Mystery battery death solved!

[jav8or]

After letting the car sit two weeks, I decided to take it to work for the night. I go to start the car and nothing happens. No lights turn on, gauges do not power up, nothing!?! The starter did even making a clicking sound that it would with a weak battery. Additionally, the battery that is installed is only 6 months old. Sadly, I had take my daily driver to work.

After pondering the possible causes for the malfunction, the only thing I could come up with was a possible discharge from the iPhone USB cigarette adapter that I left installed...

I get home, put the car on a battery charger and sure enough the door starts to chime. Additionally, my iPhone would charge when plugged into the car, even with the ignition off and keys out.

Long story short: take the cigarette adapter out of your car when it will be there while the car is off before it costs you a battery.

Hopefully it wasn't dead too long and I can resurrect this battery.

Hopefully this helps someone!

 

[Hirkophoto]

There are a few threads on this if you search. I think you will find the battery drains on its own even if you don't have something charging in the cig adapter. It seems to be a common problem with the gen 1-2 cars. I had a 2000 Gts and the battery would drain on its own without anything plugged in. The solution is a battery tender. It cost $20 and saves lots of headaches and money on batteries. I still use one on my 2006 SRT and it always keeps it fresh. Easy to attach the pigtail in the Gts and let it hang out the side vent on the hood when charging. No need to open the hood.

 

[scottmarston]

There are a few threads on this if you search. I think you will find the battery drains on its own even if you don't have something charging in the cig adapter. It seems to be a common problem with the gen 1-2 cars. I had a 2000 Gts and the battery would drain on its own without anything plugged in. The solution is a battery tender. It cost $20 and saves lots of headaches and money on batteries. I still use one on my 2006 SRT and it always keeps it fresh. Easy to attach the pigtail in the Gts and let it hang out the side vent on the hood when charging. No need to open the hood.

I have also done this. I use a 750mA tender and haven't had a problem since. Unfortunately, jav8or, I think you'll find that you've only just scratched the surface of this mystery.

 

[Grisoman]

Some cars have the fuse for the lighter socket positionable for either ON all the time, or just with the IGN ON. If I recollect correctly, you simply move the fuse one leg over either left or right. Don't suppose this is the case with our Vipers?

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

What type of battery do you have? Some hold charges for longer than others. If you do a search, you'll see that Optima batteries are garbage and a BIG no-no to ever install in a Viper. Well, unless you want to be swapping them out every month or so.

A lot of people go with Sears Diehard batteries and I can't recall any complaints about them.

 

[impalassed]

I agree with that Optima statement.X2 One yellow top, one red top, had to fight to get money back on 4 month old product. One boiled itself to death, one could not hold a charge. They of course blamed the cars which it wasn't.... then they blamed my charging method... Blah blah blah several phone calls later the last one to the national sales rep... Refund issued. So long optima. Now for a batt replacement I do not discount AGM type batteries in general. I have one now from O'Reilly's and it has been superb in fact. I recently spoke with an owner of a batt distributor about AGM batts at a performance expo. After a very informative discussion.... Exide AGM is the way I'm going when I need a replacement.

 

[Bugman Jeff]

AGM batteries in general are great, it's just the Optimas that ****. Much like Flowmaster(who's mufflers are among the worst flowing "performance" mufflers), Optima's great marketing campaign keeps an inferior product selling.

 

[coupe]

Optimas are not as bad as a few folks here would make them out to be. I've had one without fault in my GTS for a couple years now... also put a used SECOND HAND Optima in a mustang and it lasted 7 years for me!

Batteries in these cars don't "drain on their own." These cars are notorious for a few trouble areas that can cause current draw, like hood and hatch switches, keyless entry, stereo amplifier, etc... but those things can be fixed with a little electrical savvy. Sure, a battery tender will keep it charged, but that's only masking the problem. A Viper should not kill a battery any differently than any other car.

 

[hiss highness]

I just mounted a small solar panel in the back of my gts on top of the cargo cover behind my seat, problem solved

 

[coupe]

If you remove the solar panel, and the battery drains in a short period of time, then the problem hasn't truly been "solved."

When I bought my GTS, it used to kill a battery in a few days of leaving it sit in the garage. I fixed the electrical issue and now keep it on a tender for the sake of battery life. A couple months ago, I accidently left the car off the tender for a couple weeks... Battery was still at 12.6 volts when I realized it.

 

[Bugman Jeff]

Except for one(which started leaking), every Optima I've dealt with(which is a lot as I used to build custom cars for a living), were fine until the owner let the battery discharge too far. Even with a good charger and Optimas recommended charging method, they never seem to hold their charge well afterwards.

 

[Jack B]

A battery is considered dead at 85% of rated voltage. If you go below that threshold the storage capacuty is reduced, plus, the effect is additive.

Except for one(which started leaking), every Optima I've dealt with(which is a lot as I used to build custom cars for a living), were fine until the owner let the battery discharge too far. Even with a good charger and Optimas recommended charging method, they never seem to hold their charge well afterwards.

 

[viperdp]

My 2003 also drains after about 2 weeks sitting unused, I use a trickle charger but would sure like to get it fixed. I recently bought a brand new a battery but it made no difference.

 

[viperdp]

I found the problem, the battery cover was touching the positive terminal. There is a rubber cover for the positive terminal but it keeps slipping off. On the bottom of the cover I could see where the positive terminal had actually worn the paint off the cover, so I glued a piece of rubber to the underside of the cover as an added insurance and that seems to have fixed the drain problem.

 

[ViperJeff]

Good find...

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

I found the problem, the battery cover was touching the positive terminal. There is a rubber cover for the positive terminal but it keeps slipping off. On the bottom of the cover I could see where the positive terminal had actually worn the paint off the cover, so I glued a piece of rubber to the underside of the cover as an added insurance and that seems to have fixed the drain problem.

If there is no evidence of a "short", it isn't the problem. There would be arcing or burn marks. Meter the negative side of the battery and the cover on a bare metal location on the cover and see if there is continuity. No connection, no short, not the problem! If both sides of the battery were shorted to the cover it would drain it ,but it also would probably catch the vehicle on fire. All "newer" cars drain the battery, some take a few days, others a few weeks. Battery tenders work for some. I place a battery disconnect on my vehicles that sit for great lengths and can start them a year later with no battery tender!

 

[ViperVass]

I found the problem, the battery cover was touching the positive terminal. There is a rubber cover for the positive terminal but it keeps slipping off. On the bottom of the cover I could see where the positive terminal had actually worn the paint off the cover, so I glued a piece of rubber to the underside of the cover as an added insurance and that seems to have fixed the drain problem.

Have you verified that it has been solved by measuring the current draw on your battery ?

My approach would have been:
Put a multi meter between the GND terminal of the battery and start pulling fuses until you see a significant current drop.
If you suspect it is your terminals try taking one off and use a jump starting clamp to see if the current draw reduces.

Here is a video, it is long winded... but is good if you never used a multi meter before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

 

[ViperJohn]

Glad you found it, glad you posted the update. So few come back to old posts and update everyone on mystery problems.

 

[moparracing]

what he said!