2004 Mercury Mountaineer Logo
ENRIQUE Posted on Oct 30, 2012
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I bought a new battery and still wont start

It will start real good for a day and then it needs cable again

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Anonymous

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  • Posted on Oct 30, 2012
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Have you had the alternator checked? may not be charging the battery.

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  • Posted on Oct 30, 2012
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You may have an excessive current drain (look up parasitic drain) on the battery.Check these in this order:

1) Is there any interior light, or any other accessories left on when the vehicle is stopped? Is the trunk light allowed to stay on? Turn these all off if so.
2) Is there a stereo allowed to stay on with the engine off? If so, re-wire it to always turn off when ignition is switched off.
3) Is the vehicle fitted with an alarm? Does the alarm have a backup battery for the siren?
If you have a multimeter with ammeter, then please follow these instructions:
Test 1) With the ignition turned OFF, disconnect the positive terminal of the vehicle's battery and connect the multimeter (switched to amps setting) in series with the battery's positive terminal and the positive lead of the battery. BE SURE to make sure that your stereo does not require a key code later, or that you have the code to input when this test is over and you need to reconnect the battery.Take the keys out of the ignition, close the vehicle's doors (if there is a hood switch for the alarm, then tape it closed, make sure everything is turned off, and that the vehicle alarm is NOT set.
Keep an eye on your ammeter. A typical and normal battery drain on most cars after ten minutes will read 0.03 amps. If your vehicle shows this figure, then everything is good so far. (If higher than this figure, proceed to test 2 below.) If around this 0.03 amps range, then set the vehicle's alarm. Recheck amp draw. If exceeding around 0.06 amps, then alarm is likely faulty. Most likely cause is any back-up battery within the alarm's siren unit has failed.
Test 2: If amp draw exceeds 0.03 amps at rest, then locate vehicle's interior fuse box, and start pulling fuses one by one and then retesting. The way I would proceed with this is first take out the fuse for the interior lights. This allows you to first read your multimeter and see of amps have dropped back to normal, and then continue pulling other fuses with the interior lights off completely. This will ensure the interior lights cannot interfere with your readings as you continue.Pull the radio/stereo fuse. The stereo is the second most common cause of parasitic drain after the alarm system.Every time you pull a fuse but register no change in amp draw, then replace the fuse and continue until you pull a fuse which causes the amp draw to drop considerably. That fuse will be the system which is at fault and will lead you to your remedy.
When you have completed your diagnostics, then remember to reset your vehicle's clock, stereo codes, radio station presets. You may notice that the vehicle's performance may have changed slightly after the battery has been disconnected for several minutes.
Most vehicle ECUs are learning computers and have the basic ability to adjust the vehicle's performance to suit your style of driving. After a few minutes driving around again, your vehicle's engine computer will adjust the engine's performance to best suit your driving characteristics. The computers memory will typically be erased every time you disconnected the vehicle's battery for an extended period.


If none of the above helps, then please repost.

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