2000 VW Jetta, Battery Not Holding Charge After Several Hours
Posted in Car Batteries | Asked on Jun 2, 2010
I live in a very cold country. This is now the 4th time in a month that my battery has died. Yesterday, I went to start my car, battery wasn’t DEAD, but not enough juice to start vehicle. Engine would not turn over (click click click) Plugged in battery charger, ~20min on charger, car started, no problem. This morning, went to start car, same issue. Plugged in charger ~20min, car started fine. Went out 6hrs later, car will not start, it’s turning over, no click click, but it’s not starting. All lights/whipers/radio/heat work, brights do not work.. Not enough juice to start car.
Tested alternator with voltmeter, was about 16, tested battery after it was charged ~20 before starting car, was 15 I think.
I will test the battery tomorrow with the voltmeter to see if the problem resides in my battery.
What would some suggestions be that the problem is? Do I just need to replace my battery. I have 100,000k miles on my car, have never replaced my battery.
Sorry for so much information
Tested battery today after letting it sit idle for 15hrs, voltmeter read in at 10. Noticed I blew a fuse attached to my battery, so I’m going to replace that today, hopefully that is the problem.
Thanks for all the answers thus far =)
There are 5 Answers for "2000 VW Jetta, Battery Not Holding Charge After Several Hours"
o god yes! replace that ancient thing! its 8 years old, been beat to hell in your cold weather, be happy this is the first time you have to replace it. Batteries are reasonably cheap, do it.
after 8 years it is time for a battery but it is possible you have something drawing the battery down. something is not going off when you turn the car off. have the battery tested and or replaced an have the mechanic test both the charging system and test for a draw
Most likely it is the alternator bc that is way too high. It should stay around 14 volts. What it ended up doing is killing your battery. Go to your local Auto Zone (if you have one) they will test it for free. If not, take it to your local repair shop and they should do the same.
I expect a good quality battery to be on its last legs at about 65 to 75 months. There are some that have 80 month prorated warranties but not many. BTW, the factory battery installed in most cars is just a good battery, not a great one. IMO you have been on borrowed time for a couple of years. Replace the battery.
I spent three years in Fairbanks, AK. I learned a lot about electrical systems while there. When the battery gets cold, it drops the voltage some. When you engage the starter the voltage can go down to 2 to 2.5 volts. That simply isn’t enough to fire the plugs. The engine will roll over but without any authority. It goes into a Chug, Chug, Chug mode so it never spins up fast enough to let the starter developing its magnetic field. Hence it acts like a near dead short all the time you are cranking. That short takes the voltage down and as I said before, no spark. Definitely new battery time. OH yeah, failing to hold a charge is the way most batteries die. I had one explode but normally they just sort of fade away.
Good luck.
I recommend INTERSTATE batteries. They are well worth the money.