[FutureX 2001]

Alright, looks like there's probably something wrong with my car after all, it's a 1994 Acura Legend GS. I got it not too long ago in January for about $7200. It has about 134k on her. She rides well, and is excellent condition. About 2 weeks after I got her the battery would drain, it had an undersized "interstate" battery. I kept boosting it with another battery, charging it. If it was still for 24hours+ it would drain completely again. So about 2-3 weeks ago I went out an got me a proper size DuraLast battery with full 2yr warranty. Says 7year on the battery itself.

Well guess what, today I go out, try to turn on the car, no go. I turn the key and the dashboard makes a "fluttering" noise. The lights blinks, no crank. Windows roll down ULTRA slow. Checked all the accesories everything was off when I attempted to turn it on... the only that was on was maybe the factory alarm...

What do you guys think, something draining the battery (what??) or bad alternator (I'm guessing $600+ to get a new one in eh?)... I never got any low-batt warnings while driving the car. I had just used it yesterday everything seemed fine!

Gonna WALK to my dad's work and bring back his car (90 Legend) and try to boost it off of that battery to see if it goes on....

 

[kopper187]

Doesn't dound good. Either your battery is not getting charged, or you have a short which is causeing a drain. How long did you drive on the new one yesterday? A brand new battery should not be drained on one short trip. Also, it might not be the alternator's fault. Any part of the charging system could cause this problem.

As for a short... do you get shocked when getting out of the car? That could mean bad ground which is causeing a drain.

Since you're not getting a batt warning light, it should not be the charging system.


Good luck.

 

[Fun92]

I'd say you have a short somewhere in the system. I wouldn't rule out the alternator though, sometimes it will put out the voltage that's needed but not the current needed to charge the battery. This will still drain your battery but won't cause the dashboard light to come on. Take your car into a shop and they can check the alternator and battery for a small price. Sears charges $10 and I think everything should be comparable to that. Good luck with getting it figured out.

 

[FutureX 2001]

It's getting worse, just got back from job hunting and trying to start it again, now the dashboard lights are hardly lighting up, and the alarm LED isn't flashing...

 

[FutureX 2001]

Alright, got the other battery and car started, charged up just fine, drove it for a while, starting good. I think I know what *might* be causing it. if some of you recall I said there was an electric/speaker type 11gauge wire near my battery under the hood. It led down into the car, but was not connected so I didn't think much of it. Well I got suspicious (i was looking for a short) and jacked up the car to look underneath, the cable leads all the way to the starter solenoid. ??? I disconnected it, what's worse is part of the cable was burnt! had some sort of grease on it and was hot.. i'm guessing it was probably starting to spark.

What do you guys think the cable was used for? Some sort of remote start? my car's keyhole to start it was awfully hard to turn the first couple of days, as if it had not been used much.


Also there's a lot of grease under there, but no visible leaks... cleaned it up a bit.. will check to see where the mystery grease is coming from.

 

[502 MotorSports]

It is possible he had a "push Buton" start, sao he wouldn't have to use the key...If you go to AutoZone or Pepe Boys, they check your entire charging sstem free....battery/alternator in the car...check them out too.

 

[FutureX 2001]

So far so good, batter hasn't drained after removing the wire, I didn't even drive much on purpose to see if it drained hehe (now that's just torture).