Draining Battery

[SYKLONE866]

something is draining my battery on a nightly basis and I dont know what it is.....just recently went out in the morning and nothing....re charged battery and everything seems fine.....then couple days later same thing....what would cause it to drain all the charge out of the battery so fast....I dont have anything on even the alarm is off......brand new battery.......new high power alt....Im stumped..........

thanks in advance...

 

[It's just a six]

Re: Draining Battery

Pull a fuse ,,,one @ a time to see which one is robbing the power from.

 

[hatrik8]

Re: Draining Battery

Do you have an aftermarket stereo? Try pulling the radio fuse to see if that does it. Also check cigarette lighter, glove box lamp, ash tray lamp, dome light. Make sure all the interior lights are off when you shut your door. Pulling fuses with a meter connected is the way to go.

 

[Norm]

Re: Draining Battery

could be something as simple as the glove box light, do you have a stereo? maybe see if the stereo/amp is still running, and final guesses would be interior light also, or maybe the intercooler pump is hard wired and doesn't shut off when ignition is turned off.

 

[SY2932]

Re: Draining Battery

If you have a DMM (Digital Multi Meter) disconnect the negative battery cable and connect it between the negative post on the battery and ground. Select the milliamps (mA) scale and start pulling fuses until the drain disappears. That will isolate where the short is then you can troubleshoot from there. A low tech way to do this if you don't have a DMM is to just use a test light.

 

[skwayb]

Re: Draining Battery

Does it have an alarm? A bad alarm will do this. Especially if it is wired incorrectly.

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Draining Battery

If you have a DMM (Digital Multi Meter) disconnect the negative battery cable and connect it between the negative post on the battery and ground. Select the milliamps (mA) scale and start pulling fuses until the drain disappears. That will isolate where the short is then you can troubleshoot from there. A low tech way to do this if you don't have a DMM is to just use a test light.

I'd start on the 10 amp scale. If something is draining your battery overnight then it's drawing amps, not milliamps.
Your mA scale is probably only good for about 250mA. Anything more then that will blow the fuse (if you have one) in your meter.
An acceptable draw is less the 50 mA or .005 Amps.

K

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: Draining Battery

An acceptable draw is less the 50 mA or .005 Amps.

FYI 5mA is 0.005 A I would expect something around that.

 

[phoonTy]

Re: Draining Battery

Does it have an alarm? A bad alarm will do this. Especially if it is wired incorrectly.

hmmm... i'm thinking i have this issue. I have a bad draw too. Don't have a multimeter, but I do have a test light.

Thanks for the post and info everyone! :tup:

 

[SY2932]

Re: Draining Battery

FYI 5mA is 0.005 A I would expect something around that.

Thanks for the clarification Dave

. It's strange how many people I know that are electrical engineers...

hmmm... i'm thinking i have this issue. I have a bad draw too. Don't have a multimeter, but I do have a test light.

Yup, it will tell you if there is current being drawn just not how much like a meter will.

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Draining Battery

FYI 5mA is 0.005 A I would expect something around that.

Whoops. Thanks for catching that Dave.

K

 

[fchen83]

Re: Draining Battery

I'm having the same problem, I checked the draw on the battery and it's at 1.35A which is nowhere near the 5mA range. I've pulled the fuses too and still don't know what's drawing current. Any ideas?

 

[hatrik8]

Re: Draining Battery

Make sure lights are off, doors are closed when you test. Also the under hood light needs to be disconnected. Keep pulling fuses and see which one decreases the amp draw.

 

[Flyin Ryan]

Re: Draining Battery

I've heard that a bad alt or starter solenoid could cause this as well although i've never had it myself but might want to search around a little bit more and see how you can test what the alt or starter are pulling if at all

 

[NecroWolf]

Re: Draining Battery

I've heard that a bad alt or starter solenoid could cause this as well although i've never had it myself but might want to search around a little bit more and see how you can test what the alt or starter are pulling if at all

yes those can cause it, seen it before.