Re: Battery Problems..Help

[raf40@oes.amdahl.com (Richard Funnell)]

Twain,

The best bet is to have a garage load test the alternator and the battery,
and test for a current drain.  It's possible that the alternator is
overcharging, for example, ruining the batteries in a short time until they
can't hold a charge.  That radio problem doesn't sound like something that
should have killed a good battery.

>Howdy folks. Been quiet for a while (a good thing with an Audi..). My '89 200
>QTW has an appetite for batterys and I'm wondering if you know possible
>diagnosis.
>
>Purchased the car in August with a weak battery (had to be jump started). One
>week later, had it replaced with a Sears unit. A few weeks later, that needed
>to be replaced. I traced the problem to an electrical problem that I created
>with a new stereo. Seems that the circuit (aka buzzer activator) that turns
>off radio was never off. So I installed a switch on the accessory (+) lead
>that turns on the radio and amp. That has worked for 6 months...until now.
>Maybe it has to do with the rain (which it has been doing incessantly)-and
>the car is never garaged. In any case, the past two days, the car barely
>turns over then juices up immediately. Any thoughts? I'm crossing my fingers
>that I can leave work without a jump today.
>
>-Twain

Richard Funnell,
San Jose, California
'83 urQ
'87 560 SL