Battery wont hold a charge

blake1827 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:23 pm

I had this same problem last month and it was replaced w/ a MOPAR plate battery w/ 800 CCA. I'm wonding if a "short" could be related to the blinking interior dash lights some of us have experienced. Where all the lights controlled by the dimmer periodically flash high for a split second and then back to normal. I've had this happen since day 1. See it at least once a week now with 3+ hrs. of night driving.

curtis · **Posted:** Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:29 pm

blake1827 wrote:

I had this same problem last month and it was replaced w/ a MOPAR plate battery w/ 800 CCA. I'm wonding if a "short" could be related to the blinking interior dash lights some of us have experienced. Where all the lights controlled by the dimmer periodically flash high for a split second and then back to normal. I've had this happen since day 1. See it at least once a week now with 3+ hrs. of night driving.

I never had any of those issues that your talking about with my CRD. This battery thing just came on at the begining of this week with out any warning. It would take a pretty serious "short" to run a 700 amp battery down in 8 hours.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:41 pm

Not neccessarily Curtis. I don't think it was a short but systems being powered (Talking the TSB here) when they should not have been. When I went to pick up my CRD from the dealer it was dead in the lot (they said they thought someone left the lights on but you can't do that). Others had the same experience at the dealer and sometimes on their own but it didn't always happen, it was a random thing. I never had it happen after I took delivery.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:02 pm

skywarn wrote:

is anyone doing the batt/alt test before they get a new batt??

start car remove + side of batt. if car dies then Alt is bad, if car stays running then batt is bad...

ive had a few alt replaced (not on my CRD) but always did that check before i replaced the batt. (its just a good piece of mind for me.)

Can you say bye-bye PCM and BCM from voltage spikes.Just remember that in newer electronically controled vehicles(this includes diesels) the voltage regulator is located in the PCM,interupting the circuit by disconecting the battery will cause voltage spikes anbd can damage the PCM.Your not even supposed to weld on a vehicle unless you disconect the battery to prevent any voltage spikes that could fry the PCM/BCM.Not to mention you have a very good chance of setting the airbags off.

alclubb · **Posted:** Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:32 am

Thanks for the TSB number. It looks like that was for 2006 models. I guess 2005 models were not involved. By the way, what is the difference in a gell cell battery and a spiral cell battery? I had heard that Optima batteries were spiral cell batteries.

wolcott · **Joined:** Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:16 pm **Posts:** 108

The Optima Battery is a spiral cell battery. If you take it apart (not recommended) the positive plate and negative plate are long continous sheets that are rolled into a cylinder, like rolling up 2 carpets together. The gel cell probably has parallel plates that are welded together in a stack. The red top Optima batteries do not like deep discharges, two or three can kill them. The yellow top Optimas will handle these much better.

To test the battery and alternator, first, have the car idle and check the voltage. It should be around 14.1 to 14.4 volts. If not, you have a bad alternator, or possibly a slipping belt. Then, shut off the motor. The battery voltage will gradually drop to 12.8 or so. (This may take an hour or so) If it goes below 12, you've got a bad battery. If the voltage is OK, turn the lights on. The voltage should hold at 11 or so at the worst. Once again, if it falls below this, you have a bad battery. Then, to check to be sure it is the battery and not your starter, get a low resistance load (I have a large .1 ohm resistor) and connect it to the negative and positive terminals. If the battery voltage drops below 9.5 volts, you've got a battery problem. If not, you probably have a starter problem.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:52 am

wolcott wrote:

The Optima Battery is a spiral cell battery. If you take it apart (not recommended) the positive plate and negative plate are long continous sheets that are rolled into a cylinder, like rolling up 2 carpets together.

To add to what wolcott says here's a good write up on battery types. http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Batter ... 0Batteries

The jist of it is our Optimas are AGM, NOT GELL as people keep calling them :lol:

The major construction types are flooded (wet), gelled, and AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat). AGM batteries are also sometimes called "starved electrolyte" or "dry", because the fiberglass mat is only 95% saturated with Sulfuric acid and there is no excess liquid.

Joe

dirtmover · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:12 am

blake1827 wrote:

Where all the lights controlled by the dimmer periodically flash high for a split second and then back to normal. I've had this happen since day 1. See it at least once a week now with 3+ hrs. of night driving.

Wow, and I thought I was imagining things with this one. I've experienced it on many occasions but was never sure whether it really was the dashs light "flaring" or just some reflection or external light.

Trailbreaker · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:22 am

curtis wrote:

Well I was in and out in about 20 minutes with a new battery. The replacement is not an Optima but a Mopar Battery. So I went in to engage in a battle over this matter. The service manager explained to me that the Battery I have is a Gell type battery like the Optima, But is a much larger version. My old Battery was rated 700 cranking amps, And the new battery is rated at 950 cranking amps. He told me they have been replacing the smaller batteries with the larger ones on all the Crd's that they see with Battery problems. He told me most of the Opitma's have only lasted about 1 year and they have replaced almost all the one's in the CRD's that they sold with the new larger one. He feels the failures are do to the Battery being to small for the aplication, I do agree with that as well so I decided to give this one a shot and see how it works.

The Warrenty is 72 months on the new Battery, And I noticed how much faster the motor turns over, And it starts in about 1/2 to 1 revolution instead of 2 to 4 rev's.

I geuss I see how it go's

curtis
Do you have a Chrysler Part # for this new battery?

uncaged · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:10 am

The 1-second bright interior light flash was driving me nuts, as I keep the interior lights almost all the way low. Complaint to the dealer, and they replaced the BCM. Haven't noticed it since.

If you have this done, be prepared to leave it there. The old BCM has to be sent out to DC for them to program things like your exact mileage, etc. into the new BCM before sending that new one to the dealer for installation.

BCool · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:37 pm

I am having a battery problem I think, as long as I drive it everyday the crd will start up no problem, but if I leave it for more than a day without driving it she won't start. Any recommendations on batteries, I don't think Optima has a higher cranking battery that will fit, anyone use a diahard platnum, looks to be AGM and have more cranking amps.

Battery wont hold a charge

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