Car Trouble: The Mystery of the Draining Battery, SOLVED! (I hope)

A YOUNG working class with a growing family has no business spending hard earned money on an inflated-priced RM150k 7-seater which will deteriorate in value over time, hence my decision to buy a sub-RM50k, used Chevrolet Nabira 2.2  two years ago. The car was about 5 years old back then. One should always understand that maintenance cost is part and parcel of owning a used car. The fact is cars are mechanical ‘beings’, and mechanical parts break down on wear and tear over time. However for me, the more frustrating break downs are caused by electrical failures because unfortunately they are not so easily detected from visual inspection alone.

Over the course of 2 years owning the Nabira, it had broken down a number of times due to battery drain; the first time was thought to be normal since the battery came together with the car, second was thought to be due to battery fault so I claimed warranty for the battery, and yet after the third time I finally surrendered. Something was bloody wrong with the car.

At first, I went to a stupid wireman who simply looked around the engine compartment, touched the battery and then blamed the in-car DVD/media player I installed very recently before that. “The player short circuited your wiring”, he said. Wait what? He can tell just by looking? Must be X-ray vision. But since I’m not exactly car-savvy, I heeded his advice and went on to remove the player. The next morning the battery died again.

After asking around I went to a smarter, more reputable wireman who actually knows his stuff. His diagnosis: not short circuit nor leaking current but the car had weak battery charging due to a deteriorating alternator (bodoh punya first wireman, nasib baik free! X-ray vision konon poodah!). This caused the battery to drain faster than it could be recharged by the alternator. Finally a step in the right direction! Alternator was replaced and I was happy.

3 months after (which was just two days ago!) the battery went dead again and I finally called the car ‘Babira’ in frustration.

Back at my regular workshop the 3 months old alternator which was still under warranty was pulled out for testing. Results showed that it was working like it was supposed to so the fault was no longer on the alternator. On further inspection, it was discovered that on cold start, the battery meter used by the mechanic indicated ‘Green’ (meaning OK la) but dropped to ‘Red’ (obviously KO) when all accessories (air-cond, head lights, radio) were turned on. Once the engine warmed up, everything went down to ‘Red’. So who or what could be causing this weird current drop? Toyol? Penanggal? Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam? Edward Cullen (God forbid)?

The fault was found to be the most unbelievable for me (at least); a short circuit in ‘Positive (+Ve)’ battery terminal. Apparently, the thick cable connecting to the positive terminal had melted/damaged/whatever from the inside, causing short circuit and kick-back current, therefore electrical current from the battery was wasted on heating up the terminal instead of circulating thus weakening battery recharging. (I know many of you will probably read this once, twice, thrice and still don’t get it muahaha)

So remember, if your battery drained out faster than it should, most likely your alternator is indicating EOL (End-Of-Life). If the battery terminals heat up and burn your fingers, castrate (!!) and replace them immediately. The battery meter used by your mechanic should point to ‘Green’ at all times even with everything turned on full blast. Make sure of this or you will end up having a dead car again in no time.

I bloody love the Babira Nabira; SHE is like an insolent child. She may spit in my face but I still love her nevertheless. xD

Next: Where in hell did all the engine oil drained to?? I’ll be damned.