ChocoChipCooky

I'm sort of a car newbie. I have a 2006 where the battery seems as though it keeps dying after a couple of months of replacing it. I always keep having to jump it to start it and then once I drive it for a while it will start again in a couple of days. However if I have a stretch of 2 weeks when I don't drive it, the car won't start. I'm starting to think it is the after market Viper alarm system. Any ideas or suggestions? If it is the alarm, what's the best way to remove/deactivate. I much rather be able to drive my weekend car when I want instead of the alarm system.

The King

If your battery has gone dead several times, it may already be toast. Pick up a battery tender/ maintainer. My car will hold a charge for quite some time, probably at least two months. If the car is not being driven for several months, I hook a maintainer up every so often to avoid problems. If yours is dead after a couple of weeks, I would suspect the alarm is the reason. Have your battery tested and go from there. Some cars have more of a drain than others. My NSX will go dead in a few weeks, but that is the nature of the beast from what I understand. I keep a Battery Tender on it all winter. The tender comes with clamps for the battery or a harness that allows you to have a plug in a convenient location. I have a Ctek that I use once and awhile on the S2000 among other cars for many years, and a Battery Tender that is has been wired for the NSX for years also. Both seem to do the job. If you do some comparison shopping for a maintainer, you will find numerous different ones available. If I was shopping for a new one, I think I'd pay a bit more for one that claims to have a desulphation function that may save your present battery.

zeroptzero

assuming your alternator is working fine, then you have a parasitic draw on the car while it is shut off, most likely from the alarm install. I would take out the alarm if you don't need to have one, if you cant handle the removal find an electronics place that does, Viper alarms are quite common and you shouldn't have a problem finding a place that can do it. if you can find the brains of the alarm locate a fuse that it is operating off and remove the fuse, as it will have a connection for battery power somewhere in the electrical / fuse panel system. They likely plugged into the spare fuse slot of one of the fuse boxes.

Car Analogy

Yeah, just pull the alarm fuse first, then fully charge batrery, see if issue go away.

Chuck S

It's your aftermarket car alarm. And it's killing your battery. Literally. Excellent chance it will not recover. Even the OE radio, remote locks, and alarm siphon power constantly from the battery.

What's the voltage after sitting overnight? At 10.5vDC the battery is dead. Yeah, there's 10.5v in there but it's not useful. Anything below 12.4vDC should be avoided as batteries will start to sulfate (coating on their plates) and as that gets deeper the battery becomes useless. If your battery voltage is consistently dropping below 12.4v it's being damaged.

A parasitic draw over a long time will bring the battery so low many modern battery chargers won't charge it as they can't sense a battery connected.



Battery tenders work in you have access to AC power. Battery disconnectors will prevent parasitic discharge (have your radio code handy) and self discharge is very slow in cold weather. Devices like PriortyStart (tm) will cut the battery off when the voltage gets below 11.7vDC and still leave enough charge to start the car.

-- Chuck

ChocoChipCooky

Thank you all for the replies. I'll first try something simple as removing the fuse to just turn off the whole alarm. That will be a lot cheaper than paying a BestBuy or somewhere to remove the whole alarm. I'll lt you all know as soon as I try to work on it one day this week.

ChocoChipCooky

Chuck S

Check the Viper documentation. I doubt there's fuse in the fuse box labeled Viper Alarm.

-- Chuck

ChocoChipCooky

Just checked all the paperwork that came with the system after installation. The installers did not give any diagrams or papers where the fuse is unfortunately. I called a local Best Buy and they said they would remove the fuse for free. I assume they know exactly where it is. I do have another question. After unplugging the system will my original key fob work or does everything have to be rewired to the factory alarm?

ChocoChipCooky

Anyone else have any experience removing an alarm fuse or removing the brain? I just tried connecting a voltmeter to the battery and the reading was less than a 2. I have been getting my batteries from Walmart. About every year or so I exchange my battery for a new one since it dies within the 4-5 year warranty. I have replaced the battery about 3-4 times now for free because it has always been going bad before the coverage expires.