Stereo & Electronics - accidently left the key on all night now battery is dead

my delco battery was dead this morning green light is now black I mearsured 11 VDC then went down to 9VDC I assumming these cars won't start with anything less than a full charge?

when I tryed to start it this morning the water temp. guage would constanly peg back and forth real quickly and the tack peged slowly a few times the fuel guage was acting funny too also no dash idiot lights would come on ?1
is this the cars way of telling me the battery is dead?

it took 41 minutes of charging at the auto parts store and was diagnoised as a good battery it's only 2.5 years old on a 6 year deal.
?2. will the green light come on later?

Thanks

When my original Delco did that the battery was toast. Low voltage was the reason for your gauges acting weird, especially on a '99. Don't understand how they can say the battery load tested OK. I'd watch it closely, might not last long.

When my original Delco did that the battery was toast. Low voltage was the reason for your gauges acting weird, especially on a '99. Don't understand how they can say the battery load tested OK. I'd watch it closely, might not last long.
I looked at the batery light this morning was still black so I'm assumming it's toast however it did sart the car.

Thanks for the infor

Everytime you run a regular battery down like that it weakens it quite a bit. If this is the first time then the battery may last a long time, just with reduced reserve capacity.

If you notice it running down much more quickly than before, then I would have it exchanged under warranty before it causes a problem.

what kind of voltage would they the dealership need to mearsure to replace this battery?

I'm sure they would insist on checking it and would not just replace it just cause the green light was black.

I'm thinking I better remove then tuck out of site the big stereo power wire before they check it?

I paid $75. plus tax for a $85. battery at my local dealership it's now gone up to $105. I would pay around $50. to have it replaced. 70 month 6 year deal.

thanks

The dealer uses a computerized load tester. You program the battery size and it will apply a small load, measure how far the voltage drops, then what the voltage goes back up to over a set time (1 minute maybe?) then it does a second, bigger load test for a longer time plus the rest I mentioned. Then it will determine if the battery is bad, almost bad or fine.

If your worried about the battery, then see if they will test it for free. If it shows OK on their machine, then it's probably OK.

Sometimes it will say it's OK, but it will actuall be border line. A second battery test will show it needs replacement. See if they will do that.

Don't pay any attention to that green indicator bubble thing, it's not accurate. If the battery seems fine to you, then I wouldn't even waste my time worring about it.

if I decide to have it checked should I remove and hide the big stero power wire?

Personally, I'd play the stereo with the engine off a little just to drop it's voltage down a tad (to err on the side of caution) and then take it out of the car and drive it to the dealership in another vehicle.

But like I said, if it's acting fine (don't use the bubble test built in green/black thing) then don't worry about it.

Now if you can't listen to the radio for more than 30 minutes with the engine off - then I'd say there is a problem.

dam I think you are sneakeier than me.

thanks for good adice

Now if you can't listen to the radio for more than 30 minutes with the engine off - then I'd say there is a problem.
I forgot, that's my big sound system. For a regular car maybe play it for a few hours. If your radio would play all day and still crank up the car and now it won't after only a few hours, then that's a pretty good indicator as well.

Personally, I'd play the stereo with the engine off a little just to drop it's voltage down a tad (to err on the side of caution) and then take it out of the car and drive it to the dealership in another vehicle.

But like I said, if it's acting fine (don't use the bubble test built in green/black thing) then don't worry about it.

Now if you can't listen to the radio for more than 30 minutes with the engine off - then I'd say there is a problem.Jason when you say to take it out of the car and drive it to the dealership in another vehicle.

do you mean hooking it up to another car or just bringing the battery in another car?

Thanks

I meant carry it in the trunk. That way you don't have to work on it to unhook it in a parking lot with makeshift tools to change it. Pull it out at home where it is easy and you have the tools and can wash your hands, etc... It doesn't have to be wired into a vehicle to be tested. Besides, the other vehicle may have a different sized battery. I never meant wire it into another vehicle.

Something I just thought about. The dealer may have you leave it overnight so they can put a slow charge on it and test it the next day. It depends on the dealership.

Is it acting bad and not maintaining a charge or something?

I meant carry it in the trunk. That way you don't have to work on it to unhook it in a parking lot with makeshift tools to change it. Pull it out at home where it is easy and you have the tools and can wash your hands, etc... It doesn't have to be wired into a vehicle to be tested. Besides, the other vehicle may have a different sized battery. I never meant wire it into another vehicle.

Something I just thought about. The dealer may have you leave it overnight so they can put a slow charge on it and test it the next day. It depends on the dealership.

Is it acting bad and not maintaining a charge or something?
Battery seams to crank car as usale but I have observed the ampage charging needle on dash dos'nt seam to go over as far it likes to stay just over the 13V top mark it usally is farrer over.

Thanks

Usually the lower the battery gets voltage wise the more the alternator will put out to get it charged back up. Like in my car the battery can't hold a charge for sh!t. I can't even leave it over the weekend. As soon as I crank the car the alts putting out 14.6 (at least to my amps which have a calibrated voltage meter on them). If your alt is not putting out it's max after cranking then the batteries probably fine. It just means it's not working very hard as the battery isn't low.