Losing charge
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 62
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Losing charge
Can anybody help I have been losing charge on my battery it was always dead in about three days bought a new one did the same bought a new alternator still did the same I have no add ons as in stereo or amps of the sort but I have noticed that when I put the jumper cables on my motor from my lights start turning and car starts right up what gets me is when I put on my battery charger it turns on and off won't charge ( new charger ) but with cables no problem
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 90,675
Likes: 304
From: SE NY
Cruise-In II Veteran
First off, disconnect the batt + lean, insert a DMM in series and measure current draw. Begin on the highest meter setting and drop down as safe.
Normal drain is around 50mA or less. If much greater, pull fuses one by one till drain drops to isolate the trouble circuit.
BTW, did you clean the cable ends and dress with dialectric grease before connecting to the new batt?
Normal drain is around 50mA or less. If much greater, pull fuses one by one till drain drops to isolate the trouble circuit.
BTW, did you clean the cable ends and dress with dialectric grease before connecting to the new batt?
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
Losing charge
First off, disconnect the batt + lean, insert a DMM in series and measure current draw. Begin on the highest meter setting and drop down as safe.
Normal drain is around 50mA or less. If much greater, pull fuses one by one till drain drops to isolate the trouble circuit.
BTW, did you clean the cable ends and dress with dialectric grease before connecting to the new batt?
Normal drain is around 50mA or less. If much greater, pull fuses one by one till drain drops to isolate the trouble circuit.
BTW, did you clean the cable ends and dress with dialectric grease before connecting to the new batt?
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
Disconnect the positive lead of the battery and put an ammeter between the positive terminal and the positive lead. Measure the load with the key off. It should be less than 50ma, if it's not, start pulling fuses until the draw is less than 50ma. Then you'll know which circuit is draining your battery. And be careful not to fry your ammeter.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,745
Likes: 275
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
What year?
I have come across a similar issue the antenna motor was making a "click" sound every so often maybe every 30 to 60 secs, turned out the antenna motor gear and wheel was totally dry so it was jamming tripping the overload repeatedly.
The antenna motor works on the principle that when the antenna is fully retracted or up the tension would move the motor gear up and cut the power, I greased the wheel and gears all was ok no more flat battery. so check the electric antenna. Listen for any noises
The previous poster mentioned checking the electrical load of your car when the ignition is off, you can do that by disconnecting the battery positive lead. Connect a DMM (digital multimeter) test probe to the battery and set it to mA, now connect the other test probe to the positive lead that is now loose and not connected to anything other than your multimeter probe. Check the mA load.
If you are higher than 50 mA you have a high load that needs to be located and repaired, such as the antenna motor it has power to it all the time so it can flatten your battery.
I have come across a similar issue the antenna motor was making a "click" sound every so often maybe every 30 to 60 secs, turned out the antenna motor gear and wheel was totally dry so it was jamming tripping the overload repeatedly.
The antenna motor works on the principle that when the antenna is fully retracted or up the tension would move the motor gear up and cut the power, I greased the wheel and gears all was ok no more flat battery. so check the electric antenna. Listen for any noises
The previous poster mentioned checking the electrical load of your car when the ignition is off, you can do that by disconnecting the battery positive lead. Connect a DMM (digital multimeter) test probe to the battery and set it to mA, now connect the other test probe to the positive lead that is now loose and not connected to anything other than your multimeter probe. Check the mA load.
If you are higher than 50 mA you have a high load that needs to be located and repaired, such as the antenna motor it has power to it all the time so it can flatten your battery.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
The power seat can also cause a parasitic drain on the battery, especially if you move the seat all the way back to get in and out of the car. The motor never shuts off and continues to draw current from the battery.
A headlight motor can also do this. It uses the same polarity switching setup as the power antenna. You can test for this by turning the **** on the headlight motor. You'll know right away if this is the problem...
A headlight motor can also do this. It uses the same polarity switching setup as the power antenna. You can test for this by turning the **** on the headlight motor. You'll know right away if this is the problem...
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,590
Likes: 60
From: ft myers FL/Munising MI
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Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,424
Likes: 603
From: Minneapolis Mn
Misc
Try unplugging your headlights then (with the battery disconnected) then try hooking up the battery and see what happens. Sounds like you're in the right area for your problem.