Car trouble, no power at all.

[arakboss]

I had charging system troubles last week and replaced a failing alternator in my 2006 corolla. It seemed to have worked out great with battery getting good voltage from new alternator. Came home about 2:30pm yesterday and everything was hunky dory. At 10:30pm I went out to start the car and no power. No clicking, no dash lights, etc.

I will dig into it this morning, what order and things would you check besides battery voltage and connections? Fuses, if so which first?

I did not leave any lights on or other drains that I know of. If battery is drained to the point no dash lights will come on after sitting for 8hrs, there must be a serious drain somewhere? If battery voltage is good, connections are good and fuses are good, what is next thing to check?

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[aasbra]

I'd start troubleshooting with testing the battery. When was it last replaced? From what you describe, it could be a dead short/internal issue.

Did the alternator you recently replaced test defective? Failing battery can cause some symptoms that make one think other electrical components are faulty.

 

[arakboss]

I'd start troubleshooting with testing the battery. When was it last replaced? From what you describe, it could be a dead short/internal issue.

Did the alternator you recently replaced test defective? Failing battery can cause some symptoms that make one think other electrical components are faulty.

Yes the old alternator tested bad. The battery was replaced in the last couple of years. I will start with testing battery, battery connections. It was dark and I was in a hurry to leave so I borrowed wife's car. I will post results around 8am this morning.

 

[made in china]

That new alternator is OEM Toyota, right?

Aftermarket parts can cause trouble.

Did your Corolla go completely dead with the previous alternator? If not, there's also a possibility that the new alternator drained the battery.
A few years ago I put an aftermarket alternator in my car, the positive post shifted and contacted the case and shorted out the battery and melted the battery harness.
I went right back to OEM.

 

[arakboss]

That new alternator is OEM Toyota, right?

Aftermarket parts can cause trouble.

Did your Corolla go completely dead with the previous alternator? If not, there's also a possibility that the new alternator drained the battery.
A few years ago I put an aftermarket alternator in my car, the positive post shifted and contacted the case and shorted out the battery and melted the battery harness.
I went right back to OEM.

Nope it's an aftermarket. The battery was at 2.7volts this morning. I will replace battery and if the new one starts draining I will have to track down the source of the drain. I hope it's not the same problem you had with your aftermarket alternator.

 

[made in china]

Nope it's an aftermarket. The battery was at 2.7volts this morning. I will replace battery and if the new one starts draining I will have to track down the source of the drain. I hope it's not the same problem you had with your aftermarket alternator.

Good luck!

When the alternator went bad, it'll undercharge the battery, which can hasten the death of a car battery.

 

[Bacchus]

This is more general than specific to your situation. The previous suggestions regarding the alternator are probably more pertinent. But, if your problem was current leakage somewhere, sometimes you can 1) with your car off, monitor your current flow out of the battery with an appropriate ammeter and 2) if the ammeter confirms too much current, identify the faulty component by removing one fuse at a time and observing if/when the current returns to normal.

One more factoid while on the subject of too much current, in some cars the fan will draw much more current than you would suspect (well, I didn't suspect it until my battery went dead). Not as much as the headlights, of course.

 

[arakboss]

This is more general than specific to your situation. The previous suggestions regarding the alternator are probably more pertinent. But, if your problem was current leakage somewhere, sometimes you can 1) with your car off, monitor your current flow out of the battery with an appropriate ammeter and 2) if the ammeter confirms too much current, identify the faulty component by removing one fuse at a time and observing if/when the current returns to normal.

One more factoid while on the subject of too much current, in some cars the fan will draw much more current than you would suspect (well, I didn't suspect it until may battery went dead). Not as much as the headlights, of course.

I have an amp meter function on my multimeter but have only used it with clamp. I need to learn how to use that function with the probes.

 

[arakboss]

New battery is installed.Walmart swapped it for free as it was still under three year free replacement period. I was worried they wouldn't since I didn't have the receipt but they were great about it. Alternator is charging at 14.4ish volts at idle with blower on high, lights on, etc. If there is a heavy drain on battery while parked I will find out tonight.

 

[Richo877]

Poor alternator grounding? Should be grounded directly through mounts. Was there a coating at the contact points?
Could also be bad connection at the plug or output to battery. Maybe as simple as "did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?"
Also check your 100A

 

[Bacchus]

I need to learn how to use that function with the probes.

The clamp would be the way to go if you have current over the limit of your DMM current input, maybe 10A, otherwise you'll blow the fuse in the DMM. If you want to use the probes, you must open the circuit (maybe remove a wire from a fuse?) and connect the probes inline. Also be sure your meter leads are connected to the DMM current input jack, not the volts-ohms input jack, and make sure your DMM dial is set for DC current, before you probe the circuit.

Read your DMM manual to get the process right, or maybe a good YouTube video, you can blow up your meter (possibly in your face), or at least a fuse, if you get this wrong. Maybe not as big an issue with a car circuit, but if you were measuring household line power it can be critical.

I've read where people tried to probe their AC output jack in their house using a current DMM setting or maybe just the current input jack, with catastrophic results.

 

[monks]

It's more than likely the internal regulator in the newly replaced alternator is keeping the alternator field energized when the key is off. If it drains the battery again, just charge the battery back up and disconnect the alternator over night. If the car starts right up in the morning you've found your problem. On an older type alternator with an exposed bearing end cap, you can test it by touching a knife tip or a small screwdriver to the surface. If it's magnetized then the alternator is charging. I don't know if your alternator has an exposed rear bearing but it works like a champ on GM alternators from the 70's-80's.

 

[Catfishmoon]

I recently went through something similar...
The vehicle appeared to have a parasitic electrical draw that would result in a drained battery after sitting 2-3 days in the driveway. It was an old battery so I decided to replace the battery and the new battery went dead after a few days. So I took the vehicle to a local mechanic who said the problem was an aftermarket radio/music player that had been installed incorrectly, was draining the battery and that they had fixed the problem...
A few days later my battery was dead again. This time I took the vehicle to a repair facility that specializes in electrical work and it turns out the problem was a defective new battery...
My original battery was bad and it turns out the the higher-end new battery that I purchased to replace it was also defective. What are the odds of that?
That ended up taking a couple of weeks to work through and about $100 in wasted money for the 2nd mechanic shop fee and time and money driving the defective battery back to the parts store about 20 miles away...

I would start with checking your battery first, then bad or corroded connections, the alternator, and then start searching with a multimeter. There are many helpful YouTube videos.
I have been been spending a lot of hours at work and decided to just take it to a shop.

 

[arakboss]

The last check I did at 1pm gave me a 12.8 voltage reading at the battery, (car not running everything turned off). I just checked the battery again and it is at 12.73, so I think I am in the clear.

The battery that died was a walmart Everstart Maxx with removable caps. I had frequent corrosion problems since that battery was new (April 2021). The replacement Everstart Maxx they gave me today is sealed. Hopefully that ends or minimizes the corrosion issues I had been having.

I will continue checking the battery each morning for the next week or so but I am going to chalk this up to a battery failure. I believe the alternator had been slowly failing for some time before I replaced it. That was probably resulting in deeper discharges of the battery and might have caused premature failure.

 

[arakboss]

The clamp would be the way to go if you have current over the limit of your DMM current input, maybe 10A, otherwise you'll blow the fuse in the DMM. If you want to use the probes, you must open the circuit (maybe remove a wire from a fuse?) and connect the probes inline. Also be sure your meter leads are connected to the DMM current input jack, not the volts-ohms input jack, and make sure your DMM dial is set for DC current, before you probe the circuit.

Read your DMM manual to get the process right, or maybe a good YouTube video, you can blow up your meter (possibly in your face), or at least a fuse, if you get this wrong. Maybe not as big an issue with a car circuit, but if you were measuring household line power it can be critical.

I've read where people tried to probe their AC output jack in their house using a current DMM setting or maybe just the current input jack, with catastrophic results. For one thing, measuring at the AC power jack is not measuring inline, it is measuring in parallel.

I was able to slip the clamp around the negative battery cable and there appeared to be a small draw with car turned off. It was reading .08 to .2 but fluttering back and forth. I am not sure that was an accurate method for measuring draw but even if it maintained a .2amp draw while car is off it should not have killed the old battery?

 

[Flopsweat]

I was able to slip the clamp around the negative battery cable and there appeared to be a small draw with car turned off. It was reading .08 to .2 but fluttering back and forth. I am not sure that was an accurate method for measuring draw but even if it maintained a .2amp draw while car is off it should not have killed the old battery?

Nowhere near enough to be the culprit.

 

[arakboss]

Quick Update: I just drove the car for about 15min and checked the battery voltage. It had a surface charge of 13.13volts so the alternator seems to be doing it's job.

 

[arakboss]

Car has been setting since 11pm and battery just tested at 12.84 volts.

 

[Bacchus]

Battery voltage will typically be a volt or two lower when the car is turned off than on. If everything is working correctly, what you're actually measuring when the car is running is the alternator output, it has the higher voltage.

 

[arakboss]

Tested battery again this morning after sitting for 10+ hours and voltage was 12.84v

I think I am in the clear until the next thing goes wrong. Then I will remind myself that it's still cheaper than the payments on a new car. The car has about 200k on it now, hoping to get another 100k before burying it.