What could be the cause of fluctuating headlights, slow wiper speed especially when the air condition is on. My battery can not stay for more than two days in the car without discharging to the point that it cannot start the car, i have been searching for what drains the battery to no avail, i have changed my alternator (tokunbo) yet the problem is still there. My battery is a 75AH battery sealed type, could the problem be from there? i am considering increasing the engine idle rev to about 1000rpm or slightly higher to compensate but am extremely reluctant in doing this.

Or will a little oil in the AC compressor help lub. it's function?

When am stuck in traffic at night and it is raining, headlight, wiper and AC needed, does this problem shows itself.
suggestions will really be appreciated.

kakameks: What could be the cause of fluctuating headlights, slow wiper speed especially when the air condition is on. My battery can not stay for more than two days in the car without discharging to the point that it cannot start the car, i have been searching for what drains the battery to no avail, i have changed my alternator (tokunbo) yet the problem is still there. My battery is a 75AH battery sealed type, could the problem be from there? i am considering increasing the engine idle rev to about 1000rpm or slightly higher to compensate but am extremely reluctant in doing this.

Or will a little oil in the AC compressor help lub. it's function?

When am stuck in traffic at night and it is raining, headlight, wiper and AC needed, does this problem shows itself.
suggestions will really be appreciated.

why did you go for the alternator instead starting with battery its self, is the AC factory fitted ?

it seems like there is too much load

Change ur battery. U can start by hiring a good battery for 2-3days nd see if it helps b4 buyingg a new one

Look for good rewire to trace the problem,

I had a problem like that about three weeks ago, my car battery was getting drained over night,

when I noticed the problem, I started removing batery therminal in the night after parking.

A rewire was introduced to me by a colleague and he got it solved.

kakameks: What could be the cause of fluctuating headlights, slow wiper speed especially when the air condition is on. My battery can not stay for more than two days in the car without discharging to the point that it cannot start the car, i have been searching for what drains the battery to no avail, i have changed my alternator (tokunbo) yet the problem is still there. My battery is a 75AH battery sealed type, could the problem be from there? i am considering increasing the engine idle rev to about 1000rpm or slightly higher to compensate but am extremely reluctant in doing this.

Or will a little oil in the AC compressor help lub. it's function?

When am stuck in traffic at night and it is raining, headlight, wiper and AC needed, does this problem shows itself.
suggestions will really be appreciated.

Seems like a bad earth (negative) connection.

Get your electrician to check all the negative terminal links to your car engine and body.

@op
You didn't state the make and model of your car.


Car-doctor.

You need to confirm that the battery is charging correctly i.e the alternator is producing appropriate voltage(13.5-16v) volts. If the alternator is okay the next culprit is the battery.for how long have u been using the battery , if it is above 3yrs , it may need replacement. To know whelther the battery is draining , remove the +terminal when the car is not in use and use a digital multimeter to measure the voltage across the 2 terminals of the battery. U should see something around 12-13 v. Take the reading after sometime like 5hr later , if the voltage has dropped below 11volt , u need a replacement.

Thanks for all the suggestions, i got a meter tester and carried out the tests on the alternator and the battery with the results below

Alternator produces around 14 -15V
Battery produces the standard 12V

However the current being produced is another matter, as this tend to drop significantly when i switch on each electrical appliance (Wiper, heater, Headlights)
NOTE the alternator alone can power all these i just mentioned with-out the battery connected.
But when i switch on the AC without battery, the engine goes off and when i connect the battery and check current being produced by the alternator is completely used up, only by raising the engine speed does it produce more current to offset the deficit.

So it seems the alternator is ok, and the battery still produces the right voltage, the battery is less than a year old. so what could be the culprit?

I have even added more oil to my AC compressor, to help reduce drag.

hello, my suggestion, go an rent batter for 2 days to observe this test, if the problem persist that visit an auto mobile electrician to cross check if there is any bridge of current. this only is a big culprit for consuming current from battery. my 2 kobo.

Get an Electric contact cleaner, methylated spirit, thinner or any solvent you can lay your hands on, aside Carb cleaner. Also, get a used toothbrush and get to work. Pull out and clean all the wiring connectors you can lay your eyes on, especially the ones in the engine bay. When i mean cleaning, i meant brushing both male and female connectors with the toothbrush and the solvent.

It's likely that one of the connectors feeding the engine ECU from sensors is corroded, making the engine power to drop, since the values been received from the sensors are not adequate to make the engine carry such loads and would make charging system to drop. Don't forget to clean the ECU wiring connectors as well. Pull out the connector(s) from the ECU and clean only the connector with brush and solvent. On the ECU side, use dry toothbrush to clean or brush off moisture.

How good are your battery terminals ? Replace them if corroded. Or simply replace them.

Have you checked if any relay is cause of battery drain? Do carry that test, drive the car to a quiet place, disconnect the battery negative terminal. Reconnect and listen. While reconnecting the battery terminal, listen for any click sound. If you hear such sound, try and trace where it's coming from. It will likely be a failed relay that is staying on constantly and will be draining the battery power if left overnight.

Have you checked if positive is bridging somewhere with the negative? With your DMM (Digital MultiMeter), you can confirm if that is the issue. But test light will give you the best result. Disconnect the negative battery terminal, leave the positive terminal connected, place one the test light wire on the engine block and place the 2nd test wire on the negative battery head (not on the removed negative cable head). If there is no bridge of negative and positive, the test light will light very faint or may not light at all. But if there is a bridge, the bulb will lite full. With the DMM, place the 2 leads as explained already with the test light. Set it to 20v on DCA. If there is no bridge, the DMM will display -12v or nothing at all. But if there is bridge, the DMM will display 12v (+12v). If bridge exist, you will have to make out time to expose all the wires and find a naked one.

Don't also forget to check and clean all the ground connections on the engine, transmission or/and body, like car-doctor have suggested earlier. You never know.

Good luck.

Ikenna.

Thanks for the info, will do and get back with the results.

Thanks once again.