Car won’t start help! Battery drains

[bobbystang]

So for a while now my car battery slowly drains and I have simply dealt w it for prob 6 years now.
Seems it started when I took my viper alarm off my car 6 years ago but idk.
When I go to autozone and get my car battery etc tested like I did last week it always says bad voltage regulator, battery was slightly below avg and now the starter didn’t give a good reading.
My car makes one click sound and won’t turn over and is dead .
I connect it to my charger in garage and takes almost two days to fully charge and then it starts again and one week later it died being today.
I heard our cars are notorious for blowing the voltage regulators

I also changed my alternator 3 years ago and got It tested right after at autozone and still read bad voltage regulator so I put stock one back on.

I am on stock alternate and starter FYI w 54k miles on it. 99 cobra

What is wrong w it guys? please help!


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[Mojo88]

My Roush had been giving me starting issues for quite a while. Charging system checked out good, I eventually put a new battery in and ..... WOW! ...... now my engine cranks over like crazy.

So I would say try a new battery, assuming you are getting voltage of ~14.2 while engine is running.

No way battery should take two days to charge, unless you are using trickle charger. So that clue right there is enough for me to say get new battery.

 

[bobbystang]

My Roush had been giving me starting issues for quite a while. Charging system checked out good, I eventually put a new battery in and ..... WOW! ...... now my engine cranks over like crazy.

So I would say try a new battery, assuming you are getting voltage of ~14.2 while engine is running.

No way battery should take two days to charge, unless you are using trickle charger. So that clue right there is enough for me to say get new battery.

Ya but even before as I mentioned the battery drains quicker then it normally should for quite some time now.
Also bad voltage regulator Aqua comes up when tested and I believe that can drain battery


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[brigs]

Ya but even before as I mentioned the battery drains quicker then it normally should for quite some time now.
Also bad voltage regulator Aqua comes up when tested and I believe that can drain battery


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This might be totally off, but the guy I bought my car from said the ABS module was draining it in the past. When it was disconnected, it wouldn't happen, so that was it apparently. I looked it up, and found that others have experienced this issue: "... ABS module sometimes will not intermittently sleep, and drain the battery."

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

my 03 mach has a battery drain for forever, I just keep it on the trickle charger now or it'll be dead in a week or two. Im too lazy to try and track it down

 

[bobbystang]

This might be totally off, but the guy I bought my car from said the ABS module was draining it in the past. When it was disconnected, it wouldn't happen, so that was it apparently. I looked it up, and found that others have experienced this issue: "... ABS module sometimes will not intermittently sleep, and drain the battery."

My abs light has been on for years now and the bad voltage regulator also.

So many things could be it smh!


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[bobbystang]

my 03 mach has a battery drain for forever, I just keep it on the trickle charger now or it'll be dead in a week or two. Im too lazy to try and track it down

That’s where mine is now myself same thing


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[shurur]

Do a search about battery drain and the general electronics module (gem).

Also check out the issues with the Dallas speedcals. If you have a speedcal installed, it needs to be connected to switched power, not constant power..that is the traction control vice the cigarette lighter. The speedcals will drain the battery like you are describing.

The cig lighter is constant on the 96-99 cobras.

 

[Mojo88]

Ya but even before as I mentioned the battery drains quicker then it normally should for quite some time now.
Also bad voltage regulator Aqua comes up when tested and I believe that can drain battery


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Yeah, but two days to charge a battery???? No way that's right, unless (as I already stated) you are using a trickle charger.

One way to test is to use a meter, disconnect one terminal, hook up to meter, other end to batt terminal..... and measure the draw (engine off, of course). Once you can see the draw, you will know for sure if it's too high. And then, if it is too high, you can remove one fuse at a time to see which circuit is causing the load.

 

[52merc]

My slow drain was a bad Mach460 amp, The amp worked fine, just it has a constant battery drain. Had to unplug it if I didn't want the battery to go dead after about 5 days.

 

[bobbystang]

My slow drain was a bad Mach460 amp, The amp worked fine, just it has a constant battery drain. Had to unplug it if I didn't want the battery to go dead after about 5 days.

I read on a 97 cobra thread that a lot of people had the same problem said they unplug their amp from the rear and then plugged it back in and the problem went away. Also I use noco charger to charge my battery while in the garage and in storage over the winter


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[52merc]

It would still drain after plugging it back in. There was a failure of a resistor in the 12V power into the amp which is supposed to be switched by the 5V signal from the head unit. I fixed it by ripping out the entire Mach 460 system and replacing it. No problems now. I use a Noco charger on mine during the winter as well.

 

[bobbystang]

It would still drain after plugging it back in. There was a failure of a resistor in the 12V power into the amp which is supposed to be switched by the 5V signal from the head unit. I fixed it by ripping out the entire Mach 460 system and replacing it. No problems now. I use a Noco charger on mine during the winter as well.

Is it safe to say that the starter is not the issue if when my car dies and makes only one click sound when I try to turn it over and crank it that once I plug it into my Noco charger in my garage and the battery fully charges n the car starts back up that the starter is not the issue or not necessarily?


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[bobbystang]

Is it safe to say that the starter is not the issue if when my car dies and makes only one click sound when I try to turn it over and crank it that once I plug it into my Noco charger in my garage and the battery fully charges n the car starts back up that the starter is not the issue or not necessarily?


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Update:My batteries on the charger in the garage on a noco and it is now fully charged. I just attempted to start the car and it would not start this time I like last time when it did. It just made one click and that was it. Is this the sign of a bad starter or?



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[01yellercobra]

Try smacking the starter with a piece of wood. If it cranks over it might have a dead spot and need to be replaced.

 

[52merc]

Have you checked all your grounds. A bad ground between the engine block and the frame could cause a no crank.

 

[bobbystang]

Have you checked all your grounds. A bad ground between the engine block and the frame could cause a no crank.

I have not I’m not that mechanically inclined so checking electrics n things of that nature would be a challenge for me lol


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