Hello all, this is my first post. I registered to solicit help for a problem. regarding a 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible, with 22,400 miles.

Symptom: Turning the key fails to turn over the engine/starter after being parked overnight or for a couple of days. Subsequent jump start works fine, as does charging the battery for a couple of hours. Starts right up.

Battery is a few months old. Former battery was also just a few months old when the owner (a friend) replaced it. He assumed it was the former months-old battery when the vehicle began exhibiting these symptoms, but the second new battery exhibits the same symptoms.

Actions I took:
- Charged the battery.
- Multimeter indicates 12.4v (battery seems OK).
- Start car, meter reads ~14v (charging system seems OK).
- Turn off car, remove negative post from battery lead (not from the hidden battery itself, but from the "main" post near the shock tower).
- Place meter leads between negative post and negative lead to vehicle, meter shows around 3.5A draw (normal).
- After a few minutes, amp draw reduces to around 2.2A (seeming normal).
- After several more minutes, amp draw reduces to 0.02A (normal range, no parasitic drain). Amp draw remained steady at 0.02A for about 15 minutes, after which I removed the meter.

I also tested for voltage across all the mini fuses in the fusebox under the hood, but found all to read 0v.

So there appears to be no parasitic drain, at least at the time I checked it. But the battery still eventually drains after a day or two to the point it won't start the car.

I suggested charging the battery, then disconnecting the negative post for a couple of days to see whether the battery starts the car after reconnecting it. If it doesn't start, the problem probably lies with the battery. If instead the car starts, then I am at a loss. The issue could be intermittent, which would make it very difficult to trace. However, the drain seems to consistently cause the battery to fail to start the car after a couple of days, so the symptoms aren't intermittent.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

I should also add that I connected a (cheap) FixD OBD to the car for a few minutes while the car sat idling, and it reported no codes. I removed the OBB from the car so as not to introduce any changes to the scenario, though it should not affect anything.

 

Did you find the problem I have same issue with a 08 Sebing convertibe 66k I have been tring to find for years

 

" battery draining? is literally the definition of a parasitic draw. You use amps to test for a draw not volts.
No one car will likely have the same issues as another for a battery draw I would suggest performing a battery off draw test to see what the actual issue is

 

We did use amp test and no parasitic drain. We are a ase certified shop on business for 35 years
it’s my sister in law’s car
I am out of ideas and ran across your post I understand that there are many things so I was wondering what you found ?

 

IM not the poster so an ase shop could not locate a battery draw? how are you exactly testing to do this?

 

Sorry I see that you are not the poster now.
We are doing an amp draw test.
It has less than a 0.030ma we have done it at least 10 times.
The battery has been replaced with an AC Delco 86G 42 mo 4 times in the last few years.
Last Friday I completely charged the battery had 12.8 volts and sat in the shop all weekend Monday it had 11.5 v it started but the cel light was on for low voltage.
I was taught that 0.050ma and under was acceptable.
The posters' story matches mine to a T
2008 Sebring convertible 66k no aftermarket equipment my 80yo sister in las has owned it since 2009 with 14k

 

.35 ma is the max so how are you testing for the amp draw? how are you setting up the amp meter to the battery? once its setup what are you doing next?

SO using your info you gave 80k miles minus 14k is 66k owned from 2009 and its 2025 thats 16 years 66k divided by 16 years is roughly 4k miles a year 333 miles a month 50 miles a week.

if they dont drive the car more then that yes the battery will drain. the .30 ma will drain that battery over time for sure. if you do not actually find more then .30 ma in the system then time to fix the customer. nothing wrong with the car. You install a battery kill switch that will disconnect the battery from the car and no more drain. SO when they leave the car sitting for an extended amount of time just flip the switch and it wont kill it. Flip it back on and then they can drive away.