My 94 camry not holding a charge
 

My 94 Camry probably holds a charge a day or two, but that is it. The battery is only a year old. It almost starts after a few days. Any ideas what to check?

It could be excess parasitic drain on the battery when the engine is off. Or the battery is failing or the alternator is not putting out full power.

For drain, make sure the trunk or dome light is not always on. If the car has an aftermarket alarm, these can cause drain problems.

Suggest after driving the car and going to park it car for days. Disconnecting the negative battery terminal. Then when starting, reconnect terminal and determine if the battery now remained charged.

First make sure the radio doesn't have an anti-theft system. This requires a code be inputted if power is removed then reapplied.

The front of the radio would state "anti-theft" of something to this effect.

Due to the battery being disconnected. It is now possible after starting the engine, that the idle could idle rough. This will go away with driving and restarts.

For drain diagnostics. Obtain a volt/ohm/millimeter. Engine off, check for excess current flow between negative battery and battery terminal. Should be something around 10-40 ma. If higher, start removing fuses until the drain drops to something normal. The fuse name will narrow down the problem area.

The internet has video's on how to check for parasitic drain.

If this isn't the problem. Use the voltmeter to determine voltage at battery with engine is at 2000 RPM. Should be approx 14.1-15.1V. If lower, the alt may not be putting out full current.

Autoparts stores can test the battery for free.

Those were all good suggestions. At one point I left the door slightly open, but I don't think that was a problem because the dome light was out. I do have an aftermarket alarm that I have been meaning to disconnect. The battery is at 14.6 volts with the engine on. I next will have to check the mA draw of the car.

I have not gotten a chance to figure out how to measure the draw of the car yet. After 24 hours the battery went from 12.6 volts to 11.9 volts. The car would not start at 11.9 volts. Could the problem just be a bad battery? After trying to start the car, the voltage dropped to 11.3.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cam...b16c043c2f.jpg

This is the car draw. How do I read the units?

The 12.6 volts is a charged battery. The 11.9 volts is a drained battery. You can expect the voltage to drop as it did when trying to start the engine. Below 10.5 volts indicates a problem with a battery cell.

Was the battery cable disconnected for the 24 hrs? If so the battery has problems. If not, charge the battery and let it sit for 24 hrs with a battery cable disconnected. Take the battery voltage after the battery has sat for 30 minutes, then again after 24 hrs.

Your reading is 0.225 amps or 225 milliamps (ma) or about 1/4 of an amp. That's high if all electrical items off. Should be around 0.010 to 0.040 amps.

Does the car have car alarm, remote start, etc? These can fail and case excess drain.

Repeated discharge of the battery will lead to premature failure.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cam...24d0fb0c98.jpg


I forgot to close the car door. I think this is showing 25 milliamps.

The 25 milliamps is good.

Charge the battery either by driving or a battery charger. A full charge is 12.6 volts. Once charged let the battery sit for 24 hr disconnected from the cars electrical system (remove one battery cable).

After 24 hrs recheck battery voltage. It should be the same,

A voltage under 12.1 is a discharged battery.

Batteries can fail in a way that results in being able to hold a charge for a short time. This may allow restarting after a few hours. However if the car sits overnight, the battery can be dead.

While your at it Use the voltmeter to determine voltage at battery with engine is at 2000 RPM. Should be approx 14.1-15.1V. If lower, the alt may not be putting out full current.

I finally just changed the battery. Sometimes the obvious problem is the correct one. The battery was only a year old. Since I bought it at Costco, I got a full refund.