2004 Cavalier Battery Dies Very Fast
 

Ever since I bought this car (about 8 months ago) I've had nothing but problems with it, mainly the dreaded headlight issue, but this is the latest. Car has been running pretty well, went to start it after work the other day and it was VERY slow to crank. Turned the key off and tried again, once again, VERY slow to crank but it started. Got it home and let it sit for about 30 minutes and went out to try and start it and just clicking.

Today I went out and jumped it with my truck and put a voltmeter on it. A little over 14 volts running, which is normal. Turned the car off after letting it run for about 5 minutes and immediately tried to start it back up and nothing...a little crank and then just clicking (reading about 5 volts at this time).

What could be causing this? I fixed the headlight issue the other week and I was finally content with this car. It gets me back and forth to work and I would like to try and find what's causing this cause I can't really afford to drive my truck every day.

Have the battery /charging system tested

At someplace like advance auto?

Good place to start

How old is the battery? If the battery sat for a while, it probably suffers from sulfation, bad cell or it's low on water.


My wife's suburban started having issue with slow cranking, battery dying if a door was open for a few minutes or if you left the radio on for a few minutes with it turned off. Turned out to be a bad battery even though it always tested fine at the auto parts store.

I'm not sure how old it is. The car hardly ever sits though, I drive it to work almost every day. Probably going to get it tested tomorrow after work if I have time.

It should have a date sticker on it somewhere. It's possible it sat unused before you purchased it which can damage the battery.
It should have some covers on it you can pop off to check the water level. If it's low, you can try adding some distilled water to bring the level back up to the bottom of the vent wells.

You can also check the charge of the individual cells. There are several youtube videos that can help you with that and the water level.

Batteries don't last like they used to.

I know it didn't used to sit...it was my girlfriends old car and she drove it quite a bit. I'll take a look at all that tomorrow possibly before I take it up to get it looked at.