Why does my battery keep dying?

Asked by Michelle Oct 04, 2020 at 01:26 AM about the 1993 Mercury Villager 3 Dr LS Passenger Van

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I'll jump it and it will start but over night the battery dies. Why?

3 Answers

40,100

How old is the battery? It might be too weak to hold the short charge you give it driving around after a jump start. Have the battery tested at your local auto part store.

38,855

you need a multi tester to see what's going on . have the batt tested if you want or get a batt charger , check for any corrosion under the dashboard or around fuse boxes . That thing's old , mice will invade even a daily driver .

180

Disconnect battery at night then connect it in the morning and see if it starts without a jump...if it doesn't start it's a bad battery if it does start without a jump then it's probably a "parasitic draw" meaning that a component is continuing to draw power after shutdown...it could be something like the glove-box light isn't turning off when closed or maybe its the light in the trunk, many times it's the radio...pull the fuse to the radio and leave the battery connected and see what happens in the morning. It can also be a bad diode in the alternator in which you would need to replace the alternator. If you have a fused multi- meter there is a quicker way...keep me posted

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