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On 7 Apr 2003 at 8:46, Roush, Norman wrote: > My 9 year old battery will no longer hold a charge if I do not drive > the car for 3-4 days, guess they don't make 'em like they used to 8-). > I suspect the battery may have a bad cell due to its age but I am > going to have it tested today. If the battery is OK, how do I check > for a small electrical drain that could run down the battery in 3-4 > days? Remove the ground wire and gently touch it back to the neg post. If there is a drain you should be able to see a small spark. Better yet, insert a sensitive ammeter in there and measure the current. If the battery is really this old then there is a good chance that it is really just dead and must be replaced. One test that you can do is to drive the car for an afternoon to get it "charged up" and then disconnect the ground cable. Let it sit like that for a few days. If the voltage has fallen below 12V (as measured by a voltmeter) in that time the battery is history. If this problem started after the car was not driven for several months, then there is a good chance that it can be restored. To do this, put it on a charger, on the lowest setting, for about a week. You want a VERY slow charge to recover from the long slow discharge that it went thru. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org