Everytime we use the chargers of our escalade to inflate tires, or one time, listen to cd while the car is off, the car will not start the following day.
The mechanics have checked the batteries and they said it’s okay and cannot find a problem. This had happened at least 3 times within the past year.
Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about. Not entirely anyway.
I assume you mean the air compressor. Those things are usually a fairly high drain, I would use it while the engine is running. The output from your alternator may be weak as well, i would have it tested.
You say it wont start the next day…what does it do? Does it try to start…
Back up and take another run at it Mr Martin. Was it an inflater that was operated which resulted in a no start? And how long was the CD operated and were the interior lights also on when the no start occurred? I would imagine that if the inflater was run for 10 minutes with ABSOLUTELY no other drain on the battery a good battery should have been able to crank the engine and half an hour of operating the CD with ABSOLUTELY no other drain should have left adequate charge to crank it. But sitting with your foot on the brake pedal and the courtesy lights on for half an hour will take a heavy toll on a battery.
replace “chargers” with “lighter outlet” or “power point” and it makes more sense.
He’s using 12V accessories with the car off… it’s not clear how long the item is being used, but apparently it’s sufficient to drain the battery.
How do you end up getting the car started? Do you (or a tow truck driver) jump start it? If so, it sounds like a battery issue.
Bring it to the mechanic and ask them to check the alternator output… if they don’t have a machine that can test the output, then find a new mechanic.
Also, if you’ve drained your battery below the point where it can start the car 3X within one year, it sounds like you may need a new battery regardless of whether your charging system ends up being OK or not.
Which part of the car is the charger?
As “bemis1” pointed out, it’s the lighter outlet or power point.
We’ve tried using all different oulets available in the escalade, i.e., the 2 in the front, 1 in the back-passenger, and the 2 in the trunk area.
How old is the battery? What is the voltage across the terminals? With the engine off the voltage will be between 11.9V (fully discharged) to 12.6/12.7V (fully charged)? If the voltage is 11V or less the battery has a dead/shorted cell and needs to be replaced.
How is it driven? Short trips will run the battery down. If you drive mostly short distances consider using a trickle charger to top off/fully charge the battery. I use a Battery Tender www.batterytender.com to keep the batteries charged on cars I don’t drive every day. It’s a little expensive (~$60), but cheaper than any car battery.
Ed B.
My other reply did not post. I’m trying this again, so you might get a duplicate posting.
Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I’m referring to the lighter outlets/power points.
We probably used the power points for 5-10 minutes to inflate the tires with the required air-tire pressures.
When it died one time after using the CD player while parked, it was about 30-45 minutes.
It did start easily with a jump start several times.
Is there anything else we should tell the mechanics why they should check the alternator output?
Did you say that if this happens 3x/yr regardless of easy jump-starts, we probably need a new battery?
Thanks for your advise!
Okay, we are making some progress in deciphering the terminology, but unfortunately the OP has still not answered questions, such as those posed by LedLawless and Bemis.
Mr. Martin:
Are you operating an air compressor while the engine is shut off?
If so, this was not wise. The manual for every electric compressor that I have owned specifically states “do not operate this device unless the car’s engine is running”.
How long did you listen to the CD player? Was this also while the engine was shut off?
If you listened to the CD player for more than…let’s say…20 minutes with the engine shut off, this was also not a wise thing to do, especially if the battery is more than a couple of years old.
And, that leads to other questions that need to be answered, namely:
Is the vehicle normally subjected to a lot of short-trip driving?
What is the model year of this vehicle?
How old is the battery?