im fighting this problem now too.

it only didnt start once. the other times it chokes its way through the start.

i cant figure out what is going on, i bought my optima red top last december. i swapped in a buddy's stock 01 taco battery (he removed it and it sat for a yr unused) and it fired up crisp as the first day i got her.

she has started flawlessly since.

so i cant figure out if it was that the gel battery (optima) allowed itself to drain and recharge for a long time so there is an actual draw, or if there is no draw and i got a crappy optima somehow???

checked my amp connections, all is good there... i leave my sirius player plugged into the cig lighter thing... should i remove that??

 

Hey all,

I'm new so hello for the first time.

First thing is to buy a DVM that reads amps. You need one that's fuse for at least 15 amps. Once that’s done you need to do a parasitic voltage draw at the battery to see just how many amps you are pulling. A good rule of thumb is 50 mA or 0.050 amps. Anything over this will give you problems. So back to the p-draw test.
NOTE: You must turn off the ignition, close all doors, and remove the key from the vehicle before this test.
1. Loosen the neg battery cable but don't disconnect.
2. Set you DVM to the highest AMP "fused" setting. Then place the neg meter lead on the battery post and the pos meter lead on the neg bat cable.
3. Here is the tricky part, you have to disconnect the neg battery cable from the battery without removing the meter leads from the #2 step position.
4. If you succeed you will be reading the vehicle's IG off amp draw. As I mentioned it need to be below 50 mA.
5. If you are less that 50 mA then GOOD LUCK finding the problem!
6. If it's over 50 mA then start pulling fuses until the mA drops below 50 mA.
NOTE: When pulling the fused you must not open the doors or operate any other devises powered by the vehicle battery. IF YOU DO you will blow the fuse inside of the meter.

I hope this helps and stirs up some conversation. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

ok, i got a new battery, so for now, problem solved. my past battery died in the same manner, so i will take brad's tips on finding the problem this weekend. thanks new member brad

bob

 

Reviving an old thread because I'm having the same problem. Hopefully Bob has an update for us.