Hi. My Mom & Dad has a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina. It has been running great for about 7 years, then about a year ago the car's battery won't stay charged. You can jump it off and it will run fine all day. Then the next morning it is dead again. You hook the jump box to it and it fires right up. their mechanic has checked the whole car for draws that may be draining the battery and couldn't find anything. About 3 weeks ago they bought a brand new Interstate Battery and put it in the car. The car cranked fine for about a week and a half. Now it has started doing the same thing all over again. They are really aggravated with it!! Can you help shed any light on what might be wrong with my Parent's car?? Thank you.

Asked by Brian May 01, 2014 at 12:40 PM about the 1998 Chevrolet Lumina LS Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

1 Answer

50,605

If replacing the battery did not fix the problem of the battery being discharged when setting, the most logical thing is to assume there is a battery draw. It may be a short in a wire from the positive side. Try to trace the wires and inspect the wires for wear or breaks in the wires. Did they change or have anything electronically repaired or replaced that may be a draw? Have the ignition switch checked also as it may leave something connected due to wear. If the car will not start and you can, pull the battery and check out of the car if it is run down and still has good cells. I bought an Interstate battery and got two bad one in a row until I changed brands. Nothing about Interstate batteries, but some times there are oops that happen to new replacement parts.

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