you need to have it retested  than test it for a key off battery drain  it has to be there somewhere

Answer 7

maybe a short somewhere?  

Answer 8

I would check all the fuses and lightbulbs -- in my car I had a light that didn't work and so I never knew that it was "on" all the time and if it was left in the garage for a few days the battery would be dead. Even something as small as that.

Answer 9

need to check for a key off drain. that means you need to find out what is still on when the key is off.  also check your starter siloniod or however you spell it.  it could be draining the battery also.  

Answer 10

Hello

You say the battery is new (2) does this mean in 2002 in which case its 6 years old. Try cleaning the battery terminals/clamps.

You say the alternator is good, how about the voltage regulator which is on the alternator and keeps the charging voltage below 14 volt to stop the battery cooking from over charging.

You say the battery is charged after a couple of minutes?

Is this because the red light goes out? If so this shows charging not fully charged.

Next time you run car stop at a car battery suppliers and they can check the battery, charge rate (voltage regulator).

Your car will start a lot easier when hot than cold.

If your car starts when jumped this shows your car starting system is ok. So it has to be a drain of some sort or your battery is not getting charged or not charged enoggh. Have you tried cleaning your battery terminals? try charging your battery with battery charger over night, did it charge correctly? does it now start correctly? if so you may be running with a lot of electrical appliances ie lights/wipers/radio/tvs/heated rear window all use power and these systems must be fed before spare power is fed back to battery.

did this start after certain work was done on your vehicle? like having a  tow bar fitted, if so take it back and get them to sort it.

ANDY

Answer 11

Check the connections at the starter and make sure all grounds are in place.

Check the power wire on the back of the alternator and ensure it is tight and not corroded.  

You may end up having to run a new power wire from the back of the alternator to the battery.  It's rather simple just get a heavy gauge wire and run t from the alternator to battery.

Answer 12

Have you tried charging your battery (usually takes full day) by plugging it into a battery meter and then into an electrical outlet ? The meter tells you when the battery has a full charge.

Are the terminals on your battery corroded or dirty at all? Clean them by scraping gently with any flat edge metal tool. Same goes for your battery cables, are they cracked, brittle or corroded where they attach to battery terminal? They may need replaced.

I'd hate for you to go through all of the above just to find your battery has a problem where the dividers between the internal chambers that hold battery acid and other chemicals have become compromised. If your battery has never worked right and you are still under warranty, problem solved.  Unfortunately you may have done it yourself if you came to a sudden sideways skidding stop, especially if your vehicle left the roadway. Sorry.

Answer 13

either faulty battery connectors make sure they are making contact and are clean (clean the terminals on battery and cables and re-fasten them on tightly making a tight connection), or it could be your alternator is dying, i would put my money on one of those two things.