Car Battery Loses Charge

Battery terminal problem

It is very frustrating when a car battery loses charge over several days of the vehicle not being used. It is also not good for the battery and if this continues to happen in many cases replacement will be necessary.

The most common cause of the battery going dead after sitting for a short while would be a drain from the electrical system on the vehicle. Most often this can be traced back to a light in the vehicle that is either left on or will not turn off automatically.

A couple of examples would be a glove box light or a trunk light. In most cases these types of courtesy lights are supposed to turn off automatically. When they don’t the car battery loses charge.

The automatic operation of these courtesy lights is controlled in most cases by a pin switch but in some older vehicles you can still find the old-fashioned mercury switch. Testing of these items is further explained below. Click on read more. Read more