Hi everybody,

I have said hello on here prior to me receiving my crossfire which i finally got my hands on just over two weeks ago! Shiny red 04 coupe and for that first two weeks it was just fantastic.....until this Friday past!

I locked my car up as usual at lunch time and went to work, came back out 3 hours later to find i had left the passenger window open when i locked up and walked off which in turn had made my lights flash solid for that three hours..presume that is a security feature???...you can see whats coming, turned the key...that lovely flat battery clicking sound!! Anyways i got the car jump started and off i went, parked it about 15 mins later and then went back to it a couple of hours later, car started fine and off i went only for the car alarm to come on while i was driving at intermittent times for about 5mins!!

All was well after i parked it and left it overnight.

Next day the wife drove it all morning no problems and then we went out in the afternoon to a bbq, parked the car and when i came out about 1.5hours later to nip to the shop.....flat battery....! By pure luck i spoke to a woman whos house i had parked outside and she said when she drove in 30 mins prior to that the car lights were flashing!!! Now this time the car was secure and nothing was open etc...getting very confused with it all now!
Got the car jumped again and it we drove off and half way home we had the alarm go off as we were driving again but other than that it was fine the rest of the day, left it overnight and battery flat again in morning, so jumped again and this time the battery was put on charge only for it to read fully charged 20mins later!!! Surely thats not right and it wasnt a quick charge machine or anything, standard one from a car shop over here in the UK (I would have expected the charge to take at least 6 hours) I then got a local car place to check the battery and they said the voltage was fine at about 12.6v but that battery was showing 104% which they say is very very odd from being flat and only charged for 20mins!!

Car was ok for the rest of the day but yet again this morning, flat battery........!!

Car is just still in Warranty so it goes in this Thursday to see if they can find anything......

Just though i would share to see if anybody has had anything remotely similar or even for future reference as i will post the results from the diagnostic check this Thursday, i'm hoping its all just tied to the battery being on its last legs....!

 

Have them check all the door and trunk switches to make sure they are working correctly. Seems to me I remember members having trouble with the alarm going off at odd times because one of them was out of adjustment or broken.

 

Yes, I second that thought. A faulty door or hatch switch can cause an erratic alarm. Although there is alot more to the system it may be a goos start to spray lube your door switches(locks and latches).
Stan

 

04Fire is the one you want to contact. He had the alarm issue and I remember he had a heck of a time getting it fixed. PM him and see what he has to say. Tell I sent you.
Pat

 

Sounds like it's time for a new battery.
Have read where all sorts of strange things can happen when the battery starts going bad in these cars.

 

I think you are spot on tighed1.

I checked the battery with a volt meter at lunch and it was reading 12.3 with the car off which is low as should be 12.6/7 if i am not mistaken. With the car running (dont ask me how or why it started at lunch time but not in the morning) it was measuring 14.4 which shows that the charging system is working ok.

I am going to source a new battery tonight and see what happens when i change them over.

 

A good battery should read 12.8 or higher. Anything less is a good reason to replace. But ! When checking one do it when it has a full charge and disconnected to get a true reading. Good clean connections are also a must.

 

Fully charged the battery and it was reading 12.6/7.

I have then went back out to the car every once and a while over the last few hours and the readings are dropping all the time...

11.88 after about 20mins
11.70 an hour after that....

I fully suspect when i go back out in a few hours it will be down to around 10.something.

 

If this is the original battery from '04, you are over due to replace it. A new batter will likely resolve all your odd alarms and startup issues. Good luck.

 

Sounds to me like you missed several clues to replace the battery...

 

When these batteries go bad all kinds of unusual things start happening with these cars besides not starting.
Any 04 model out there with an original battery is subject for these problems to occur.
The batteries are all 6 years old now and their life is up.
Just get a new one and I'm sure all the issues your having will be completely gone and if not ....
well ya needed a new battery anyway and you can rule it out as the problem.

Battery Replacement - Interstate MTP-91

 

Well as it seemed plainly obvious to some that i missed the fact it was the battery only because of lights and alarm problems thrown into the mix which made me think it might have been something else it was indeed the battery, changed it out yesterday lunchtime and the car has been fine since. Happy Days.

 

GREAT info as I have an 04.... keeping this one in my mind! Glad it worked out...

Deb