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help 96 buick century custom battery dies

Symptom:

car battery is dead the next day

suspected cause: somethign is draining the battery

battery diagnosis: the battery is good, after jump starting and running a few minutes the car can be turned off and let sit a while and later the car will turn over very fast and strong and start right up. Interior lights are strong and bright.

glovebox, hood, trunk (removed) brake lights are off, headlights are off, problem persists.

I stopped to make sure the interior lights turn off when you leave. They turn off properly.. none the less i pulled the fuse, and the problem persists still.

Fuel pump turns on when the key is on, and turns off when the key is off, this is from a hearing/sound diagnosis though.

So now i'm thinking.. a couple of different thoughts..

1> I saw a reference that a headlight reminder could be drawing the current.. so where is that located on this car?

2 > put a voltimeter on the battery.. and pull fuses one by one and see which one causes a jump in the indicator, letting me know which circuit the problem lies in.

I have 4 more questions:

1> anyone know of a common problem this year/make/model is known for concerning this issue?

2> What other items are connected to the positive that cold be drawing power... power seats, door locks, dome light delay.... uhmm? I pulled the fuses for the door locks, dome light.. problem still persists

4> Is there a better way/procedure to diagnose the problem?

TIA

- Danny

Reply to
Daniel
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Daniel wrote in alt.autos.gm

How old is the battery? It is possible that the battery has a build up of corrosion on the case and is slowly draining off the charge. I have had a couple of batteries do that. Plus I had a voltage regulator go out that would drain the battery in about half an hour. First thing you need to do is to disconnect the battery when you park and see if it is good the next day. If it is, then you need to start checking everything, follow the wires coming off the battery and disconnect them one at a time to see if that is the cause. A Digital Multimeter Meter would be a big help, along with an ohmmeter.

Reply to
Dick C

Appreciate the help. I switched batteries (getting the battery out was a PIA) with my 87 pontiac bonneville. So far, both batteries are good and both cars hold a charge and run. I did find a huge amount of build up of corrosion around the positive terminal in the century, so I think you nailed this one right on the head of the nail. :)

thanks

Reply to
Daniel

Daniel wrote in alt.autos.gm

Glad to be of help. Usually the problems seen are the most basic and simplest. And are the ones most overlooked. I have spent way too much of my life driving older cars, with old batteries in them when I bought them. Way too much time spent playing with batteries.

Reply to
Dick C

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