battery

[SiK^_^]

What keeps your battery charged on the 4 wheeler? my batter wont hold a charge after i just got it replaced. my local shop wants me to bring it in to have a test done but wants $60 to do it. im just trying to find out what charges the batter and if thats expensive.

[dirtdawg]

the alternator keeps the battery charged while it is running. a bad connection, short, or bad alternator will prevent the battery from charging while it is running. it may be misleading because some are so dead that they take a long time to charge. get a battery tender or charger at walmart or something and trickle charge it and see if it will hold a charge after that. the charger will cost you less than $60. if you didn't charge it after the acid was added, you are gonna need to pony up and get a new battery. that's what happened to me. also, check the leakage with a multimeter or volt ohm meter when the battery is fully charged. don't know what kind of machine you have but it shouldn't be more than 1 milli amp leakage with all things off. the extra load can kill the battery. leakage is checked with the negative cable (disconnected) with the positive meter probe and the negative probe to the positive cable (connected to battery). if the leakage is extra there is a short somewhere. most likely the battery though. sorry for such a long post w/ so much info. all at once!