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The Battery.!! She is dead..!! Please help...

xjwoody

NAXJA Forum User
I'll continue to search around the Forum, but...

87 XJ 4.0

Battery drained..?

I bought a new one last night, and it started right up with no problems.

Came out this morning and the new battery is completely drained.

All the doors are closed, and the ignition dealie is in the proper position.

I have an important appointment at 3:00PM, today.


Can I get there..?? Can you please help me... Sir.? Ma'am..?

Thanks..
 
Under the Hood light did mine in once. If the glove box, hood, intirior lights are not causing the drain then it is time to search.

With the appointment, I would get the Jeep jumped, running making sure the battery is charged. When the battery is charged just unplug the negitive cable, this should save the battery for when you have to go to the appointment. Do the same thing when you get to the appointment. This way you should not be stranded.
 
I got rid of that underhood light, all ready.

I'll check on that dash box light..

Yikes..!!

Thanks..
 
I had this problem with my XJ once upon a time, it turned out that the dome light was draining it.

all the doors were closed and the switch was off, and the light was never on when i got out of the XJ, or in the morning, but the battery would be dead on random mornings. I figured out the problem one night at 3 am when i went to take the trash out. It seems that the dew from the night air shorted the switch and caused the light to turn on by itself. I took the bulb out of the rear light and that fixed the problem.
 
Well.. I made it through Friday. Thanks to my Girlfriend..

Still trying to get the battery charged.

After I get that, I'll be able to try locating the electrical Boogie-Man, or Men.. Or, Woman... Or, Women...

I am just going to unplug everything..
 
OK.. I hooked the battery to a charger overnight. I Put it back in the Jeep and, "clink"... Nothing.

I took the battery over to Frick and Frack's auto service. I paid them to hook it up to their charger for the day. I put it back in the Jeep and, "clink"... Nothing.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of phenomenon?

Maybe the starter has gone goofy..?

For now, that battery is completely disconnected.

TIA
 
Now, these symptoms are different.
I assume they tested the battery before charging. It was new, anyway.
You must have some kind of faulty connection and the current just isn't getting through. Check at your Battery posts first; and then the connections at the starter. Also the one that goes to the Power Distribution Center (Black relay box behind the battery). Are they clean and tight? Positives and negatives?
 
jldiaz said:
Now, these symptoms are different.
I assume they tested the battery before charging. It was new, anyway.
You must have some kind of faulty connection and the current just isn't getting through. Check at your Battery posts first; and then the connections at the starter. Also the one that goes to the Power Distribution Center (Black relay box behind the battery). Are they clean and tight? Positives and negatives?

I can only guess that they tested everything properly prior to charging. Those guys over there are loons...

I'll get in there and check all the battery connections really well..

Maybe I'll pitch the EZ up..

Of course, now it'll be raining for a few weeks...

TIA
 
Check your battery voltage before charging it again, A battery is not fully charged until it is putting out 12.45 volts. If the battery is indeed charged up, and your starter will still not turn, check for faulty connections at the battery, corossion at the terminals, look for a bad ground, check connections at the starter. If all of that looks good, your starter may infact be no good. But if the battery is really going dead every morning you have a drain somewhere in your system, if no lights are being left on, you should have your alternatory checked, it could be staying energized and killing your battery.
 
My starter/battery test goes like this:

Turn the headlamps on. Look into them. Are they hot and bright?
If not then the battery isn't charged or some connection issue.

If not hot and bright then use a voltmeter to measure voltage across battery terminals. Be sure you touch the terminal, not the connected lug to the wire. See 12 V? If yes, now measure by touching onto lugs not terminals. See nearly the same 12 V? (only maybe 0.1 V lower) If yes then you've got other problems. If no then check for batterry post to terminal corrosion .

If you don't see 12 V at battery terminals (not lugs) then battery is discharged or low electrolyte or bad battery (high internal resistance due to sulfated plates)

If headlamps are hot/bright, have someone try to start vehicle. Do headlamps dim greatly when starter engages and motor does not crank? If yes suspect battery post to terminal corrosion, low battery electrolyte, bad battery. If headlamps do not dim during starter but motor does not crank suspect something about starter: ignition switch, starter wiring, starter.

I doubt that starter problems are related to overnight battery discharge. You might have two problems here.
 
If you recharge a car battery to many times then the plates will break down and you will lose all cranking power. Charge and load test the battery, and make sure ALL connections are clean and tight, not just the positive ones.
 
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