Battery dies after car is turned off and check engine light is on

ALEECO79

MEMBER
2007 DODGE CALIBER
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
88,000 MILES

In the past two days, every time I turn off my car, the battery dies. The battery is brand new in the last month. I am able to manually open the doors and the car turns on fine and drives at regular speed. Just today though, the check engine light came on and I had a couple of scary episodes where the car stalled briefly and then shot forward at a higher speed.

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014 AT 12:34 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,330 POSTS

The Engine Computer detected a problem, set a diagnostic fault code, and turned the Check Engine light on to tell you. The place to start is by having the codes read. Many auto parts stores will do that for you for free, but it's important to understand that those codes will never say to replace a part or that one is defective. They only indicate the circuit or system that needs further diagnosis.

A test of the charging system may be in order to see if it is capable of delivering its rated output current. If one of the six internal diodes is bad, the common 90 amp alternator will only deliver 30 amps, and that is not enough to run the entire electrical system under all conditions. The battery will have to make up the difference until it slowly runs down over hours or days.

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Wednesday, January 29th, 2014 AT 12:46 PM