Cause Of Occasional Dead Battery?

[Sherlock]

A few times a year, my battery is dead in the morning. Nothing left. I charge it up, and am on my way in an hour. I am curious---is there anything I can accidentally leave on (other than the dome light) that might be causing this?

[gmcjoe]

Sounds like a draw or a bad battery.

[Sherlock]

Its an Optima and I took it in recently for a test. Tested fine. I wonder if I am occasionally leaving something turned on overnight. Is there anything other than a dome-override that can stay turned on, with the ignition key removed? Thanks

[fataugie]

I had mine go dead a few times. I think it;s the d**n Amp in the radio. Right before it would go dead, the radio and all interior sounds would go silent. The radio lit up and would change channels, etc. But no sound. A few days later, dead. I'd charge it up and it's fine. The radio started working again. It's been a year since the last time it did that, so who knows...maybe it fixed itself

[GatorFan]

Sherlock,

 

I have an Optima as well and mine did that a few times. When I was taking it out of the truck, I noticed my negative battery cable had a little corrosion on it so I thought this might be the culprit as well. I took it to an auto parts store and they tested it. Sure enough, low (basically needed to be charged). Anyway, I opted to buy a new one instead because the old Optima was nearly 5 years old. I bought a new negative cable as well from the dealer and have not had any issues yet. This was about two months ago. During the whole time, my altenator still read 13.6 so I had it checked just to rule out a bad meter. The altenator checked out fine so I think it was a combination of the negative cable and an older Optima. The heat in Texas loves batteries.

[dzyuba]

I had a problem with my last car where the battery would go dead after 4-6 months. After jumping it, it would run fine for the same amount of time without any problems. I took it to a local parts store for a free battery test and it tested fine. When I explained my problem, he tested my alternator and it came back bad. The alternator was putting out a fraction less than amount it should have been (.1 or 1 amp less than normal - I can't remember). I took it to my dealer for a replacement under warranty and it took care of my problem because I never had that problem again.

[ws6_guy]

could be a bad alternator, if all connections are secure and battery cables are cleaned and you are sure you are not leaving anything on the alternator must be the problem, not doing its job of re-charging

[Sherlock]

Thanks for the input everyone. My Optima is only 2 years old fyi. I'll have the alternator tested.