Dead Battery issues, again.

[Hal88]

My 01 4.4 was left at the airport parking lot for 7 days, I came back this morning and when I tried to start the X , nothing.
The lot attendant tried to give me a jump start with his portable starter and his Ford Ranger and that didn't help.
I ended up calling AAA and they had a big enough jump starter which finally got the truck started.
I know there are lots and lots of posts about this issue and I have addressed some of the problems such as getting a new battery and changing the Final Stage Resistor.
My battery is less than a yr. old , it's a Duralast from AutoZone and it has performed flawlessly until this morning.
BTW, all lights were off.
My shifter light is always "on" after shutting down the car, even after a few hours it remains lit.
The only thing that I have hooked up is the Ipod Dice unit, but it shuts off automatically after a few minutes.
I need to purchase one of those portable jump starters, how much juice do I need to start the X5?
Sorry for the long post.

[jimbeattie]

I had to call AAA to give me a jump last year and they had to use two of their portable chargers together to turn it over. I bought myself a MotorMaster Eliminator Emergency Car Starter that you charge up inside and then plug into the lighter socket for about 20 minutes. It re-chargers the battery and off you go. It works well so now I keep it charged and in the car. I also supplement my aging battery with a BMW Solaris solar panel which I use when I park the car. It seems to keep a good trickle charge going. I imagine a far cheaper (non-BMW) solar panel would do just as well.

I'm on my original battery (2000) so on borrowed time but replacement batteries are not easily found here, $300 for OEM or equivelant. While I look for a good replacement I'm trying to keep the original going.

Good luck with your problem, you clearly have a power drain and they can be tricky to find.

[Hal88]

Ok gang, I have read many posts regarding the battery drain whenever the truck is parked and not driven for a few days, however most of the solutions apply to people with access to a garage or driveways in their homes.
In my case I fly a lot and leave the X parked at the airport lot for days at a time and I live in an apt where I don't have access to an electric outlet to plug in a battery tender.
I purchased a solar panel battery maintaner from Pep Boys rated at 125mA which I hope is enough to maintain my battery and a Die Hard portable jump starter just in case I get stranded again.
I'll keep you posted to see if it worked or not.

[Tomaz]

My shifter light goes out after a few minutes. That yours stays on is indicative of a problem, not that the light draws much, but other circuits may be staying on as well. You might try hooking up a amp meter in series with your battery to measure the drain while the vehicle is off, if you are able to compare the current draw against other known good vehicles. Good luck

[Hal88]

My bmw mech told me that a common problem with X5's is the amp, it stays on sometimes. I'll try disconnecting it and see what happens.

[Hal88]

Update:
The truck was left at the airport parking lot for 6 days with the solar panel trickle charger on the dashboard and connected to the cigarret lighter socket, when I came back the truck started right up with no problems.