Hi, all,
my 97' buick skylark loses its electricity if I don't drive for several days. After battery replacement, it works fine again. I suspect the electric system is aged and some parts of it drain the battery. Some friends suggest for such an "old" car, I have to drive it on the high now and then to charge the battery.
However, my car is in a good shape beside the electricity lose problem.
Can anyone give some advice?
Thanks!!!
Jing
The message from "sunny" contains these words:
i don't suppose many people here have ever seen a Buick Skylark. However, I'm sure solving electrical problems works the same in America as it does in the UK...
First, check the voltage across the terminals of the battery when the engine's running. It should read around 14.4 volts. Less than about 13.4 and it won't be charging the battery.
If that's OK then move to finding out where the current's going. Firstly, with the engine off get an ammeter and fit it in line with the earth terminal of the battery. If there's no current shown as being drawn then you've definitely got a problem!
If however there is current going somewhere, (don't start the engine by the way) pull fuses one by one till you find which one stops the current. That's the circuit with the short. Don't forget to check the alternator wiring, too.
Is there a light in the boot? Perhaps the switch is stuck on.
Turn everything off and measure the current flowing through each fuse in turn. They should all be zero but perhaps there is a fault. Ideally you don't want to just replace the fuse with the meter - better keep the fuse in the circuit if you can. That might mean making up some leads for the job.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.