I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

I got back from college after leaving my car for about 2 months unstarted and the battery was dead. So I had it jumped and it was fine. Driving for about a mile I got a check engine light. When I stopped I checked the light....it was a single blink, slowly...dunno what that means. Then I realized that again I had no power. My battery basically drained in front of my eyes. When I jumped it again a few hours later, it took the jump but started acting weird. My check engine light came back on, and my alarm brain was clicking repeatedly. I'm pretty sure its a relay inside the alarm. The only time it would stop was when I put the cluch in.

Now heres the weirest part....a few miles down the road my car just died completely. First the lights dimmed to barely nothing, then 10 sec. later I had NO power. This happened while driving. I was able to get a jump again and drive home, but the alarm kept clicking.

Now heres a little more history of weird electrical problems in my car. I got my alarm installed last October. Whenever it was REALLY cold out, my starter cut relay would click like crazy when my clutch was in to start the car. As soon as I took the clutch out it stopped. Also, sometimes my alarm would click everytime the clutch went in and then again for back out. Again this is for really cold weather.

What I have in my car is the alarm, and many (5) gauges. All of the gauges are hooked up to the same power and ground sources.

What should I look for? Bad battery? Bad alternator? A short somewhere? Bad ground? If anyone has any idea where I should start looking or knows what it could be PLEASE help me. Thank you.

 

Does your alarm have a starter disable if the alarm goes off??? It could be your battery is so weak it can't hold a charge and is resetting the alarm every time it dies. Also could be a loose ground wire somewhere. Check the main ground wires to the engine and off the battery.

 

it could be your alternator not working at all, and all the equipment draining your battery, take it to your local autopart shop, like a AutoZone or Advance Auto Part, they can run it a on the battery and alternator at the same time, i hope you dont have to change the alternator, i did that. Took me about 2 hours. pain the the butt.

 

definately check <U>all</U> grounds, engine first then gauges, alarm (thats what i think is causing everything) , if it isn't one of those get the alternator checked , and swap batteries because all the dying has prolly weakened it alot

 

ive had both of these problems, first off make sure all the fuses in your alarm are good and NOT blown. if you had a good place like best buy or circut city install your alarm and you have your recipt they will check it out for no charge. second when my car was dying like that i had a loose ground on my alternator, i dont know how it came loose or whatever but it did.

 

i just checked all my grounds and they seem good. I also took a look at the battery. The indicater is RED which means I need to add water. Also, the battery is only giving off about 7.5 volts.

Could low water really be causeing this? If so, how do I add more water?

 

Sounds to me like your alarm is causing a few problems..

But it might not be.. Could just be a loose wire in the Charging Circuit.. Here's the fastest check.. Grab the wires at the Battery and Alternator and give them a little tug..

Since you seem to have a Volt Meter, check the Voltage coming out of the Alternator.. It should be around 14V... If not, check your wiring.. I'd love to go into details but I don't have the time.. If you want a more thorough check, look in the Tech Forum.. I've posted a lot about the Charging System..

Good Luck.. I'll check back later..

 

When you jump start, did you leave the car idle a bit to recharge the battery? Most likely, it's probably the alternator. I had that same problem before and it was the alternator.

 

I checked the battery and the water was REALLY low, like 3-4" down. So I filled it up w/ distilled water and jumped it. It ran fine, but the alarm is STILL clicking like mad. After letting the car run for 10 minutes the battery had a charge of 10V, so its doing better. Right now I have it hooked up to a charger.

I'm still pretty sure that this is not the cause of the problem though. What would cause the water level to be so low and what would cause the alarm to keep clicking like this? As soon as Thanksgiving is over I'm gunna call the place that installed my alarm.

 

i bet your alarm is hot grounded somewhere and it is draining your battery, that mught explain the erratic clicking too

 

hot grounded?

 

i had a similar problem in my last car...it was a bad cell in the battery. it would take a full charge but all of a sudden it would drop to like 9 volts then the alarm would wigout. good luck!

 

just had my battery load checked at acura....they said it was fine, just needed a recharging and that something eles was my problem...most likeley related to my alarm...