I have a '96 Buick Park Avenue with 62,000 miles. It was bought new. For the last 4 years I have had the battery go “dead” and replaced with a new one on the average of once a year at our local Buick dealership. The mechanics, (supposedly some of the best in the Rocky Mountain area),
can not find the cause for the battery drain. My family says sell the car and if I do so, I will have to reveal the “problem” to any potential buyer which will probably discourage the buyer and lower my selling price. Does anyone have any advice for me? Thank you.
Sukay
You either have a parasitic battery drain or a charging system problem. Loose alternator belt, bad connections at the battery or alternator or a bad ground connection. A current meter can be used to measure the drain of the circuits. Charging can be checked at any mechanic or auto parts with a diagnostic machine.
Find a non-dealer good mechanic, and I’m sure he will find the problem. You obviously have a short somewnhere, and it should not be hard to locate.
You are putting too much faith in dealership techs. They just cost more, but are often not very good at troubleshooting unusual problems.
This is too good a car to dump, unless it has other problems.
My late brother-in-law had a car just like yours, and it lasted him a very long time.
Good luck.
What area the symptoms when a no-start conditon occurs?
No starter motor operation and no dash warning lights on?
No click sounds?
Key on, dash warning lights on, but no starter motor ?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with your vehicle or the batteries you are buying, maybe. You don’t put many miles on your vehicle, less than 4k per year, you live where there are long winters and that means slow speed driving with headlights and heater fan on a lot. Now if most of your driving is short trips, its the conditions that are killing your battery.
The solution might be to have someone wire in a trickle charger to your system that you can plug in an extension cord to and keep the battery up after each short trip in the winter, just remember to unplug the extension cord before starting the vehicle or moving it. You will need a trickle charger rated for permanent mounting.