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Is there a common cause of battery drains? I unlocked the car in the garage a week ago and heard something running like a motor. It stopped after a few minutes. What about the hood light..how does that turn off?
A common source of a current drain given the noise you hear is a seat motor. Could be a bad processor or relay sticking for whatever side is making the noise.
The underhood lamp should go off just before the hood latches in the down position. There is a timer for the light when the hood is up. Should stay on for a short time once you open the hood.
I have a bad headlight motor, that I have not had time to fix. As such, I just keep it unplugged as it's a draw on the battery.
Also, unplugging both headlights is also a draw on the battery.
The battery in an ac delco nov. 2015 but its hosed. Hydrometer says cells are dead. 11.57 volts. 10 amp charger wont bring it back. I need to check the alternator, i believe thats what it is.
[QUOTE=8VETTE7;1593314399]Hood light is turned off by the BCM via relay #37 in the IPC fuse box after about 15 minutes.
Speaking of Relay #37, that is the one which I believe felt warm to the touch when I opened up the passenger compartment fuse box a few days ago. I've done the "test" where I sat in the garage to see if I could locate any lights that didn't or wouldn't turn off, but how in the heck could you see if the hood light goes off when the hood is closed?
Anyway, I've removed the bulb in order to figure out how to do a parasitic drain test using a multimeter, and just didn't replace it. If the bulb is out will this take care of any drain on the battery that might have existed before?
Also, can I go to an automotive store and buy a new replay that would replace my existing one? If this is the source of my drain, would this immediately solve that problem.
Thanks for your replies and patience. I really struggle with this stuff.
Mark M
Yes; waay too much. And if you had that size of drain when you posted two years ago about your dead battery, chances are that the 70mA drain that you see now will kill the current battery you have in the car now. Look at the reply from 8vette7 for his comments about a "normal" drain and how to look for the cause.
So I repaired the hvac motor speed controller and door motor and it looks like my current is around 23mA.(.152vdc / 6.6 ohms). Better!! How long can the car sit at 23mA and still start, ie 30 days?
interesting way to get to the milliamp draw.....how did you get the resistance reading?
my c5 is good for about 10-12 days and a solar panel battery charger plugged into the cigarette lighter seems to keep it for as long as I have I gone with out driving it.
Is that a trick question about the resistance? Ceramic resistor values are printed on the side and....... I checked it with the ohms setting on the meter (not connected to batt)
ohms law is a wonderful thing.
Is that a trick question about the resistance? Ceramic resistor values are printed on the side and....... I checked it with the ohms setting on the meter (not connected to batt)
ohms law is a wonderful thing.
no not really, it sounds like you checked it as an individual component and that makes lots of sense to me, I was wondering from the picture how you could have done it from the battery.
Its a very accurate way to check current drain. My meters were not giving me accurate readings. The resistor was not even hot after 1/2 of testing, it was cold.
Its a very accurate way to check current drain. My meters were not giving me accurate readings. The resistor was not even hot after 1/2 of testing, it was cold.
10-23-2016, 02:21 PM
Battery drain
