JK Battery question

[DownSouth]

A little history on my system so that may help you with some informed feedback.
I have a 97 JK petrol Auto.
Looks like a standard Black 12 volt battery.
I had an ARB bar fitted and from about day 1 the park lights would not turn on.
The dealership found a short on one of the lights and rectified the problem. This was a month ago.
A week later the car would not start. (flat battery). Id drive to work in the morning and by the afternoon the battery was flat. I have a redarc with an override switch to the second batt so this got me going each day. By the time I got home (60klms) Both batts were fully charged. Next morning flat battery.
So troubleshooting 101.
I removed the fuses from the redarc and pulled the fuses for the Air horn, Light force spotties and Twin tongue pump.
By doing this I was eliminating any draw or short on the battery that may be attributed to my wiring.
After driving to work on a standard set up (mods isolated) I jumped in to go home and Flat batt again.
So after getting started I drove home and parked the car.
Got the multi meter and got a reading of 12.72 volts on the batt.
Disconnected the batt and let it sit overnight. In the morning I took another reading and it was 12.67 volts. The battery was totally isolated.
I connected it up and click click…click no start.
I have just put it on a projecta 7 stage smart charger. After checking on it the charger has jumped into reconditioning mode.

How long should a battery last? And does it seem like this is a battery issue?
Cheers

John

[JKohn]

Originally Posted by DownSouth

I have a 97 JK petrol Auto.

I hope you mean an '07!

A batteries life depends greatly on the use it gets and what is drawing off it. However, it being discharged often is definately not good for it so I suggest it is time for a new one.

Alternatively, have you tried to swap your main battery with the aux battery to see if that goes flat overnight? If it does then you have something drawing current when the engine is off, if not - it's the battery.

[DazNBrooke]

im thinking he means kj...?

[DownSouth]

Oops Sorry JK2007

[davidd]

try removing the battery, charging it, then leaving it sit for 24 hours or overnight and see if it is flat when you re-check it. this will solve the issue of whether or not it is the battery. if the battery is fine, it would probably be in the wiring of the aftermarket stuff somewhere, including the arb bar wiring. to my knowledge, in spite of the many issues raised on this forum, there has never been an issue with the jk electrical or chrging system. so my guess is if battery is eliminated, it will be the aftermarket wiring. (auto electrician will then be needed as it is not a dealer/warranty issue) good luck.

[Tiny]

mate the main battery should have been a yellow top if not somewhere along the line you have been done out of a good battery with the work vehicles we look at 2-3 year life on a battery but these are emergency vehicles so we need them to start the standard optima should last well over this and my 07 jk hasnt had an issue could it be a short from the foglights if they whernt working and now are and now your battery is dieing could it be something the stealer did to it??????????

[DownSouth]

Its been on charge all day, I noticed the charger went into reconditioning mode. This normally indicates the battery is not performing at its best.
I tried starting and click click etc... Now i cant get the car to start at all.
Also I checked a new petrol 09 in the yard the other day and its the same battery as mine. The CRDs have Yellow tops but the petrols have the regualar style batt.
I cant even get it to start with both batteries...
Calling the service dep now