Drained battery

Do you have a subwoofer for your audio system? If so, there may be a problem with the way it was wired. I read that in earlier PT's that in some cases wiring was to the unswitched power so essentially the subwoofer is always on thus draining the battery.

I seem to have the same problem I dont have a sub woofer, either I got a new battery as the old one was a bit sluggish, but the same thing has happened but even quicker now (over night) I am going to do a few checks on the fuses to find out if there is a drain on it (going to pull each fuse) I'll post here and let you know how I get on

No i dont have a subwoofer. Thanks pepsi666, touchwood mines been ok since the last time it was taken into the garage, even though they didnt find a problem, but still havent got to the bottom of the problem. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Mine has been sorted now as well, apparently it was a wife beneath the jump lead point that was shorting out and draining the battery, I have no idea whyt it should suddenly start, that has been connected soince I bought the car It controls my custom horn, guess I'll have to do without them now

Not a question but a answer to pt cruiser parasitic drain that I had... Similar story , replace battery twice, replaced alt as well, check fog lights,checked multi switch . All dead ends. Then traced the problem to a ignition switch. Problem was intermittent so it took a while . Replaced the ignition switch and the problem is solved ... Now I want to share the news.

Hi Coljpt, Mine was draining every few days, then every day and now I need to start it every few hours. The driver seat stopped working so I disconnected it underneath, I unplugged my iPhone car charger and replaced the battery. It seems to be draining faster each day! How can I check the ignition switch? Do you think it has anything to do with the seat not working? Namaste, GoldiB

Answer you and aot of other chrysler car owners have the same problem just every car is assigned a different problem stimming from your electrical system. Because every cars problems are all connected to the electrical system and Chrysler will only hear from a consumer using their mechanics at their dealership Chrysler will not fix a known issue since 2001, and because every car develops different starts to fix electrical issues NO RECALL wll ever be made, they will continue to use the same electrical systems because repairs are costly, Well game over. Take your Chrysler products to your dealership or do it yourself. Put a KILL SWITCH on your battery, no more issues as long as you turn the kill switch on to go off when you are at your destination...saves alot of money....

Thanks for the information here, I have been having the same problem and I call O'Reilly where I bought the battery and they hate to see me coming. They say well all batteries are the same. But reading this info above I am having the same darn problems. I have no woofers or anything fancy hooked up to my car. PT Cruiser.. Well time to start looking for something better this is annoying instead of buying a battery I am going to just buy a charger for now. Damn so ghetto.. Oh well. Guess Chrysler is to cheap to RECALL...social media spreads like wild fire I will pass these posts along~ UG

Mine had problems too. In my case the battery would go dead over night......turns out the fluid level was nearly empty The alternator produces too much amperage for this small battery and boils the water out after a little while. I replace with I bigger, cranking amps and haven't had problems since.

i have the samevproblem i changed battary altinator starter still car not running well and the battary empty

Change the ignition switch because it gets old and loose everything is not completely off in the ignition even though it seems to be. I bought a battery each year for three years and yes the levels in the battery go down because something is always on pulling power. I had to crank mine daily to keep it charged and it was barely cranking. My alternator is also new and didnt stop it. All original 92,000 miles on a 02. Nobody could ever find a problem with my battery nor the alternator. Bought a Interstate battery new and Orielys new alternator not reconditioned. Autozone has a Dorman Ignition Lock Cylinder that you can use your original keys with. Directions and video on youtube shows how easy it is to change out. No recoding nessesary. If I have the problem again I will come back and say so. Hope this helps.

My '06 PT Cruiser touring conv. (but I'm not sure if it's the same on all trims) has a generator, not an alternator. The batteries usually last about 2 and half years. So essentially, everything is running off of the battery all the time and the generator is putting power back into the battery. Most automotive batteries are jump start batteries, because the alternator is powering the car once it's running. That is not the case here, and the car needs a deep cycle battery to run it. I ordered an Odyssey battery and I'm hoping that helps

Some cars have a body control computer located somewhere in the cabin. This computer can fail or get a corroded connection and drain the battery. Locate the computer and clean all the connections including the ground to body connection.

I have a 2003 Pt cruiser, I’m 16, trying to get my drivers licensees. We put a new battery in it, and about two months the car died.

Well just to let you know your alternator could be bad. I put mine on with my son and it was not easy to get it out to replace. Better to have a mechanic do it. I said above if I still had my problem this year I would say. Well its started again draining the battery. Im going to check all the ground harness and all the hot from the battery to starter and alternator. One day this past year it wouldn't crank at all not even on jump off. My starter hotwire looks really faded like its been very hot so I just lifted it a little to see if it was broken. Try to start it and it cranked. I can have the lights on wipers on and heater and sometimes it all dies down slow as if its just running on the battery idling but in about two minutes everything speeds back up for a bit then does it again. Im pretty sure its a loose connection somewhere. I still have to crank it everyday to keep up the battery charge.

Good day I have a P t cruiser 2007 limited edition my problem is we replaced the alternator and bought a new battery. For some reason the battery light is still showing on the dash and the car with start . We can drive it for few kilometers and then the car will not start. Everything goes dead again. We rest the computer box fault but after awile it appears again.

It's sometimes the wiring to the starter, and alternator. I saw someone said its a generator but that went out in the 60's with Volkswagons. Either the starter wires,ground wires, alternator wires, or bad alternator, computer, or battery. My automatic door locks stopped working and headlights together. I jumped the connector under the driver side as seen on youtube. My 2002 has always killed the battery every year in 4 yrs. This year I had a Interstate Battery and made it through the winter. My starter red wire is almost white on the end. I move it and the car starts. I need a new wiring harness...

Hi. I have a 2008 PT Cruiser. I just got a new water pump a few months ago, and a new battery twice in the past two weeks. My car keeps draining the battery, over heating and the trunk intermittently unlatched enough to trigger the trunk light. I’ve had a diagnostic run on it, but results are inconclusive. Any ideas???? Thanks

I keep wondering if it's the built in car alarm. I watched a video showing how to disconnect it. Have to lift the dashboard and reach in to unplug.

I just bought a 2003 PT, the owner had an extra computer. I ask why and he say there was a fault in the computer that over charged the battery, when car was sitting battery would discharge

I found out that the anti theft system drains the battery. (2006 PT cruiser convertible) Removing fuse 21 (10A) solved the problem.

most answers are okay but none are to really solve the problem (unless it did for one or 2 of you) the PT has many flaws. example: the fuse for the power windows is with the AC blower. so that a crap design. the motor for the power windows is known to fail and will keep working and at the same time will drain the battery while car is NOT in use. must be fixed otherwise disconnect the fuse will leave you without AC while window not moving. the other problem to cause battery drain is the FOG lights (who need it) they do NOT have separate fuse so again you will need to change the multi function switch that control all the car lights and signal. just cutting the fog lights wires will turn on another red warning light on the dash. most do NOR see that the fog lights are staying on and surely that will drain your battery over night. there are some many more problem. look for a reasonable and good electrician. good luck

most answers are okay but none are not really solve the problem (unless it did for one or 2 of you) the PT has many flaws. example: the fuse for the power windows is with the AC blower. so that a crap design. the motor for the power windows is known to fail and will keep working and at the same time will drain the battery while car is NOT in use. must be fixed otherwise disconnect the fuse will leave you without AC while window not moving. the other problem to cause battery drain is the FOG lights (who need it) they do NOT have separate fuse so again you will need to change the multi function switch that control all the car lights and signal. just cutting the fog lights wires will turn on another red warning light on the dash. most do NOR see that the fog lights are staying on and surely that will drain your battery over night. there are some many more problem. look for a reasonable and good electrician. good luck