Turn off, on, off again without opening door causes beeping that drains battery in under an hour.

Do you have any aftermarket security devices or a remote car starter or sign of rodents inside the car.

this shouldn't be in the prime section, not that that matters.

So you press the start button and the car stops.... it's off.
Then you start the car, are you putting it in ready or acc.
If acc, then maby you're not then turning it off.
Are you using the origional 12 v battery, if so it's time for a new one.
If your 12v has gone ded several times it should be checked, possibl replaced.
It's always a good idea to trikle charge the 12 v for a day once a month, keep it topped up.

 

click 'report' under that post and ask a mod, they will take care of it.

it is possible that a new 12v will cure the problem. you won't know until you try. there is no other option, other than a temporary battery for testing, if you can borrow one.

 

First, you can't edit a post after someone has replied......or after a set amount of time has passed. Otherwise, you will see a "button" at the bottom for "edit".

Then......some things just NEED a professional consultation.

If you can reproduce this strange beeping at will, then a dealer service visit might be in order so they can find out what is causing it.
It might even be something simple and the explanation will cost you nothing.......but don't hold your breath on that one.

 

How old is the current 12 volt battery; how many years have you had it?

 

Install a new 12v battery. It is most likely the original. 12v batteries are supposed to be 12v batteries, not 9 volt batteries.

 

Oh, it's time. I'd speculate the fob oddities were caused by an already ailing 12 volt, not the other way around.

You could test for "phantom loads", something constantly draining. You'd do that by putting a meter in milliampere mode in series on the negative side of the 12 volt battery. At rest, the car should be showing maybe 20 milliamps. Grossly higher would indicated something causing a serious drain.

But all considered, I'd put my money on a new battery.

 

1. Install a new 12V battery.
2. Check for abnormal quiescent current draw when the car is IG-OFF.
3. It is hard to ensure perfect reliability when the car has logged 211K miles so you may need to get a newer vehicle for your wife.

 

+4
(or is it 5)
The odds of one continuing to be healthy after 7 years are really small.

 

This happens to me once or twice a year. I am almost on first name basis with AAA by now. I'm convinced it is a computer bug and is not related to the health of the 12v battery. I have 205K on my car and the original 12v battery. It does not go dead randomly. It happens so often that I have looked at buying and keeping one of those "jump start" boxes in my car that the tow truck guys use.

I think it is caused by some combination of the order in which I put the car in park, turn off the lights and open the door. Some ordering of those events causes some device to stay on that I can't see that drains the battery. Who knows -- tire pressure sensor or fuel level sensor or the system that figures out if your keys are still in the car so you don't lock yourself out. It always jump starts just fine and is fine until the next time.

I have learned that if the car beeps at me (with the actual horn) or the "door open" sound dings after I have turned it off and exited the vehicle, that is my clue that something is left on. You would think that getting back in, turning it all the way back on with the brake pedal engaged and turning back off would fix it. It does not. I usually have to engage it in drive (or reverse) and then park it again.

If anyone can shed light on that magic sequence of events so I can avoid it or provide a better solution than driving around the block to fix it, I'd be grateful.

 

why would you possibly think a 10 year old battery is fine?

if it were a software bug, it would have been happening for ten years

 

Janell,

If memory serves me correctly.......

Always turn off your car before opening the door, especially if the headlights are on. If you open the door first, the lights will not AUTO-OFF.
Of course, this issue can be eliminated if you just develop the habit of always turning the headlights off manually.

 

excellent!

 

@bisco you just applauded yourself?

 

He's like that.

 

Probably the only satisfaction he gets as he can’t “like” his own posts.

 

but i'm working on it