Battery draining

HWSHIRA

MEMBER
2004 DODGE STRATUS
2.7L
4 CYL
123,000 MILES

Battery is about two months old. Car was dead today. Voltage was 0.2 volts Makes me wonder if the battery is totally disconnected. Jumped it from another car for fifteen minutes. Charging voltage was 14 volts. Car then started a-okay Disconnected jumpers and voltage was 12.5 volts. I can't believe the battery charge went from 0.2 to 12.5 in fifteen minutes. Can you? Is there a low voltage cutoff that disconnects the battery if it drops below some safe level?

4 Replies

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Good evening,

No, there is not. It sounds like you have a parasitic drain to make the battery go dead. I would check to be sure.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-dead-overnight

Roy

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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 4:06 PM

CJ MEDEVAC

MECHANIC
11,004 POSTS

So the voltage on the Stratus was 12.5 volts while it was running?

If so, did it get better the longer it ran?

Normally, you will see running voltage being in the 14 volt range.

Sometimes batteries can act funny, they might require more thorough testing. If the running 12.5 volts never improved (if that was the situation) alternator may not be operating as it should, or it's path to charge the battery could be open.

Check this out,

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator

This came from our "Repair Guides" at the top right of our pages.

I'm giving you that link too so you don't have to go looking. Check out the "electrical" section, there are several articles dealing with the battery also.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles

Let us know what your findings are.

The Medic

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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 4:36 PM

HWSHIRA

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thanks for the prompt reply and the suggestions. I checked the voltage again today with the car running. It was 14.0 volts right where it should be. It was 12.4 before I started the car.
My best guess is that the trunk lid was not quite locked down overnight and the light drained the battery. But I still find it hard to believe that it actually took the battery down to 0.2 volts and that it charged up to 12.5 within fifteen minutes! I suspicious of an intermittent regulator and will check it periodically over the next few days to see what happens.

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Thursday, January 17th, 2019 AT 2:53 PM

ASEMASTER6371