[iward3]

I recently had my 2013 Elantra up on jack stands for a couple weeks to replace the front wheel bearings. I finished the job today and when I went to start it the battery was at 6 volts. I charged it to 12.4 volts and it would just barely turn over. Then the battery measured 11.5 volts. Does anyone have any ideas what could be happening? The lights were off and the only wires I touched were for the abs. Also this is the first time of an electrical problem

Thank you
William

 

[reus49]

Could be just a coincidence, how old is the battery?

 

[broderp]

Could be just a coincidence, how old is the battery?

I'm with ^^^

Be sure you didn't do something silly like I have done and leave an interior light on or something.

The weather (it is has been cold) along with an older battery and a small dome light left on or some odd combination of this is a recipe for a dead battery.

Put it on a charger for a day and see if that tells you anything.


Not trying to sound like a jerk, but a "SHORT" would not result in a dead battery. It's a common mis-spoken saying that drive me nuts. A short would blow a fuse or circuit breaker. I doubt very seriously you have a short circuit. (The Engineer in my comes out sometimes...lol)

 

[KindOldMan]

Is you stop/start button LED (not the lettering) Amber, Blue, or off? If you have an AT, is it in Park? You can pull your negative cable off the battery and connect an amp meter in series and see what kind of current you are pulling. Anything more than 50ma (after 20 minutes) and you have something going on.

 

[iward3]

The battery is 5 years old. I have the battery charging to see if it loses charge on it's own and I used an ohms meter to see if there was a closed circuit with the positive lead, no circuit detected.

--William

 

[reus49]

The battery is 5 years old. I have the battery charging to see if it loses charge on it's own and I used an ohms meter to see if there was a closed circuit with the positive lead, no circuit detected.

--William

At 5 years old, I would definitely get a new one! I don’t want to be left stranded somewhere at night!

 

[iward3]

I disconnected the battery to see if it would discharge on its own. It did not and when I hooked it back up problem is gone.

--William, driving with jumper cables.