Kia eating batteries

The Show
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1

i have a 2001 kia spectra and it has 190,000 miles on it. in the last year ive had to replace the batterie 3 times( which is under warinty thankfully) but it keeps going on me and needing to be jumped. when tested the batterie cell runs bad they said everything else tested fine. what is your advice here. hubby wants to change out the alternator. oh the last batterie lasted a week before needing to be jumped.

2

also imtraiding her in for a new car in tax time lol but need it for work till then

3

ok its a spectra not a sephia

4

Put a volt meter (harbor freight has a cheap multimeter for 5 bucks) across the battery and make sure that you see around 14.4 volts when that car is running.
It could also be over charging, generating higher voltage spikes a multimeter will not be able to capture.

5

3 possibilities

  1. You are just unlucky and keep getting bad batteries. Check Consumer Reports at the library for what brand of battery is best for your car.

  2. You have a phantom current drain. Any mechanic could determine if this is the cause. If you know a scientist or engineer, they could probably do it too.

  3. The alternator is on the fritz and needs to be replaced.

Sears Auto Repair – in my area anyway – will test the battery and charging system (the alternator) for free. Many big-chain auto parts stores will also. They have all the eqp’t, you just drive your car up to the repair bay and ask. That’s probably the first step.

6

You might get to the heart of the problem faster by looking for an auto electric specialty shop for diagnosis. At the very least you may find that they can rebuild your alternator if that’s the problem. The alternator is a likely explanation at 190k, and not terribly expensive, well worth the repair. The shop I use charges about $90 to rebuild an alternator, that’s not counting labor to remove/replace, which can be easy or hard depending on the car. I prefer rebuilding locally versus buying a factory rebuilt of questionable quality. I would imagine that if you found such a shop, they’d do a quick check of your system on the spot for no charge…a good place to get authoritative and usually free advice.

7

Battery drain my choice.