Dead battery

[Lightspeed]

Im having trouble keeping my battery from dying...i can let my car run and charge up for like an hour and it will start fine and everything but if i try to use my cd player under my accessory on the ignition switch it only takes like 1 minute tops for it to go dead...what could possibly be causing this?

[HotRoddin]

To me it sounds like a sulfated battery... it will still come up to voltage after a good charge but has no capacity (discharges really quickly). Its like you can put 8 D cell flashlight batteries together and make them read 12 volts, but how long would they last if you cranked a car starter with them ? Go down to the local Autozone and let them do a load test on the battery. I doubt its a short, because if you could run a full capacity battery down in a couple of min with a cd then that would be a big enough current draw that you'd be smokin the wires under the dash.

[matt1190]

Like lightspeed mentioned, I would take your car to a local parts store to have a diagnostics check run on yur electric system. I had a similar problem with my car too. I was breaking in the engine on an hour drive and as soon as I had to turn my headlights on the battery began to drain. Turned out that one of the connections to the alternator was bad. Good luck!

[Lightspeed]

thanks i think uve hit it on the head with the wiring thing... i appreciate the help and ill let yall know the results

[Rev]

Yup, my bet is a bad battery. you can't just go on voltage readings at rest. If when you crank it , the voltage falls to near zero, you can bet that it's a bad battery.

Rev

[Lightspeed]

well i also thought it was a bad battery...but this is the 3rd battery ive put in it...and im starting to think that its just not getting charged like it should

[Rev]

Yes, overcharging can shorten battery life.

Rev

[Lightspeed]

well my alternator gauge doesnt even move when the car is at idle and barely moves when the rpms go up...im not sure if all mustangs are like that or if its because its not getting any juice...ive replaced my alternator and voltage regulator by the way

[Rev]

Been there many times. Voltage can be OK with a dead cell. As mentioned earlier, take it in for a test at AutoZone.

Rev

[Lightspeed]

alright should i get them to test anything else while im there?

[Rev]

You could also bring in the regulator and alternator, but I doubt it's either one of those. I might mention that the guys (gals) that work there don't always know what they're doing, but usually do know.

Rev

[hobgoblin351]

You didnt mention is the motor running when you play the sterio. If you're running big amps and such it will drain any system. I know thats pretty much a no brainer but I had to ask. Are all the amps hooked up correctly? Are you getting any drain on the battery with the whole system shut down?

[Lightspeed]

yes its draining while the motor is off...but the problem is...its draining like super fast...faster than it really should...i can play my stereo for like 1 minute (60 seconds) and the battery will be so dead it will just click...i didnt think that they ran down that fast... (also to mention it does it with any other accessory) usually if you leave your headlights on for 10 minutes it will run down your car, normally that is, but its running mine down in a matter of seconds...this is why i thought something might be wrong, ive changed the batter atleast 4 times, alternator and the voltage regulator and still seem to have the same problem

[hobgoblin351]

You've got a crossed wire somewhere. Ok so I stated the obvious! lol Was this a problem before you put the sterio in? Disconnect the sterio, amps and all, then see if you still have a draw on the battery. If you're lucky you just connected something wrong. If it still has a draw you're very unlucky. lol It took me, 2 long weekends to find where the short in my elec. sys was. It's a real pain in the *** but you've got to do it. Get a voltmeter, one that can test for continuity, a test light, and a wireing diagram. I'd send you a copy but I've only got the diagram for 69/70. Sooner or later you'll find where the short is! Hopefully sooner. When I did it ,it was later! I finally traced it back to the horn ring in the steering wheel. God what a pain, I threw many tools that day! lol Good luck

[Lightspeed]

well i was also thinking it was a wire somewhere but as you can see i had a lot of imput about the situation...as from other people at work. i might have a pretty good idea where it is actually...which might turn out to be not such a big hastle, it didnt really click until you said crossed wire ...but ill check it and if not then ill continue with the other wires, thanks for the elctrical help there...