Battery Dies - Old LoJack System?

[Gregg Hamilton]

I was wondering if anyone else has an issue where your battery drains excessively quickly? I keep my 2001 RT/10 plugged into a trickle charger ALWAYS because otherwise, the battery is dead within a few short days of sitting parked. I recently installed a new battery so this isn't the issue. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if this might be evidence of a LoJack system that is installed that I don't know about. I'm the fourth owner.

Any ideas?

 

[WickedSpeed]

Do you keep anything plugged into the cigar lighter? It's powered 24/7 and I leave a 4k dash camera recording at all times. It drains my battery (I use a cigar lighter USB combination plug that displays voltage readout) but because it's a daily driver and never goes more than 20-30 hours between being driven, there's always enough juice to start up the car. If it wasn't a daily driver, then I wouldn't be leaving my dash camera plugged in.

-Wicked

 

[DJ'sviper]

The battery will always be dead in 3 to 4 days. I leave a trickle charger on at all times. If I go someplace I have portable battery charger that I slip under the hood and it charges the battery overnight. If I stay in a hotel I charge up the battery charger while I'm gone.

The reason that it does this is because of the security system which is always on. My batteries last about 3 years before I have to buy a new one.

I was going to exchange my battery last Fall but decided to wait so I could get the extra 6 months of warranty. The battery went bad. Took it in. They said "sorry" your three year warranty expired one month ago.

 

[Steve-Indy]

In addition to the suggestions above, are your door handle LED's turning off a minute or two after you close doors?

To find an abnormal drain, do the Ignition Off Draw test outlined in the service manual.

Finally, get a good AGM battery, charge it fully, then install it and life will be better. I use Interstate MTZ-78 for all of our Gen I and II Vipers...sometimes going 2 months between drives or recharging.

 

[littlecaars]

I have had all generations except GEN five. All four including my 08 vert have excessive parasitic draw. The range was between seven to 31 days. What I do is I keep A battery tender on the vehicle at all times when not in use. I did have my 2000 GTS checked by my mechanic and came up with no problems found. I believe you will probably just have to live with it like the rest of our us mere mortals.

 

[TexasViper35]

On my Gen III I had the same issue, 2-3 days parked at the airport and I needed a jump. The issue was with the alarm drawing from the battery, it was related to the part (sensor?) that is under the hood. I can't remember if they replaced that part or just cleaned and reset it. No issues since, that was 10 years ago. My dodge dealer found the problem very quickly.

 

[Mark Crosby]

Do a parasitic draw test on the fuses under the steering wheel first. See if anything is pulling and if it is, look into that system where someone could have tapped into and that could be the problem. I had a parasitic draw from mine and found stereo guys tapped and crossed the door lock solenoids with a constant power source causing the solenoids to always have power when power is supposed to be shut off to those in about 30 seconds I think. Fixed wiring to proper ignition power, problem solved. Previous owner of car could never figure it out. Anyways, do a parasitic draw test. I’m sure you will find your answer.

 

[Mark Crosby]

Fun fact to, if you hit the lock button on your key fob and hear 3 beeps, that means something’s left on or drawing power. If you hear 1 beep, that means your good.

 

[viperdp]

Had the same problem on my Gen 3. The battery is in the trunk. I noticed that the battery posts were touching the cover and that over time because of vibration the paint on the cover scraped off so that the positive terminal was shorting on the cover. I glued some vinyl on the underside of the cover and that stopped that. I also replaced the battery with a higher capacity one and that seems to have fixed the problem. I had a Chrysler dealer test the system for a parasitic draw but they found nothing because they did the test with the cover off! Hope this helps.

 

[Gregg Hamilton]

Fun fact to, if you hit the lock button on your key fob and hear 3 beeps, that means something’s left on or drawing power. If you hear 1 beep, that means your good.

I've always had a 3 beep, never a one beep. Thanks for the tip. Bringing it to the dealer to get hosed, er, I mean to get it fixed

 

[InTheZoneAC]

Fun fact to, if you hit the lock button on your key fob and hear 3 beeps, that means something’s left on or drawing power. If you hear 1 beep, that means your good.

Dont even own a viper but this is something I'll definitely remember when I do. Thanks