Have an '85 XJ6. If it sits for a few days the battery is dead. Where do i start?
You first have to determine if it is a charging of the battery issue, or the battery itself, or if there is an unintended drain on the battery while sitting.
You can check if the alternator is charging good, by putting a voltmeter on the battery while engine is running. Voltmeter should read over 13 volts, somewhere between about 13.2 volts and tops about 14 volts, or just over. Anything less than 13 volts, and the alternator is not up to par, not charging the battery sufficiently.
If the battery is a little old, and beyond its warranty, it may just be too old to take a full charge, or it might have a dead cell. You can have the battery tested to see if it is still good.
If the alternator and battery are both good and working properly, you can check for an overnight drain with just a simple testlight. Everything in car should be off. Now take off the battery negative terminal and connect the testlight between the negative cable end and the battery negative post. If you have anything draining the battery while it sits, the testlight will light up brightly. If no light, or a very dim bulb, the system is good. A dim light would just be computer and clock memory, a very small draw, like milliamps, and should not be enough to run the battery down.If you have a bright light on the tester, just start pulling fuses out one at a time, till light goes out. The circuit for the fuse that turned the testlight off is the problem circuit. Something on that circuit should be off and not drawing power, but it is.Good luck.
5/9/2012 12:24:08 AM •
1985 Jaguar XJ6
•
Answered
on May 09, 2012
•
242 views