Fauvette

Hi,

I had the car sitting for a week (as it was raining here) and this morning the battery was dead. I have a kill switch on the battery but had not disconnected it. If I let it sit for a few days usually the battery is fine -- but I guess a full week is too much.

Is this normal for these cars and not worry about it -- or should I go hunting for where the drain is coming from? (I saw another recent thread on battery drain but it seemed to be more severe and I didn't want to hijack that).

Should I disconnect the battery every night?

Thanks for your input.

oldalaskaman

disconnect it, find the problem, fix it

69 Chevy

No no (forum wouldn't let me just post no.)

larryg3

It is not normal for the battery to be completely dead in one week. It maybe time to replace the battery or you have a draw somewhere. Roger did a great write up some time ago about checking to see if your have a draw. Good luck

bobs77vet

an easy way to trouble shoot this is to pull all the fuses and then on a dark night put them back in....if you see one "arc" you found the cuplrit. do you have a radio with an external amplifier?

Fauvette

I will check the fuses one by one and see if there is a draw on any of the circuits. The battery could be older (looks new but need to see if there is a date on it).

BlowAMouse

2 more cents worth.. Hook a continunity light (or small 12v light bulb with leads attached) between the battery negative terminal and negative cable. If it lights up, you have a current drain. Remembering that even the dome / hood light will show a drain if door / hood are open.

If you show a drain, leave light hooked up between battery and cable, remove fuses one by one untill light goes out. Get the idea? Remove fuse, light goes out, that curcit has an issue.

Just gets you a little closer to the root cause

Good luck!

superdave269

Exactly how I do it. Only I call it a test light.

Günther-C3

If you have switched the override switch for the wipers, it will drain your battery. Did you?

Günther

Mark Riles

This is the best way to check for a system that's draining when it shouldn't. Also of note it is very hard to pull and check fuses with the door closed so it'll be a long step by step process as you open the door to pull a fuse and then close the door to see if the test light still shines.

Solid LT1

Our 70 LT-1 can sit for over a month and light right off after a few pumps on the throttle. Our 09 ZO6 let's just say it must be one of GMs first hybrids, it won't start after sitting for 7 days unless its on a trickle charger.

Vette5.5

Surely you have either a bad battery, or some kind of electrical draw. Probably best starting with fully charging the battery and having it tested. A Midtronics tester will actually give you plate contion. If all's good there, try getting hold of a DC clamp on amp meter. Fluke makes nice ones, but are expensive. Also have a C6 ZO6, and can actually go about a month, but far as I'd care to push things. All the modern car electronics, really put on lot's of static battery drain.

Fauvette

Thanks a lot everyone for the great input.

This morning I got up early and decided to deal with this issue.

Took off the negative battery cable and checked the draw with courtesy lights off -- significant draw of approx 360mA. Interestingly, everytime I connect the battery (or voltmeter) I noticed I hear a relay "click" and activate somewhere behind the passenger seat. I went ahead and started pulling fuses, and the draw was coming from the "courtesy/ lighter/ etc." circuit. I was kind of baffled as I checked all the courtesy lights and the cigarette lighter -- they all remained cold.

Then I got thinking it could have something to do with the "alarm" system. I turned the lock on the driver side fender (which I never had before since I got my car -- just didn't want to mess with it and thought it was disabled).

Checked again with the fuse back in and voila -- the draw is gone! The clicking when connecting/ disconnecting the battery is gone now too.

Paul L

Nice diagnosis/find. A bit of a relief I am sure.

BlowAMouse

Nice work FAUVETTE, feels good to find an electrical issue fairly quickly.

aussiejohn

Alternatively, you could pull out the courtesy light globes - JUST FOR THE TEST - or place some racers' tape over the courtesy light switch in the door panel. This (these?) way/s you don't have to keep getting in and out of the car.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

my 76 ray

You have to pull one fuse first. Make the first one you pull the one for the courtesy lights and just leave it out until you find the circuit that is causing the drain.

Steven Paige

most cars have a switch in the door frame or on the door itself that gets pressed in to show the door is shut, manually pressing this switch in will tell the car that the door is shut, so you dont have to open and shut the door to get to the fuses.