Subject ) Dead Battery ) My battery suddenly.

TONY-T

MEMBER
2004 CHRYSLER PACIFICA
80,000 MILES

Subject ) Dead Battery ) My battery suddenly went dead. I jump started the car & tested it's charging system. 14.5 volts. This battery was replaced a year ago. I cleaned the terminals, they were a bit dirty but not that it would cause a prob. When I removed the terminals I tested with a test light ^ volt meter to check for a draw on the - there was no draw at all. On the + side I have a 4.5 draw is this from the control module stored voltage?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,874 POSTS

There's something wrong with your test measurements. First of all, whatever goes out on the negative cable must be equal to what's coming in on the positive one. It's not possible for the two to be different unless something turned on or off between the two measurements. Second, what is the 4.5? If that's milliamps, that's way lower than expected after 20 minutes. Up to 35 milliamps is acceptable and normal to maintain all the computer memories. If that's 4.5 amps, that too can be acceptable for up to 20 minutes for some computers to go to "sleep mode". You can't do simple current draw tests with an amp meter like we did years ago, thanks to all the computers. The procedure is not complicated once you understand the reason for it, but it does take a long time to describe it.