New Battery?

[Dirty325ix]

Hey so I am having trouble keeping my e30 charged, no matter how long I drive the car I can not get the battery to hold a strong enough charge to start the car. So every time I need to use the car I have to jump the damn thing.
I took the car/Battery and had it tested at auto zone and the readout stated 11v and 180amps and I am guessing that means it failed
or were the low numbers because the alternator is failing to charge the battery(if this where the case I would assume it wouldn't drive)

Sadly I don't have a multimeter to test things but what do you guys think

Should I get a new battery? The current one is only 3 years old but it was the cheapo one from napa

[vpilarrt]

Was the 11 volts with the car running? If so the alternator is more than likely bad.

[Dirty325ix]

No it was 11 volts with the car turned off....I was not able test either the alternator or starter

[AndrewBird]

11v is DEAD. Definitely need a new battery, but now you need to find why it died in the first place. You either have a parasitic draw from something or your alternator is not charging properly.

Buy a new battery and then measure the voltage across the battery with the car running. Should be ~14v. Anything much lower and the alternator is likely bad.

If that checks out, follow this video to search for draws.

[Das Delfin]

My alt and batt went out at the same time so I had to replace them both. Thankfully neither were expensive.

To test your alt, jump your car and put a volt meter on the battery while the car is running. If it reads 13 or 14v, your alt is fine.

11v on a battery may still be a good battery. If the alt fails the test, have the auto store charge your battery up on a 10 amp charger for a couple hours. They should have some kind of machine that takes care of everything all in one go. But once the battery is back up at 12.6v, take a CCA reading again and then if it's less than 2/3 of its rated CCAs, then your battery needs to be replaced too

[Dirty325ix]

ok well I'm going to test the alternator tomorrow right before I buy a new battery (unless it fails)
But if the alternator was dead wouldn't the car have trouble running, wouldn't the car die when the battery dies

And it doesn't seem to be a parasitic draw because the battery keeps enough charge to keep the cluster lit up even after a day

The car is my daily so it doesn't sit for long and the day it died the car had 3 progressively worst startups(like the battery was dYing more each time) the problem came out of nowhere that is why I thought maybe a wire came loose

Oh and Thanks for answering my stupid questions btw

[AndrewBird]

More than likely, the engine would stall if the battery and the alternator was dead.

The cluster lights only draw an amp or two, so even a dead battery will light those. The fact the car got worse as the day went on says that a parasitic draw is likely.

[Dirty325ix]

Finally did what I was supposed to in the first place(instead of crying to r3v) and checked the alternator and it failed for "open diode"....getting a refurbished battery and junkyard alternator tomorrow woot woot

[dnguyen1963]

Your alternator failed and you are replacing it with a junk battery and a starter?

[Dirty325ix]

yup its gonna be a party
I meant to say junk alternator but im sure that doesn't fix the junk aspect

my e30 is a daily and I am broke like no joke, so sadly I am going to just going to have to buy a 20$ alternator from a u-pull it and while I run the junk alternator ill save up for a new one(80$ o my)
hate me or not at least I will still have beer money this weekend

[Das Delfin]

..be sure to keep your old alt because it's worth like $30 as a core to someone. Since you're doing things on the poor, sell it for $15 and you can almost break even

[e30onBBSs]

New Battery?

..be sure to keep your old alt because it's worth like $30 as a core to someone. Since you're doing things on the poor, sell it for $15 and you can almost break even

Hahahha on the poor. That should be r3v's motto. I'm also on the poor as a youngster

[JIM1inWisconsin]

Shops where I live sell and install Interstate Batteries. The Interstate provider rotates the stock for them (they do have a shelf life) and the shop owner has no problem taking back a bad one and replacing it. Buying them yourself can be a bit of a problem trying to return them and are you sure of what you're getting? It will cost a bit more but you only need a new one every four years or so. It's a good way to avoid problems.