<I've never owned a car that couldn't sit (with a new battery) for a few days without draining.> No. It was a first for me too. But that was what my pacifica did as well. even when driven every day, a few minutes With the door open drained the battery beyond starting. I'm Still writing on my "follow up" to my case above.

From what you say and as your car worked before there are clearly something wrong. Not just the way it's used. you say its draining too low to take charge. That tells there got to be a rather big current leak. "dcotter0579"'s post above describes a way to find the problem Circuit if you have the Equipment and want give it a to try.
Good Luck.

 

<after being on the road, driving for 28 hours! 10 minutes with the doors open unpacking the car, and it was too low to start.> (the battery was one week old).

For several years I had this problem, not being able to use all the cars electrical features because I had to save Power for Next start. I had to change the battery every year during the Cold period as it died of constant low voltage.
The generator was checked out to be fine. The charging tension was within spec. Found no wiring problems, until the ground wire from the engine to the body(under the air cleaner Box) burnt off. Replaced it With a proper cable and added another directly from the engine to the battery.

The slight light flickering I had was gone after this. But the charging problem was the same. five years ago I was fed up and had to come up With a solution or change car. Did some hours of thinking and decided to try to rise the charging voltage some. But the Chrysler dealer said they could not(or did not want too?) do this for me as it was inside spec. Yes. It was inside spec, but in the low range of the spec.

I found a way to rise the tension by manipulating the temp sensor on the battery(described elsewhere on the forum). I Rised the charging tension to 14.7 volts, and Voila! - the problem was gone!

I turned on the "light-off delay". Started using all Equipment I could not use for years. Nice warm seats. Rear window Defroster.... The last battery is now on it's fift year and I never again had starting problems or any other electrical problems. The starter motor spins like it never had a problem!

These cars are now being rather old and the most of them With this kind of problems may have been repaired or taken of the road. But this may still help some others?

 

Oh, my, what silly advice. I'm a Chrysler mechanic and I can tell you with absolute confidence that you can leave your door open for a while and your battery will not go dead in a car that is working properly. If it does, either your battery is bad or your alternator is charging. Good luck.

 

Get a digital volt-ohmeter and check the current flow at the battery with everything off. You may get a surge at first as the computer draws some current but it should settle down after a few minutes to something under about 50 milliamperes (0.050 amps). That represents the current draw caused by the clock and the receiver for the key fob. If it's more than that, you've got a short somewhere. You'll have to pull fuses one at a time to isolate the circuit with the short, then figure out where on that circuit the problem is.
This stuff isn't rocket science and you can either figure out the problem yourself using a logical and systematic approach, or you can pay somebody $100/hr to do it.
It's also possible that your "new" battery is bad. Batteries that sit on the shelf for a long time can go bad. It's always best to buy batteries from someplace that sells a lot of them so their inventory is fresh.

 

2009 Chrysler 300c brand new Battery discharging problem

Hi Forum Members
I have a 2009 Chrysler 300C Touring last week it drained the battery. I purchased a brand new 100ah battery because the battery was nine years old. I then charged it fully and installed it in my Chrysler and it started well.

The next morning I went to start the car up and the battery was dead. I would be grateful for any ideas of what my cause the battery to discharge

Yours Sincerely

Jeananddanny

 

We are having the same issue with our 2008 Pacifica. I used a multimeter to check the charge on the first battery, which had only been in for 2 weeks, and it was dead, this was verified at AutoZone. It was under warranty, so I got a new battery, hooked it up, and two days later, it won't start again. There are no lights on, but I am wondering if the autostarter that we had installed may be the problem. Never had this issue until this year.

 

Many Thanks
thank you to all the forum members for your helpful advice on the non starter battery. the problem was caused by a faulty electrical connection to the starter motor after buying a new battery because it was 9 years old
many thanks to all

 

I had the same problem on my 2003 minivan,, dealer finally told me after replacing at his cost, they disconnected the anti corrosion unit,

I am a licensed body repair tech and never knew my minivan had such a device, I was appalled when he told me this,

Are Chrysler engineers and designers this stupid, appears yes,