Battery dying when sitting altenator charging 14.6

Tiny
MGEBHARDT2908
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 FORD ESCORT
  • 2.0L
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 185,000 MILES
Battery goes dead when car is sitting. Altenator is charging at 14.6 however if you shut the car off and it sits the battery is dead when try to start the vehicle so have to jump the vehicle or charge the battery to start the car again.
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2014 AT 3:17 AM

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Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,758 POSTS
The first thing to do is have the battery tested to see if it's even capable of holding a charge.
If your battery checks out good, you may have a parasitic draw.

There is a procedure for finding a battery draw like that.

You will need a digital ammeter and a jumper wire with clips on the ends to do this.
First rig any door switches so you can have a door open without triggering the interior lights and unplug the hood light. Remove one battery cable and attach the meter in series between the battery cable and battery post. Take the jumper wire and also attach it the same way. Leave the jumper wire on for at least 10 minutes to expire all the automatic timers. Now remove the jumper wire and read the meter. Anything over 50ma is too much draw. The way you locate this is to start removing fuses one at a time until the meter drops to normal level. This will be the circuit with something staying on. Determine what components are part of that circuit and check them individually until the problem is isolated.
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2014 AT 5:22 AM

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