Battery Drain?

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rchung813

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I recently changed my stock battery which I ran with for about a little over 3.5 years. The replacement battery I bought is BOSCH. About 2 months later, I noticed last week when I "beeped" my Jeep to unlock my Jeep and disable the alarm for entry, the cherp sounded very low, like it was low on battery. I turned my ignition and my Jeep did not start. Thinking it was a drained battery, I charged my battery for a few seconds with my battery Jeep jumper. That helped and my Jeep started up right away. Thinking it may have been an isolated incident, I shrugged off the issue. Well, it happened again this weekend and I am baffled why? I only drive my Jeep on the weekends and never expereienced anything like this before. My first thought is that the battery is being drained, but I am not sure how or by what? Any thoughts or should I just bring it into the dealer?
 
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DirtyKK

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are your battery contacts clean and tight? take your Jeep to an auto parts store and have them test the battery and alt. maybe the alt isnt charging the battery enough.
 

rchung813

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It was a late night and I wasn't thinking, updated my post to Jeep instead of that word "car"

Thanks DirtyKK, if the issue is the alternator how much does it cost to change this part? If this is not the issue, does anyone know how much it might cost to identify and fix the electronic draining issue? I just want to prepare myself on fixing the issue.

Thanks for the help everyone
 

Dave

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Another thought is that you said you only drive it on weekends. So on the weekends give it a good run on the LIE or something to let the alternator keep your battery charged up good.

Dave
 

ShafferNY

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Another thought is that you said you only drive it on weekends. So on the weekends give it a good run on the LIE or something to let the alternator keep your battery charged up good.

Dave

That's a very good possibility. Especially if the new battery wasn't completely charged from sitting on the shelf in the store.
 

rchung813

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Thanks for the feedback. I've had the battery for about 2 months and have driven distances of over 100 miles at a time for a couple of times before the battery drain issue. So I think the battery is fully charged. I'll see if I can re-clean the contacts and hope that helps.
 

LibertyTC

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I have noticed the only time the lock beep is loud is after manually charging the battery for a few hours, and the battery reads around the 13.5 volt range.
My digital volt tester often reads around 12.65 to 12.35 after sitting for a day or so. There are some minor draws while the KJ sits and testing voltage daily should help determine battery strength and draws over a few days.
If you test the voltage after sitting, you will now know, drains and battery charge states based on the readings.
I often charge my battery on the KJ on a 2 amp trickle sometimes weekly in the winter as cold reduces cranking amps.
Keeps things in top charged state and is recommended for any vehicle that sits more than driven.
I also turn the light muliti function switch to off when it sits.
This should ensure the interior lights don't come on when opening doors etc.
When my KJ sits for periods, I still start it every 3 days and is allowed to run for 15 minutes and fully warm up.
Use ethanol marine stabilizer, if you are not adding fresh fuel monthly.
 
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Snap

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Hi everyone!

I'm completely new here so please bear with me and any mistakes I make.

I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport 6 cylinder with over 110,000 miles. I'm having alternator problems I think.

About 3 months ago the pulley on my air conditioner froze. So I removed the air conditioner and rerouted a smaller belt. Everything has worked just fine since.

Just recently I've been getting a chirping sound when i start the Jeep. The sound always goes away after about a minute. Not so today. The chirping only got louder and never stopped. Then the battery light came on. When I got home I checked the belt. Everything seems to be turning. However, there was a burning rubber smell. So on closer inspection I noticed a black carbon substance on the right side of the alternator by the belt.

Has anyone had this problem before? Will I have to completely replace the alternator?

Thanks for any help,
April
 

LibertyTC

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ya not good. Check the allignment of belt and tensioner is it too tight...that can wear out bearings. Not sure what you have done there.
Chances are the pulley bearings are toast and replace the alternator.
However since you have done some cooking on the belt, I would consider replacing the kit and kaboodle.
Alternator, tensioner,idler pulley and a new belt.
You could easily remove the belt and feel the alternator pulley turning by hand and see if it is solid without noise, turns freely or not.
Ensure that if u replace the belt that it is a quality EPDM Gates.
 
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