Battery problems

Hi Group,

I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car (2001
SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I thought my
battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along. As soon as I
would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get going. I was told
that if this was an alternator problem, the car would die off to the side of
the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery thinking that is what I
will need to get the most years out of the battery. A month later, my car
just died again. I am guessing that there is something that is sucking the
life out of my battery gradually over time.

Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still
have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that
would be covered by the warranty?

Thanks in Advance for any tips.

Rick.

In article >,
says...
> Hi Group,
>
> I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car (2001
> SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I thought my
> battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along. As soon as I
> would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get going. I was told
> that if this was an alternator problem, the car would die off to the side of
> the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery thinking that is what I
> will need to get the most years out of the battery. A month later, my car
> just died again. I am guessing that there is something that is sucking the
> life out of my battery gradually over time.
>
> Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still
> have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that
> would be covered by the warranty?
>
> Thanks in Advance for any tips.
>
> Rick.
>

You can try a "parasitic draw test" and test your alternator. You can
probably find good descriptive web pages on how to do those test
yourself by searching google. If not let us know. Some of us here really
like to type howto's sometimes.

Hi,

thanks for your reply. My searches on google are coming up empty for good
specify instructions. Do you have any links you can point me to. What if any
tools will be required to accomplish this? I'm not estranged from doing this
type of work, just never worked on cars in my life. A good set of
instructions and I should be able to accomplish this feat!

Thanks
Rick.

"Blah blah" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> says...
>> Hi Group,
>>
>> I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car
>> (2001
>> SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I thought
>> my
>> battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along. As soon
>> as I
>> would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get going. I was
>> told
>> that if this was an alternator problem, the car would die off to the side
>> of
>> the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery thinking that is what
>> I
>> will need to get the most years out of the battery. A month later, my car
>> just died again. I am guessing that there is something that is sucking
>> the
>> life out of my battery gradually over time.
>>
>> Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still
>> have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that
>> would be covered by the warranty?
>>
>> Thanks in Advance for any tips.
>>
>> Rick.
>>
>
> You can try a "parasitic draw test" and test your alternator. You can
> probably find good descriptive web pages on how to do those test
> yourself by searching google. If not let us know. Some of us here really
> like to type howto's sometimes.
>

THe battery itself is sometimes not covered by an extended warranty (though
Ford might on their cars) but a short or bad alternator would be. A
slipping belt which would prevent the alternator from charging would
probably not be.


"Rick Delorme" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Group,
>
> I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car
> (2001 SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I
> thought my battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along.
> As soon as I would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get
> going. I was told that if this was an alternator problem, the car would
> die off to the side of the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery
> thinking that is what I will need to get the most years out of the
> battery. A month later, my car just died again. I am guessing that there
> is something that is sucking the life out of my battery gradually over
> time.
>
> Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still
> have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that
> would be covered by the warranty?
>
> Thanks in Advance for any tips.
>
> Rick.
>

Also, if the extended warranty is not from Saturn or a reputable company, it
was probably a waste of money.


"Rick Delorme" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Group,
>
> I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car
> (2001 SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I
> thought my battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along.
> As soon as I would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get
> going. I was told that if this was an alternator problem, the car would
> die off to the side of the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery
> thinking that is what I will need to get the most years out of the
> battery. A month later, my car just died again. I am guessing that there
> is something that is sucking the life out of my battery gradually over
> time.
>
> Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still
> have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that
> would be covered by the warranty?
>
> Thanks in Advance for any tips.
>
> Rick.
>