Dead battery ..... Again

[airmike]

I have two suggestions. One try taking the battery out of the fob and then you wont be wondering any more. If your battery is dead after that you KNOW the fob didn't cause it. Second suggestion only semi related: a cover for your fob may save you a problem at a future date. I came out of a restaurant to find my trunk open one day. Turns out it got pushed in my pocket in the building and I didn't know, the cover recesses the button some so they are less easily bumped.

 

[Lola's Mom]

Whoa! Well- this could be the problem with all of my battery problems .... Lola is parked in the garage and next to the door that enters into our laundry room .... where is exactly where I hang my purse and keys! I never-ever thought about that being a problem, but in reality that is only about 6 or 7 feet away! Well, well, well..... you can teach an old dog new tricks

 

[Phrede]

In reading this thread I have a few thoughts...

When disconnecting the battery disconnect the negative side first. Just in case the wrench touches something metallic. The negative side will not arc, nor will the positive side after the negative side is off.

Keep the FOB at least 20' away to be sure the sensors are not picking it up. The actual distance varies a little but 20' should be far enough always. Don't forget straight up if there is a room over your garage. Do not leave it in the cup holder and instruct the detailer/mechanic to do the same.

I was having a lot of battery issues. Every time a total discharge happens it shortens the life of the battery. it takes a good long time for our cars to go to sleep. I do not remember the exact time but think it was about 45 minutes. I could watch the current drop in stages until it finally got down to about 22mA. While I am not the first owner I do know that the battery I put in was the 3rd one in 30k miles.

Always make sure your battery terminals are clean.

I elected to go with a yellow top Optima rather than a red top because I never try to start in cold weather and low load discharge was more important to me than cranking amps. I have not had a single battery problem since. Worth the extra bucks in my opinion. Even though the red one would have matched the car color better.

Get in the habit of having the engine running when raising or lowering the roof. Especially when there is a crowd watching.

Go thru the entire process of opening a locked car with a dead battery as a trial run. The door release in the trunk may not be where you think it is. Test the inside mechanical door release too.

The position of the mirror select switch has no effect on parasitic drain.

Listening to the radio without the engine running does obviously draw some power but what is not so obvious is all the other systems that are powered on in accessory mode. Just turning the ignition on then right back off restarts the power down clock.

Invest in a good battery maintainer sooner rather then latter.

For the winter put up period I; fill the tank and add a can of SeaFoam, detail everything, over inflate tires to 45psi, crumple up foil into a ball and stick it in each exhaust tube (just in case there might be a mouse interested in finding a new home), attach the battery maintainer and route the cable so I can close the hood completely, cover, bait and place a couple mouse traps underneath. Then I kiss her goodnight and pat her on the butt.

THINK SPRING!

 

[hawkeye372]

I have two suggestions. One try taking the battery out of the fob and then you wont be wondering any more. If your battery is dead after that you KNOW the fob didn't cause it. Second suggestion only semi related: a cover for your fob may save you a problem at a future date. I came out of a restaurant to find my trunk open one day. Turns out it got pushed in my pocket in the building and I didn't know, the cover recesses the button some so they are less easily bumped.

I did that but while i was sitting in my chair in my house. I am only about 25 ft away from the car. So now before i go to bed, i go out and make sure my trunk isn't in the open position.

 

[Phrede]

In reading this thread I have a few thoughts...

When disconnecting the battery disconnect the negative side first. Just in case the wrench touches something metallic. The negative side will not arc, nor will the positive side after the negative side is off.

Keep the FOB at least 20' away to be sure the sensors are not picking it up. The actual distance varies a little but 20' should be far enough always. Don't forget straight up if there is a room over your garage. Do not leave it in the cup holder and instruct the detailer/mechanic to do the same.

I was having a lot of battery issues. Every time a total discharge happens it shortens the life of the battery. it takes a good long time for our cars to go to sleep. I do not remember the exact time but think it was about 45 minutes. I could watch the current drop in stages until it finally got down to about 22mA. While I am not the first owner I do know that the battery I put in was the 3rd one in 30k miles.

Always make sure your battery terminals are clean.

I elected to go with a yellow top Optima rather than a red top because I never try to start in cold weather and low load discharge was more important to me than cranking amps. I have not had a single battery problem since. Worth the extra bucks in my opinion. Even though the red one would have matched the car color better.

Get in the habit of having the engine running when raising or lowering the roof. Especially when there is a crowd watching.

Go thru the entire process of opening a locked car with a dead battery as a trial run. The door release in the trunk may not be where you think it is. Test the inside mechanical door release too.

The position of the mirror select switch has no effect on parasitic drain.

Listening to the radio without the engine running does obviously draw some power but what is not so obvious is all the other systems that are powered on in accessory mode. Just turning the ignition on then right back off restarts the power down clock.

Invest in a good battery maintainer sooner rather then latter.

For the winter put up period I; fill the tank and add a can of SeaFoam, detail everything, over inflate tires to 45psi, crumple up foil into a ball and stick it in each exhaust tube (just in case there might be a mouse interested in finding a new home), attach the battery maintainer and route the cable so I can close the hood completely, cover, bait and place a couple mouse traps underneath. Then I kiss her goodnight and pat her on the butt.

THINK SPRING!

I just re-read my post and must apologize for the poor grammar and spelling. It must have been late. I could go through and edit all the mistakes but instead I'll just post and acknowledge that it is pretty bad. I do think y'all got my points.

 

[jimmya]

Dead battery

After struggling with my car battery...I found out the read deal was battery size! They gave me a wrong size (600A) where XLR requires 800A. When I exchanged the new battery, they just gave me the new but wrong size, again and again (5 times = 5 new wrong size battery)! Finally, they found out the right battery size for my car (800A). So far so good...One other thing needs to be noted that, when I installed the wrong size battery, some thing weird happened as the Service Tracebility light comes on and off, can't shift due to selenoid won't kick! Can't explain and can't see any related but it did...

Jimmy

 

[mtrocket]

After struggling with my car battery...I found out the read deal was battery size! They gave me a wrong size (600A) where XLR requires 800A. When I exchanged the new battery, they just gave me the new but wrong size, again and again (5 times = 5 new wrong size battery)! Finally, they found out the right battery size for my car (800A). So far so good...One other thing needs to be noted that, when I installed the wrong size battery, some thing weird happened as the Service Tracebility light comes on and off, can't shift due to selenoid won't kick! Can't explain and can't see any related but it did...

Jimmy

These cars do some strange things when the batteries are low or wrong size; probably the reason for your wierd happenings. With the correct size battery, hopefully you won't experience the same problems...

 

[Victor-V]

After struggling with my car battery...I found out the read deal was battery size! They gave me a wrong size (600A) where XLR requires 800A. When I exchanged the new battery, they just gave me the new but wrong size, again and again (5 times = 5 new wrong size battery)! Finally, they found out the right battery size for my car (800A). So far so good...One other thing needs to be noted that, when I installed the wrong size battery, some thing weird happened as the Service Tracebility light comes on and off, can't shift due to selenoid won't kick! Can't explain and can't see any related but it did...

Jimmy

I never would have dreamed you would be given the wrong battery 5 times.

I would still keep your FOB far away from the car!!

 

[jimmya]

After struggling with my car battery...I found out the read deal was battery size! They gave me a wrong size (600A) where XLR requires 800A. When I exchanged the new battery, they just gave me the new but wrong size, again and again (5 times = 5 new wrong size battery)! Finally, they found out the right battery size for my car (800A). So far so good...One other thing needs to be noted that, when I installed the wrong size battery, some thing weird happened as the Service Tracebility light comes on and off, can't shift due to selenoid won't kick! Can't explain and can't see any related but it did...

Jimmy

They based on the old battery and gave me a new one...Because I told them the battery is defect and/or dead. So they looked at the old battery and gave the replaced new one...This was why I had 5 times wrong size batteries in my car...

 

[Lola's Mom]

Today was the first time I started up Lola since February 4th. Not a single hesitation .... I think y'all could solve those battery issues by just investing a few more dollars into the Optima ..... and like I said - I don't know why others have had replacement issues .... the tech dropped this one into place and had it changed in two minutes ....

 

[GizmoQ]

They based on the old battery and gave me a new one...Because I told them the battery is defect and/or dead. So they looked at the old battery and gave the replaced new one...This was why I had 5 times wrong size batteries in my car...

This happened to me, too, at AutoZone. They base the replacement on the product number you brought in. In their infinite wisdom, the new replacements of the batteries they sold 3 years ago although having the exact same product number and size - are less capable batteries, i.e., lower power. I, too, did much like you. STAND YOUR GROUND! I made them give me the the right power one - part number be damned.

 

[Popbigguy]

After struggling with my car battery...I found out the read deal was battery size! They gave me a wrong size (600A) where XLR requires 800A. When I exchanged the new battery, they just gave me the new but wrong size, again and again (5 times = 5 new wrong size battery)! Finally, they found out the right battery size for my car (800A). So far so good...One other thing needs to be noted that, when I installed the wrong size battery, some thing weird happened as the Service Tracebility light comes on and off, can't shift due to selenoid won't kick! Can't explain and can't see any related but it did...

Jimmy

I just changed my battery, I talked about in the other battery thread. But the factory stock battery I took out was CCA 600. I think that's what came with the cars from the factory.

 

[Harley03joe]

Thank You All For The Window Re-set Learning , I Just Replaced My Battery Also And Had To Re-set Both Windows, Now Tell Me More About The mirror Switch Where Should It Be Middle Or Right Or Left Side ???
Thank You For Your Time In This Matter
Harley03joe

P. S. I Know Its A Very Old Post So Don't Beat Me Up To Bad OK Ha Ha Ha