I have had to jump my cars battery when I go to crank it up the last 2-3 times I have taken it out. I probably drive it once a week so I am not sure if letting it sit that long has something to do with it. When I was installing my radio and doing some wire work a few weeks back I had the radio on a doors open for a while and I had to jump it then not thinking about how fast these batteries seem to loose juice. I am wondering if I just need to charge my battery for a while since I usually jump it and then take the jumper cables off but shouldnt the batter get charged while driving anyway? I never had any issues with it before the last month or so. Any ideas?

Another quick question: My amp guage seems to stay toward the right side and when I put on the blinkers you can see it moving. Do you think this could have something to do with the voltage regulator and battery dying?

 

Have you had your battery checked?

I had a battery that was less than a year old go bad on me.

 

you might also try taking an amp reading with the car off like you would when you park it for a week. (everything off) Pull the + wire off the battery put one test lead to the post and the other test lead to the cable and see if amp draw is above 10mAh or 1/10th of an amp. If its like a half amp then something other than the radio clock is drawing power like a courtesy light is stuck on.... If amp draw is close to 0 then it could be a bad charging system. Start the car and put the test meter across the + and - terminal on the battery. if volts are 13V your okay if they read 13.5 to 14 even better if they read 12v or less no good...check alternator.

-Gun

 

Most autoparts stores will charge your battery for free. Get that done fist and work down from there.

(its a good idea if your car sits to get a trickle charger, they only run about 40 bucks)

 

sounds silly but check your dash light, but after you get your battery tested and charged. my 66 convertable has had charge problems for over 7 years, back when it was my dads and we had no idea what would cause it. i was replacing my radio and took the glove bok out and found out there was a loose connection and my glove box light would just stay on all the time. i fixed it and now it holds a perfect charge.

 

do your dash lights fluctuate and then get brighter as rpms rise?

 

shoot, my car doesn't even have problems starting and the gauge lights do that!

 

A multimeter cost less than a trickle charger...plus it empowers you. You no longer have to be slave to other people like auto parts store and mechanics. You can now investigate the mysteries of electrical systems under your own power.

I have never used the battery charger laying in the garage but I use my multimeter about 1 a week

buy a multimeter and fight the man!

-Gun

 

I have also had many charging problems with my car but got them all worked out. I don't want to repeate everyone else but I'm going to anyway. First, I would take your battery to an Auto parts store and get it checked. If it tests good, reinstall it and buy a voltmeter/multimeter. Use the voltmeter to check the voltage of the battery while the car is running, should be well over 12 volts, if not, check the alternators voltage. If this isn't over 12 volts it's probably your alternator. If alternator is putting out over 12 and the battery leads aren't reading over 12 then it's probably a wiring problem, solenoid, or voltage regulator. If it's a wiring problem, that's gonna be a pain to locate. Voltage regulators and solenoids are cheap to replace. You might also want to check the wiring harness that plugs into the voltage regulator. If the connection between the plugs metal contacts and the regulator aren't tight, you could be losing voltage. This was my problem and fixed everything, after I spent $200 on a new 100 amp alternator and voltage regulator. I will say though that the new 100 amp alternator eliminated all my dimming headlights and interior lights problems. It also brightened my gauge lights much more.

 

i have a quick question while we are on the subject of testing current. To test the flow going into the radio, does the car need to be running, or just in the on position?