drained new battery

[pmichele461]

I want to thank you all in advance as I'm new to this forum. I've searched and not found this problem mentioned before. I have a 1979 Veloce Spyder. Last week I had a new battery installed. I drove the car approx. 200 miles that day (turning it on and off) and had no problems. When I attempted to start it the following day--nothing. Complete silence. I tried charging the battery, but that didn't take. I was able to jump it off my truck. Any words of advice before I take it into a mechanic? Thanks again.

[Sniady]

Did you wash or touch the inside of your engine bay?

You should check your alternator connections, and voltage regulator.

[Bill]

You might try checking the charging rate of your alternator, and the condition of the battery with a volt or multimeter,
I just ran thru the same problem and discovered my alternator was not charging. Found a Bosch replacement at a parts store for
$65.
Also, make sure nothing is left on, like fan motor, interior lights, etc. Its possible this could be a problem; hard to hear the fan on low. Make sure all ground connections are tight and clean.
Keep asking for help, before you pay for help. Hope this helped!

[NikosF]

It's strange that you can jump-start the car, but charging the battery up (I assume you mean with a bench charger) didn't help. If it were 'just' a faulty alternator you would be able to start up with a freshly recharged battery.

Have you checked that the battery terminal connections are nice and tight? I would loosen them up, reclean and do them up again - also checking security of ground connection, etc.

If you suspect the battery - pull it from the car, and have some place like Autozone check it for you - they have a machine they hook it up to that figures out if you have a dead cell.

Also - what was the reason you changed the battery in the first place?

Good luck.

[John M]

Hey PM:

Probably nothing too wrong with her. I see it as a bad connection or a bad alternator. Sounds like you are not charging the battery.

I would not give up on charging the battery with your battery charger. Some of the over the counter chargers will click off and reset several times when charging a dead battery before it gets going. Also your charger should have a fuse, so check that if its not charging it at all. And on a 10amp charger, its going to take quite awhile (overnight) to fully charge your battery. I would initially rule out the battery especially if you just changed it. I would start by checking the connection between the battery and the alternator. I believe your old regulator is solid state so I would doubt it to be the problem. You could have a bad alternator. Very common. On the driver's side fender well in the engine bay, you should find a little black box with several red wires running to it. You should see a wire running from the alternator to this box. Remove the box's cap and the 10mm nut. Clean or replace the connectors as needed. Another set of wires run from the alternator to the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator sits to the left of the radiator. Ensure the wires are firmly plugged into the regulator.

If that does not get it, I don't know your mechanical ability, so I would follow NickosF's suggestion and say take it to where you bought your battery and let them check it out to see if your alternator is putting out any juice.

Does your battery have any power? Do the lights work? Has the gen light on your tach been on?

Best Regards,
John M

[Roadtrip]

Sure sounds like a bad battery to me, new or not. Did you try charging it off the car or on the car with the battery connections in place? If you were able to jump start it, and it continued to run after you removed the jumper cables, then the alternator is putting out current (since the battery was dead).

If the battery would not take a charge it sounds like a shorted cell. Use your hydrometer and check each cell.

Is the generator light ON?

[pmichele461]

First, I'd like to thank all of you who responded to my drained battery question. I'll begin running through your suggestions this weekend. Two pieces of information I'd like to add, however. Prior to having the battery replaced, I had the alternator checked and everything looked good. That's the reason I replaced the battery to start with. One other thing, on the day I was able to drive the vehicle, I noticed at night that the battery indicator light was glowing faintly. You've probably already figured out that I don't know much about cars, but I do love my Alfa and really want to get back on the road. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[papajam]

Hmmmmm... Two dead batteries with an alternator that checks good. I'd suspect a current draw when the car is off. Like a light staying on or the cigarette lighter engaged or something.
Glowing alt lights are almost always caused by dirty fuses.