I have been having some battery drain issues, and a hard time starting my truck. I found that my GROM Audio iPhone adapter was creating a 90mA draw which I am correcting with Dusty and Drowssaps valuable advice.

My battery is under warranty with Triple A so I called them out to test it for me.

Battery tested good, CCA's are a little down whcih bums me out, but does not qualify for a replacement.

One interesting finding is that the Starter is pulling 10.63 V and 243.6 A equaling 2.6 kW. I checked this against the Rave manual and the Denso is listed at 1.8 kW.

So it appears that the starter is going bad and it's time to replace it.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

I am not sure what to think about the reading. I don't believe that an issue with connectivity would cause the starter to pull more watts than normal. Secondly, a malfunction with the starter would probably cause it to pull none. So I am leaning towards this battery just doesn't have the gusto needed for the job. Next battery will have 900 CCA's.

 

I would get a second opinion on the battery, from my experiences Pep Boys does a real good analysis, they give you a printout, I had a bad battery once. I knew it was bad, I have my own test equipment so I took it back to Advanced Auto, They did a load test, said it was good, I said nope, They said prove it, I took it to a pep boys garage where they do a better job of testing, complete with a paper printout, Took that paper back to AA and got a new batt.

 

The triple A guy seemed to do a very good job, and considering they come out and test it for free and within an hour, I am going to let it ride.

It has been starting every day, and it is a big improvement over recent history with the 111 mA draw I had. The next cold snap we will see if it starts, and if it doesn't I am going to press them to replace due to the cold cranking amps being down to 600.

Also, going to clean the connections for the starter this weekend.

 

Keep in mind that when it's really cold your oil viscosity on a cold-start is gonna make that starter work that much harder. Are you running a sufficiently thin oil such as 5/40 for the winter?

 

I am running T6 5w 40 all year so the oil is ok. It is about 20f today and she started right up. So far taking out the GROM adapter has solved the battery issue. We'll see if this battery still has the CCA to start the Rover at 0f.

 

8 degrees this morning and she started right up.

After reading my Automotive Electrical Book I am going to put in an Absorbed Glassmat Battery next. Napa has one for $204, 850 cold cranking amps. It sounds as if that design is more durable and could handle the rougher driving that these vehicle endure. I have had good luck with Napa parts as well. Not always cheapest, but seem to be of good quality rebuilds. I use Napa Air Filters, they look identical to OEM.

 

Ok, more from my research in case anyone in the future has this question. A V8 motor will normally need up to 2.5kW for the starter to crank. This increases the colder that the engine is. So this test was done around 32f which would explain the higher number. So I don't feel that my starter was at fault or abnormal in anyway. The Triple A guy thought it was high, and it is in comparison to any 4 or 6 cylinder engine would be.

In conclusion, at some point I will service the connections on the starter, but the 2.6kW is not indicative of a failing starter IMHO.

 

Ok, more from my research in case anyone in the future has this question. A V8 motor will normally need up to 2.5kW for the starter to crank. This amperage increases the colder that the engine is. So this test was done around 32f which would explain the higher number. So I don't feel that my starter was at fault or abnormal in anyway. The Triple A guy thought it was high, and it is in comparison to any 4 or 6 cylinder engine would be.

In conclusion, at some point I will service the connections on the starter, but the 2.6kW is not indicative of a failing starter IMHO.