my fiance has a 2006 cobalt ls and if it isnt started and ran everyday the battery goes dead it started with it taking a week and has slowly gotten worse to the point that she has to start it everyday in order for it to stay charged when she parks she unplugs everything out of the plugs but it continues to go dead any help in where to start looking would be greatly appreciated

 

Alternator starting to go maybe? Where do you live? Maybe the battery doesn't have enough cold cranking amps.

 

the battery is a year old with a test cca of 600 and the alternator shows it is charging fine if i unhook the battery i can leave it unhooked for as long as i want then hook it back up and it would start im in ny and its getting rather effin cold up here lately lol

 

Moved

 

That is weird. I have had an optima red top for about 3-4 years and never had a problem. I had it in Wyoming too so it dealt with the cold well. Not really sure what is wrong with hers though.

****. I didn't even notice

 

Maybe you have a slow drain somewhere, any aftermarket parts? Radio, subs, car starter?

 

I had something like that happen where the glove box light was staying on and I never noticed it. It would quickly drain the battery and then I wouldn't be able to restart the car. Dumbest thing ever.

If you want to troubleshoot the problem in a rather simple/stupid way then open the fuse box and pull one fuse. Wait a day and see if it starts. If it doesn't, pull a different fuse and see if it starts after a day. Rinse, repeat. Might take a minute but you'll identify where the problem is by which fuse fixes it.

 

this!
and also this is off topic but your from middletown NY?

 

thats a long way to diagnose something. somewhat effective but long time. if the alternator is charging properly and you can take the battery out and not have it lose alot of its charge then yes you have a parasitic drain somewhere. best place to start is to ensure all your lights turn on and off properly, as you already have been doing unplug anything that would plug into your cigarette lighters.

if you have anything aftermarket make sure they are not staying powered on with the key out of the ignition open your door, everything should turn off completely without being able to power on. only exception to this is things powered directly by the battery. if you have an ipod disconnect that as well.

also double check to make sure your trunk light is working correctly as well. best way to do this is put the back seats down open the trunk and with someone inside the vehicle close the trunk the light should go out.

only thing after that is you have a short to open somewhere in the wiring system.

 

First of all, never do that again. You'll start destroying your electronics since your alternator supplies very dirty power and your battery filters it. Your battery supplies 12.2 volts on a very good day, if you start the car and your voltage meter reads anything higher than that your alternator is working fine. My car generally runs at 14.8-15.2 volts when running, you should be somewhere in there. If your car is charging much higher than 15 volts, your battery is probably internally shorted and you should think about replacing it or your voltage regulator is toast and that explains all your problems. If your car running doesn't produce more than 12.2 volts on the volt meter, you alternator/voltage regulator is probably still shot but is still providing enough power to run the car just not charge the battery.

But now that you've ruled out your alternator, here's what I would start doing...

- Check to make sure all your battery connections are tight and not rusted including the one at the distribution post at the fuse box

- Check to make sure there's enough water in the battery

- Give it a full charge for 3-5 hours after doing all of the above and see if it happens again.

- If that doesnt help, replace the battery

It's possible you've got a short, but I bet it's just a shitty battery.

 

our batteries are non-serviceable batteries. i haven't seen a battery that is meant to be serviced in a long time.

 

there are still plenty of batteries that need to be serviced. people just don't care to check them so they put maintenance free batteries from the factory

 

even the ones i sell at my work are maintenance free. i'm not doubting there are still serviceable batteries because most motorcycle/quad batteries you have to put together yourself and fill with water.

 

Fantastic...

To the OP... If your battery has caps you can take off to check and fill the water level on the battery like mine does, do it.

 

what battery are you running?

 

my idea. get you battery tested. if its a 06 i would say you need i new battery. I have a 06 and replaced mine. The cobalt has a trunk battery and they suck simply due to how they are made to vent outside and what not so it will work in the trunk. also they are expensive as poo since they are like custom for a cobalt lol

 

Just a cheap Motomaster one from Crappy Tire, was like $100. The factory one went on me while I was working on an aircraft. Thank god it was an old enough aircraft it had 12 volt power.

Ugh, Cobalt batteries are a standard size battery.

 

its a group 90. a little different than most standard batteries but a group 34 fits right in

 

ya its a group 90 battery and cool i'm glad that motomaster is workin for ya. i'm still runnin the stock battery and mines an 07

 

yes i have the yellow ss with yellow retros and ipcw's

 

i replaced the battery in it a year ago with a car quest maintence free sealed one the alt is putting out 14.9 and there is nothing after market on the car its all stock......she wont let me

 

It's gotta be the battery... Nothing else makes sense, but that is my internet diagnosis.