whammer

My battery is stone dead. I replaced the alternator and the negative ground, recharged the battery, and a few days later it's stone dead again.

Just Another XJ from AK

Something is pulling a load on the battery. Charge up the battery with the ground disconnected. When you hook the ground back up, you shouldn't see any sparks when you touch the battery terminal. If you do, something is on. If there are no sparks, maybe the battery is shot.

BriansCJ

Start checking fuses for a short. Something is draining the battery somewhere, ie lights left on, but probably something not as obvious.

RTorrez1

Here is a video on how to look for the draw.

sgjii

I think the first step would be a stop by the local Autozone/Advance Auto/Oreilly/Etc. and have a free battery test/evaluation done to rule out the battery itself. This time of year and the temperature changes are often the cause for a declining battery to give up the ghost.

When checking the fuses & fuse box (both under dash and under the hood) you hope to find "Shorts". An "Open" fuse is blown one and by definition a "Shorted" fuse is a good one. As for checking fuses for your battery drain, check for anything melted, burnt, corroded, loose or hacked at for some type of modification. Beyond that kind of evidence and contrary to popular belief, a "bad fuse" is highly unlikely to be your problem with a battery draw down.

Radio/Stereo equipment are common sources, especially aftermarket ones. A blower motor staying on type issue, dome light switch in the door jamb or electrical ignition switch are not bad areas to inspect. And the number one culprit I have personally found for battery draw downs is an aftermarket add on, modification or hacked up repair tampering with wiring.

My personal approach is prove the battery good then a visual inspection of common things and then off to the current measuring setting on a multi-meter. I didn't watch the video but I am guessing the general concept will be attach your meter to measure current draw and pull system fuses one at a time until you eliminate the parasitic power draw. You then know which circuit to chase that is creating an undo draw when the vehicle is off.

sgjii

On this same note, I just had the battery in the Oldsmobile bite the dust last week. Started with not holding a charge overnight. At 5yrs old and the temperature change here in Ohio, my first suspect was the battery.

I got a smokin' deal on an Exide 40month free replacement / 108month prorated warranty on sale at Menards until 12-15-13. I don't typically think of Menards for auto parts but their batteries are Exide (who OEMs a lot of batteries for other brand names anyhow) and their sale price of $74.99 beat the heck out of the chain auto stores at $125. I even had a $5 off coupon and ended up getting the new battery for $69.99

Like the ad says, "Save Big Money at Menards"

whammer

thanks everyone. The battery is an 18 month old 3 year battery, which I had tested and all the cells are good.