gretzky99

I've had this problem since ownership...my 928GT is a weekend car @ best, sometimes don't even get in it 4 a week! It seems there are some gremlins draining the battery & when I stored it @ my parents while my garage was under construction it sat for about a month & the battery drained dead. After Driving the shark around / pumped it up back to working condition...now every 2-4 days I go out to start it & sometimes I get a lugging start up, depending on how long it sits....is this batt history now that it's been drained?? I really don't want to mess with those battery chargers due to my battery being so hard to get 2 & no near outlets in my driveway

Is there anything I can do such as not locking the car when it sits to help with the drainage? I have an Interstate I think 91 in there now(whatever the right size for my shark, can't remember) & should I replace this battery? thanks
gretz99
91 928 GT
Venetian Bluuuuuuuuue

Rez

Oh man. a 91 GT and it's not a garage queen?

Seems to be a common prob. with the sharks. The battery maintaner whould be the way to go, you can plug it in the cig. lighter, but with no outlet around, seems to be a problem.

Check this site out for help

http://www.nichols.nu/cat02.htm

Robert_H

Gretz,

I had the same problem with my '89. The main culprit for me was the PO's assorted electronics associated with his aftermarket alarm system. I had to start it every 2 days or my battery would be dead in a week.

Now that it is out, it is 95% better, but still I start her every week just in case. I intend to go through the system with a meter to see where the little culprits are now.

Rob

macreel

Also, ... this Winter, dark days and nights, I've noticed the
courtesy lights at the forward door edge, below the arm rests,
can get inadvertently turned 'on' (leg brush?, door 'jostle'?) and
in a couple days the battery = dead.

Ditto with the side markers, turned on by the turn indicator stalk
when the engine is 'off'. Be sure the stalk is neutral/off (unless
you need those lights 'on', of course).

G'luck.

Gretch

Start with a new battery. You have deep cycled the one you have and it is prolly toast. Heed posts above, especially the one about the floor lights in the doors.

Battery minder....depending on model year, the cig lighter may be switched theough the ignition (is on my '89 GT). then you get an optional extension that you use under the hood to the pos post and a ground point. Battery maintainer is the way to go....otherwise battery replacement becomes a frequent maintenance item......ask me how I know.......

SharkSkin

Draining a battery flat can permanently reduce its capacity. What you should do is try to measure the drain on the battery. How many amps? If it's more than say .1 amp then there is almost certainly a problem somewhere. start pulling fuses until you no longer see a drain. That will ID the problem circuit, and you can go from there.

gretzky99

thanks 4 all the posts guys! I didn't know you can do the cigarrette lighter charger...can someone direct me to how that works & where to buy? Do you have to have the window open for power??? thanks!

Garth S

If you want to defer the diagnostics that must be done to determine where the voltage drain is (save that for the rainy Sat. afternoon whenever...) - then the simple option is to disconnect the battery whenever you plan to leave it 3+ days.
Remove the wing bolt on the ground strap, (and lose all your clock, stereo settings, theft alarm) - but save the battery. The maintainer mentioned above is the better solution ( the best solution is finding the cause), but you mentioned a power source is not available?

gretzky99

yeah, I thought of disconnecting the battery , but what a PAIN!

Do these maintainers suck up much energy?? I'm already maxing out my electric bill!

Or have any tried these SOLAR chargers where they go lighter to suction solar panel that sits in windshield??
thanks

Ron_H

Disconnecting the battery is not a difficult thing to do. Simply take out your tool tray and behind that you will find a large eared wing nut. That holds your ground strap to the grounding point on the body. Disconnect that and isolate the strap from the body. When you want to drive again, simply re-connect it. You will, as Garth has pointed out, need to reset all of your radio and clock settings.

How do I know this? I have been doing this every day for several weeks, because I also have a .9 amp drain gremlin. When I find it I shall kill it good. I will be pulling fuses this weekend hopefully to find the circuit.

Think of the good side: if someone tries to steal your car, they will go bald scratching their head trying to figure out why there is no power, and they saw you drive up.

gretzky99

I'm looking @ the "Battery Tender" from Pep Boys online ...12V or 6V ....???? which do I need & is there any problem with Pep boys product ...? I can see some of the Renn'ers have used it & had positive results! thanks

ps...disconnecting my battery is a 6 step process which includes removing a sub woofer / spare tire & various other junk! not quick 4 me

bobraney

I bought a Battery Tender Jr. on Ebay several months ago. I use it when I may not be driving for a while (a few weeks). It has worked great so far. I connect it to the charge post(+) and cross bar bolt (-) under the hood to avoid the hassle of getting to the battery. It supplies a .75 trickle charge and shuts down when full charge status is obtained. I think I paid about $25 for it.

I have a .3 amp drain and just haven't gotten around to finding it yet...

ew928

91 GT. Sweet ride.

My 88 S4 was diagnosed with bad radio draining battery.
Pulled out my Volt/amp meter to figure out what the mechanics
were talking about.
.45 amp drain. Not good.
Shark has aftermarket radio/CD changer and aftermarket Clifford alarm.
Figured I'll have to be removing the alarm.

Opened passenger door to start pulling fuses. Friend said:
"Hey Ernie. Your red light is on. (The safety light at under door latch)"
I pushed in the door trip switch and he said the light is still on.
Finally got the light off after reinstall door switch.

Drain drops to around .15 amp draw. With Alarm, Radio and
Audio Amplifier all hooked back up.

Another nice battery killer I"ve heard is the light in the glove compartment.
Is the bulb warm?
Those little courtesy lights sure can gobble up juice fast.

Be nice to replace all those battery killers with LEDs.
Ernest(NYC)
Anyone know how to get to the door safety lights without
removing the door panel. Popping off the red lens just
reveals a bulb buried real deep in there.

gretzky99

so can I get by with a 6v battery tender? Or do I need 12v? thanks!

trying to avoid the electric bill upage!!

macreel

gretzky99... go 12V.; a few cents per month. A good deal.

G'luck.