Battery is losing voltage on ‘05 Liberty Sport with 80k miles

[Jeepogeek]

I’m having to keep my, tested good, battery on a trickle charger for the past year or so since the battery has been losing voltage over a couple of weeks while sitting. I suspect a parasitic draw but don’t know where to begin. The only other thing wrong with the car is the key won’t withdraw without making sure the shifter is tapped forward enough, which seems to be a common problem with this model. I’ve owned the car since new.
Can you guys suggest what are the most common causes of battery draw on this unmolested car?

 

[lfhoward]

In my in-laws’ WJ, I fixed a parasitic draw by finding a frayed and broken wire in the rubber conduit that went to the drivers door from the body. I was suspicious because their locks and windows were not working properly and the fuses were fine. The frayed wire was grounding out on the body.

When you don’t know where to look, it can be a but more frustrating. Here is a good instructional video on how to find the offending circuit. You’ll need a multimeter to do the test, which you can get at your local auto parts store if you don’t have one.

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Edit: I don’t think the issue with the park position cable is related to your parasitic draw problem.

 

[Jeepogeek]

In my in-laws’ WJ, I fixed a parasitic draw by finding a frayed and broken wire in the rubber conduit that went to the drivers door from the body. I was suspicious because their locks and windows were not working properly and the fuses were fine. The frayed wire was grounding out on the body.

When you don’t know where to look, it can be a but more frustrating. Here is a good instructional video on how to find the offending circuit. You’ll need a multimeter to do the test, which you can get at your local auto parts store if you don’t have one.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Edit: I don’t think the issue with the park position cable is related to your parasitic draw problem.

Okay thanks. I’ll look at it. I was thinking maybe there is a likely culprit that keeps showing up over the years on this site. Maybe not! I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

[LibertyTC]

How old is battery? What brand of battery do you have & what is the CCA Rating? Are you using an automatic trickle charger, brand? 700 or more CCA amp batteries are best.
I'd like to see the battery voltage once fully charged, then after 24 hours without charger on, voltage reading, then again with another 24 hours later using a VOM.
I use a C-tek smart charger, and prefer AGM (absorb glass matt batteries) way more powerful.
Generally speaking between 24 to 48 hours without a charger on, should give you an idea how much voltage loss the battery is experiencing.
State of charge or percentage % loss can be monitored over days, if there is a larger parasitic drain.

 

[Jeepogeek]

The battery is about 2 years old. It is a generic Korean battery. I’ve been buying batteries from a discount dealer in my locality for 30 years. This battery is a 34-72. 770 CCA. I am using a black and decker trickle charger and also a battery tender jr. With everything off and when I prob the neg terminal removed there is a -0.10 amp draw. I will let the battery sit connected up and report the results tomorrow.

 

[Duster]

This kind of stuff can be hard to find, even with an easily readable wiring diagram.

Basically if it has draw when parked, a relay is stuck on, or there is a small short somewhere on a wire that has always on power. That would be my thought process for narrowing down the hunt significantly.

Last time I had something like this, (wasn't the liberty) it was that the AC clutch relay was energizing the AC clutch and killing the battery. In fact, I think only once ever was it very easy and that was the time that I was hunting around and the cooling fan stayed on when I shut the key off. Was also a relay.

 

[Billwill]

A 100 mA draw when switched off is a bit high....the only things that should be drawing current are the ECM and BCM which should together only draw about 20 mA.

With the Meter connected in series with the battery you need to disconnect connectors to see when the current draw drops then with reference to the Wiring Diagrams you can try find the issue.

Make sure you are not touching the Meter leads with bare hands while measuring!
Is this a 2005 CRD or Gasser....in case we have to dive into the Wiring diagrams!

When my Jeep was relatively new my GF crashed the Jeep into a tree which jumped in front of her....took me months to pull off the wiring shorts one by one....they all showed up one by one over time and were usually a wire in the Harness shorting to ground or to another random wire!

 

[Jeepogeek]

This kind of stuff can be hard to find, even with an easily readable wiring diagram.

Basically if it has draw when parked, a relay is stuck on, or there is a small short somewhere on a wire that has always on power. That would be my thought process for narrowing down the hunt significantly.

Last time I had something like this, (wasn't the liberty) it was that the AC clutch relay was energizing the AC clutch and killing the battery. In fact, I think only once ever was it very easy and that was the time that I was hunting around and the cooling fan stayed on when I shut the key off. Was also a relay.

Funny you mention the AC clutch. The clutch has been making noise periodically for a few years. I’ll try to find that relay and check somehow. Thanks

 

[Jeepogeek]

How old is battery? What brand of battery do you have & what is the CCA Rating? Are you using an automatic trickle charger, brand? 700 or more CCA amp batteries are best.
I'd like to see the battery voltage once fully charged, then after 24 hours without charger on, voltage reading, then again with another 24 hours later using a VOM.
I use a C-tek smart charger, and prefer AGM (absorb glass matt batteries) way more powerful.
Generally speaking between 24 to 48 hours without a charger on, should give you an idea how much voltage loss the battery is experiencing.
State of charge or percentage % loss can be monitored over days, if there is a larger parasitic drain.

So, over the last couple days I’ve recorded voltage loss:

Friday 5pm 13.11 volts fully charged

Saturday 6am 12.73

Saturday 9:30 pm 12.67

Sunday 6:30 am 12.66. Weird only1 mV less in 12 hrs

 

[LibertyTC]

That is good news, not much of a loss & about 85% state of charge @12.66 volts by Sunday.
If you are not driving it regularly, trickle charge it once a week & you should be just fine.
For batteries exposed to colder climates, the state of charge is lessened, but all good vehicle batteries have a reserve capacity for starting.
Having a battery load tested once a year in the fall, is a good idea !

 

[Jeepogeek]

That is good news, not much of a loss & about 85% state of charge @12.66 volts by Sunday.
If you are not driving it regularly, trickle charge it once a week & you should be just fine.
For batteries exposed to colder climates, the state of charge is lessened, but all good vehicle batteries have a reserve capacity for starting.
Having a battery load tested once a year in the fall, is a good idea !

Hey thanks! So I shouldn’t just keep it on the trickle charger?

 

[LibertyTC]

Not necessary & long term trickle charging can over heat cells long term.

 

[Jeepogeek]

Not necessary & long term trickle charging can over heat cells long term.

Okay boss! Thank you and everyone for all the advice.

 

[Boueux]

@Jeepogeek
Hi, I’m a new Liberty owner 06 and reading about battery drain I found this thread in trying to solve mine.. next I read your thread and thought.. Hey, I wonder if this would help here? https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/06-l...-on-after-alternator-and-battery-change.79034 .. unless you’ve solved your battery drain already?

 

[Jeepogeek]

@Jeepogeek
Hi, I’m a new Liberty owner 06 and reading about battery drain I found this thread in trying to solve mine.. next I read your thread and thought.. Hey, I wonder if this would help here? https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/06-l...-on-after-alternator-and-battery-change.79034 .. unless you’ve solved your battery drain already?

Well I’ll tell you what I’m doing about my issue for now. I decided to go to the local dealer to see what they would say about the current draw. They said if wanted to put a battery disconnect on the car it wouldn’t hurt anything. They also said, for 160 bucks they would diagnose it if I wanted to go that route. So, for right now I’m going to sit tight and use the battery switch. Maybe at some point I’ll have dealer do the diagnostic. I think it’s worth that for peace of mind.

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

 

[blackhawk]

If you have a clamp meter multimeter you can try to diagnose it by yourself.

 

[KJowner]

Pull fuses one at a time overnight until you find the culprit but I bet its the radio.

 

[Ksat]

As I mentioned in another post here, one good way to find a parasitic draw is to probe each fuse with a volt meter as described in this vid:

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When taking readings, record any significant voltages you get and where the associated fuses are located. When done, start with the fuse that gave you the highest volt reading and find out what that circuit powers.

 

[Boueux]

Well I’ll tell you what I’m doing about my issue for now. I decided to go to the local dealer to see what they would say about the current draw. They said if wanted to put a battery disconnect on the car it wouldn’t hurt anything. They also said, for 160 bucks they would diagnose it if I wanted to go that route. So, for right now I’m going to sit tight and use the battery switch. Maybe at some point I’ll have dealer do the diagnostic. I think it’s worth that for peace of mind.

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

Well, I appreciate, but do not love that.. I understand that the dealership didn’t create the design flaw, but that doesn’t stop them from profiting by it, does it?
A shutoff switch is a good battery saving solution, though, yes. Much Appreciated!

 

[KJowner]

Well, I appreciate, but do not love that.. I understand that the dealership didn’t create the design flaw, but that doesn’t stop them from profiting by it, does it?
A shutoff switch is a good battery saving solution, though, yes. Much Appreciated!

Not a fantastic solution unless you want to put the radio code in every day and have the transmission relearn every day! It surprises me how little diagnostics the dealerships actually want to do! This sort of thing should be bread and butter to them. They don't seem to understand the basic functions of there own products or how to logically fault find on them.