electrical, looking for simple answers first
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,156
Likes: 1
From: Pittsburgh Pirates PA
electrical, looking for simple answers first
95 corvette coupe, nothing outside stock electrical equipment.
why over night would the new battery be drained of power? it killed the last battery and i had to buy a new one.
no lights are on or anything electrical that i can see is draining the battery after i shut the car down. what are some simple things first to start with? i'll work out from there. THANKS! this never happened before last month.
why over night would the new battery be drained of power? it killed the last battery and i had to buy a new one.
no lights are on or anything electrical that i can see is draining the battery after i shut the car down. what are some simple things first to start with? i'll work out from there. THANKS! this never happened before last month.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Check at night for underhood lights being on, check console compartment light, check vanity mirror lights, and the rear view mirror map light. Do you have a radar detector,aftermarket alarm, high power audio amp? Remove the negative cable from the battery and place an ammeter in series from the cable to the battery post and after the courtesy lights time out, measure the current. Leakage current must be less than 50 milliamps. My 87 measures 27 ma. Pull the courtesy light fuse and then start removing fuses one at a time to see if the leakage current suddenly drops. Some circuits aren't fused, but have fusible links. I don't know about the 95, but my 87 has eight of these kinds of wires on a bolt behind the battery and you need to disconnect each wire one at a time while watching the leakage current if you didn't find anything while removing the fuses.
Last edited by jfb; Mar 21, 2005 at 07:34 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,156
Likes: 1
From: Pittsburgh Pirates PA
ok, it is not the alternator. however, is this possible? for some reason the starter is whinning and i am wondering if the starter can be stuck and drawing power away from the battery. i was even hung up after it was turned off. do these starters go out of business much? i did park in the dark and found no lights on. (how do i know this is not going to be easy?)....
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
With the ignition switch off, the starter MUST also not be running. If it is, you have a defective starter solenoid. A running starter draws a large amount of current and I would be surprised if your battery lasted more than 5 minutes with the starter running!
The next thing for you to check is to measure the current being drawn from the battery with everything off. It should not be more than 50 milliamps. If it is, you need to locate the circuit that is drawing excess current by pulling the fuses one at a time and watching the ammeter.
The next thing for you to check is to measure the current being drawn from the battery with everything off. It should not be more than 50 milliamps. If it is, you need to locate the circuit that is drawing excess current by pulling the fuses one at a time and watching the ammeter.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 6,715
Likes: 2
From: Santa Teresa New Mexico
Do you have a ohm meter?
Remove the postive cable from the battery and hook the meter to the - post and + cable. This will tell you if theres a draw.
Disconnet or pull the underhood lights so there not on.
If theres a draw note how much. Also check your charging system with the meter, battery level. 1st thing I'd do is charge the battery all the way with a charger set for 4amps for at least 8 hrs and then check it.
Once the battery and the charging system is out of the equation you can start to look for the short/draw.
If you have dirty cable ends you can be shunting the batteries input from the alt.
But the 1st thing to do is make sure there really is a draw.
Once you establish that you have a draw post it, it will help to solve your problem.
A remote diagnosis is really hard to do, at best without all the right information a best quess deal.
Good luck with the brain teaser.
Remove the postive cable from the battery and hook the meter to the - post and + cable. This will tell you if theres a draw.
Disconnet or pull the underhood lights so there not on.
If theres a draw note how much. Also check your charging system with the meter, battery level. 1st thing I'd do is charge the battery all the way with a charger set for 4amps for at least 8 hrs and then check it.
Once the battery and the charging system is out of the equation you can start to look for the short/draw.
If you have dirty cable ends you can be shunting the batteries input from the alt.
But the 1st thing to do is make sure there really is a draw.
Once you establish that you have a draw post it, it will help to solve your problem.
A remote diagnosis is really hard to do, at best without all the right information a best quess deal.
Good luck with the brain teaser.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 36,040
Likes: 4
From: All great change begins at the dinner table Ronald Reagan
When my starter went out in my '92, I could hear it spinning by itself. I didn't have a battery drain problem, I had this condition usually after attempting to start it. It was clear to me I had a defective solenoid.
If you hear the starter in operation, no key switch applied, I'd suspect the solenoid, as stated.
But first, check the wiring to the solenoid, it might have gotten hot & melted by the exhaust manifold. I would make necessary repairs, then insulate the wire loom to the solenoid/knock sensor to protect them from heat in the future.
If all is good and the above stated condition still exists, swap the solenoid (I think you can only get a starter/solenoid together, at least I was told that).
If you hear the starter in operation, no key switch applied, I'd suspect the solenoid, as stated.
But first, check the wiring to the solenoid, it might have gotten hot & melted by the exhaust manifold. I would make necessary repairs, then insulate the wire loom to the solenoid/knock sensor to protect them from heat in the future.
If all is good and the above stated condition still exists, swap the solenoid (I think you can only get a starter/solenoid together, at least I was told that).
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