HELP!

[Phenom]

So earlier this week my battery went dead and I had AAA out to give me a jump start. I felt that it was weird that it happened due to the fact that nothing was left turned on or plugged in. I then went out for a nice 30 min drive to recharge the battery. When I got home i put the car on the driveway and went in for the night. I went back out to it in the morning and, again, the car doesnt start. It is displaying a "StabiliTrak Not Working" light in the guage cluster and I have no idea why the car lost its charge. Do i need a new battery or is it someting more complicated? please help.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

No worries, it seems as if a cell has shorted out in the battery. How old is the battery? Original? Aftermarket? If it's the original, replace it.

I recommend either an Interstate or DieHard battery. Autozone's Duralast batteries are known to be unreliable too.

[Ringo64]

Ouch sorry man.

Sounds like something is staying on that is draining the battery. I would think that if there is an issue with the stabilitrack it wouldn't cause the battery to go bad, unless the computer is sending the "bad" signal even when the car is turned off causing your battery to die off.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Ouch sorry man.

Sounds like something is staying on that is draining the battery. I would think that if there is an issue with the stabilitrack it wouldn't cause the battery to go bad, unless the computer is sending the "bad" signal even when the car is turned off causing your battery to die off.

I wouldn't say a parasitic drain just yet. Going by how batteries just like to blow a cell (hell, I see it at my job all too often) I'd put blame on the battery first. Test the battery by itself, see what the voltage is at. My breakdown for what to look for testing the battery:

1) You'll need a good multi-meter for this. The battery at idle (meaning no load, car off or out of the car) is normally at 12.5 volts. Put under a test load, it should between 10.5-11 volts.

2) Testing inside the car, you'll need the multi-meter again. With the engine on, the battery's voltage should read at 13.5-14 volts (that shows the alternator is charging the battery) anything lower, is a sign of the alternator's voltage regulator, or the diodes inside are starting to fail.

Testing the battery by itself will confirm if the battery is apart of the issue, and see if it's able to hold a charge on it's on. The test IN the car, will detect if your alternator is starting to fail, and show that the battery died due to the alternator not properly charging the battery while driving, thus the electrical system draining too much power from the battery, shorting a cell in the process.

[Professur]

Just about any parts place will test the battery on their analyzer for free. A smart first diagnostic point, but not to be accepted in a void. You could have a weak point somewhere in the charging system that lead to a cell in the battery shorting. Replacing the battery alone without ensuring that there's no other problem will soon lead to another dead battery. Low volt should trigger an OBD2 event tho.

Batteries are much more powerful than they were in the past, but much more fragile too. Once a dead battery was only a dead battery. Not anymore.