I recently replaced the fan belt tensioner as it was quite loose and not catching on to start the car up all the time, we were dealing with this problem for about 2 weeks. Now it seems it still isnt starting when its really cold but if we put a fully charged battery on it would start up. the thing is once we do this we will drive about 10 mins away to work then come back 8 hours later and the battery is flat. what could be causing the battery to drain so quickly while the car is off and sitting when it was fully charged? dodgy battery?
It could be the battery. It could also be a short somewhere causing the battery to go flat. I'd fit a new battery first.
Check the battery voltage when the car is running, it should be 13-14v if it's like 12-11v then the alternator isn't charging it. If you have access to a clamp meter, test the current draw on the battery with the car and ignition completely off, there should be no/minimal draw current wisr
^^^^that would of been a 10 minute course yeah? I used to work for Century Batteries doing UPS and solar systems for Telstra and huge data recovery centres.....want to know the best bit of advice about a battery? The heavier it is the better it is (in about 90% of applications due to the higher lead content) unless its a AGM
re: new battery - choose one with highest CCA as possible. I had a 2005 Corolla that I fitted a big stereo to. Drained the battery on more than one occasion just sitting there listening to stereo, car not running. Battery place fit a battery from a subaru wrx, and made up a new support base for nix. More CCA= end of flat batteries.
If your gonna sit in your car pumping your stereo up while the car is not running, it will benefit more from a deep cycle battery with a higher reserve capacity rather than cold cranking amps.
I always get the highest CCA rating I can when buying new batteries. Ive got a 600 CCA in my VSV6 at the moment. It was the highest CCA rated battery in stock that would fit in the car.. It was minus 4 degrees below 0 here this morning, and you need a bloody good battery on heaps cold mornings like these.
