Battery Died Again

[Dathaeus]

So I got a new AAA battery less than a year ago... Then a month ago it died, and AAA came to recharge it, said it wasn't perfect but it should be ok.

Died again today, they came and replaced it totally this time with my request and he agreed.

Both times they kept talking about needing to drive the car more.

Now I understand the physics of that. But the reality is, I've been living in this hot weather for 18 years now. I've had an e36 for the first half and now the e46.

Full disclosure, I've had a parasitic drain by something related to the interior lights/trunk release, so I took that fuse out over two years ago. There's been nothing to support that this is the cause for the last 3 years since I removed that fuse.

My usually job is less than one mile drive daily, and I have other clients I drive 5-20+ miles for a few times a month. Before the last dead battery couple months ago, due to the virus, yes driving was down a little more and I hadn't driven for three days. However I've left this car at an airport for over a week before, and there were times regularly that I didn't drive my E36 back in NYC for over a week many times, never a dead battery.

When I got my engine replaced a couple years ago, they replaced my AAA battery was some minimum cheap crap battery and that kept dying until I replaced that POS. Then it was fine for a while.

So from this data, I can't find any reason why this has happened more recently and as random times. I can't find any pattern or whatever...

We'll see how long this new battery lasts, but can any of you see something I don't?

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[johnrando]

Parasitic drain from the FSR? Fairly common.

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[KevinC]

< 1 mile a day? I'd put it on a Battery Tender, for sure.

[holyc0w]

I drive about 5 miles per week usually on one day. My battery is from 2011/2012 and I've had no issues so far.

[Dathaeus]

Parasitic drain from the FSR? Fairly common.

Sent from my SM-G988U using TapatalkSo just replacing that one part will take care of that, if that's the cause? Does it have a dedicated fuse so I'll know if a do a parasitic test?

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[Dathaeus]

< 1 mile a day? I'd put it on a Battery Tender, for sure.I'm strongly considering that but 1- I heard it's just a bandaid and should be avoided as much as possible... 2 - it seems for my car you need to hook up the tender directly to the battery, so.... Ya.... Might have to be my last resort... If cigarette lighter version were applicable I would get one anyways but oh well

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[Dathaeus]

I drive about 5 miles per week usually on one day. My battery is from 2011/2012 and I've had no issues so far.Probably means you have no drain at all so you're lucky

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[usinjin]

I have a parasitic drain I'm also hunting down, I ended up purchasing a cheap clamp-style multimeter that lets me measure DC current without having to physically connect it in series. Uses a hall effect sensor to measure current that passes through the "clamp loop". Made it much easier to measure.

[Dathaeus]

I have a parasitic drain I'm also hunting down, I ended up purchasing a cheap clamp-style multimeter that lets me measure DC current without having to physically connect it in series. Uses a hall effect sensor to measure current that passes through the "clamp loop". Made it much easier to measure.I was thinking of using this method this time

I need to get another multimeter... I think last time I used this and might get the same one

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KXX2OYY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rwHaFbX39WTH2

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[johnrando]

So just replacing that one part will take care of that, if that's the cause? Does it have a dedicated fuse so I'll know if a do a parasitic test?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using TapatalkYes, if that's it, just replacing it solves it. Essentially it doesn't allow the car to 'sleep' when it's bad and that slowly drains the battery. I don't know if there is a fuse to pull to test.

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[John in VA]

There is a fuse in the glove box area that controls the fan speed. We had a FSR fail by running when the car was turned off, draining/killing the battery. Pulled the fuse until the new FSR arrived. Look at fuse #28/5A & #50/40A.

[SoCalZman]

isn't the FSR the thing that was causing all those fires on e46fanantics? I recall going through a alarming number of those posts a few years ago. If it is the FSR get it changed ASAP.

BTW, I keep a tiny battery jumper pack in my trunk and it has saved me a few times, as well as being able to help people without risking my car hooking up jumper cables to theirs. totally worth it. They sell them at costco, etc for not very much money.

[johnrando]

Had not heard about fires, but those little jumper boxes now are amazing. Compact and powerful.

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[Dathaeus]

Can you guys send me link or model of the pack you're using?

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[SoCalZman]

Had not heard about fires, but those little jumper boxes now are amazing. Compact and powerful.

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https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/e46-fire-thread.1030759/page-2

Here are some examples mixed in with the thread. There are more but reading stuff like this made me paranoid for a hot second and is what made me start doing my own research. I think one of the main pre fire symptoms is the fan runs even when the car is off and asleep. Hopefully the OP figures out the issue.

My car, which has a pretty fresh battery, will sit for 3-4 weeks at a time and still start right up.

Dathaeus, I bought a PowerAll battery pack in 2014, but it still works (it looks like amazon sells it as a 2 pack these days). Just need to take it out of the trunk and charge it up every 4-6 months to keep it topped up. I jumped my tenants car just last week with it. pretty impressive. Amazon and Costco sell a few different kinds though. Im sure there are other quality brands if you look at the ratings/read the reviews.

[John in VA]

Can you guys send me link or model of the pack you're using?
Here's the one I use. You can find it cheaper online. https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/micro-starts/xp-10/

[sillieidiot]

Can you guys send me link or model of the pack you're using?

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This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB40-UltraSafe-Lithium-Starter/dp/B015TKUPIC/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?cv_ct_cx=noco+gb40&dchild=1&keywords=noco+gb40&pd_rd_i=B015TKUPIC&pd_rd_r=2a8b4d72-05aa-47e4-ac58-2852824fedb8&pd_rd_w=tTYMK&pd_rd_wg=V6ryz&pf_rd_p=1da5beeb-8f71-435c-b5c5-3279a6171294&pf_rd_r=4EWCXHJXHEGE5KF7DFHE&psc=1&qid=1594532358&sr=1-1-70f7c15d-07d8-466a-b325-4be35d7258cc

Goes on sale a lot. I usually get it around 70ish or less. One thing is that you got to check if it works and stuff right away cause there are duds sometimes. You could also measure it while it off the car, as long as it's > 12v, then it's good. But it works well for all the cars that I've used it on.

[Dathaeus]

I guess those that plug into the lighter port don't really work?

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[sillieidiot]

I guess those that plug into the lighter port don't really work?

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They do, but it just depends on the car. For most of the BMWS E46 and up\, I have always used the jump starter points under the hood for the trunk directly.

I have one of these permanently attached to the jumper spots:
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GBC007-Accessory-X-Connect-Charging/dp/B071F36LXZ/ref=sr_1_32?crid=11JJP1RJS1L4H&dchild=1&keywords=noco+genius&qid=1594712447&sprefix=noco%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-32

So I could plug in the the tender/charger to it. I also use that same connection to plug my jumper pack into it if I need a jump.

You could do a similar set up but with a cigarette lighter adapter instead lol Just get a female one and hook it up to the battery and fish it through the firewall on the passenger side and stick it in the glove box. It's hidden, now you have this extra source of power. And you just plug the solar charger into it. You can do it from the trunk too, but that's an extremely long wire run to get to the front.

something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/2699006490-H0003-CL-ME-3-pies/dp/B07CQMQL9L/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?crid=WLOWEGWRK6R&cv_ct_cx=cigarette+lighter+socket&dchild=1&keywords=cigarette+lighter+socket&pd_rd_i=B07CQMQL9L&pd_rd_r=f45f71ef-6ac1-4605-9c6b-a190cfed8abd&pd_rd_w=NRmAZ&pd_rd_wg=r7pVA&pf_rd_p=13bf9bc7-d68d-44c3-9d2e-647020f56802&pf_rd_r=5V9QPN52YRDRYYYQTGWH&psc=1&qid=1594712809&sprefix=cigarette+lighter+%2Caps%2C201&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f