Battery Checks

The complaint on this Chrysler Sebring was that the battery would not stay charged. It was dropped off after-hours and sure enough the battery was dead next morning. A jumpstart was needed and I tested the alternator voltage while the car was running. The alternator was working.

In theory my tester can check a discharged battery. It works best to disconnect the cables from the battery since there could be interference from the car's electrical system. I put the memory saver in to keep settings and system memories alive before disconnecting the battery. The battery tested bad. Now sometimes I can get a *bad* reading testing a battery that is very low that turns into *good* after an overnight trickle charge. I put the charger on the battery for the slow charge and installed a known good battery on the car to use for further testing in the meantime. 

At this point I had tested battery and alternator. I needed to see if there was something on the car draining the battery. With the good battery on the car and with the memory saver removed I tested the battery draw. I wanted to see less than 50mA. Battery draw was good. 

To wrap things up, the battery never came to full charge and would lose what charge it did have very quickly. Bad battery. 

Thanks!

Kenneth Hayes

G&G Auto Repair