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I have not used my car for around 3 weeks, and now the car battery is completely drained (even the central locks would not work). The car is a 2003 Ford Focus, replaced the battery a few years ago. Car is parked outside, temperature is between -4C and 10C.

Is this normal or is it likely that something is abnormally draining it?

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  • Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair! Please quantify "replaced the battery a few years ago"? – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2♦ Jan 5 at 16:16
  • I only drive around 3k miles a year; I think the battery was replaced 3-4 years ago, but the problem was the same immediately after it had been replaced. In other words, I suspect it’s not a problem with the battery. – rinspy Jan 5 at 16:25
  • The reason I asked is a battery is usually good for about 5 years tops. Then its reserve capacity will pretty much be shot. You obviously have a power drain somewhere. Seeing as how it takes about 3 weeks for it to drain the battery, it's not that large. You'll need to do an amperage draw test to see what the draw on it is, then start removing fuses until you figure out which circuit is drawing the power. Then, you can narrow it down from there. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2♦ Jan 5 at 16:32
  • If you only do short journeys, especially in winter with lights, heated windows, etc loading the battery, you may never be fully recharging it. I would just get a battery trickle charger, rather that start trying to find what is causing the (small) current drain that is running the battery down. There is a big difference between driving say 20 miles in free moving traffic, and 5 miles of stop-start in a city, in terms of keeping the battery well charged. – alephzero Jan 5 at 22:48

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