Car won't start! (electrical drain)
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 415
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
Car won't start! (electrical drain)
So here's the situation, the low beam headlights wouldnt turn on but the highbeams worked. I found the problem was a burnt out/melted relay and also the positive wires coming from it was touching each other and burnt the plastic. I fixed this and thought that since that was the problem maybe it was causing a drain on the battery therefore the car would never start unless I jumped it. Headlights are now fixed but Im experiencing the exact same problem with the electrical leak somewhere. Battery takes a dive from 12.8 volts to under 10 in a matter of minutes. Car cant sit over night and be expected to start in the morning. The autoparts store checked the battery and alternator itself and deemed them ok.
I attempted to connect a volt/multimeter to the battery and pulling each fuse one by one to see if the electricity reading spike at all, pointing to the problem in a specific Circuit...with no luck yet.
This has been an absolute nightmare to own a car I cannot drive. Any help would be spectacular.
I attempted to connect a volt/multimeter to the battery and pulling each fuse one by one to see if the electricity reading spike at all, pointing to the problem in a specific Circuit...with no luck yet.
This has been an absolute nightmare to own a car I cannot drive. Any help would be spectacular.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Bruceatlam For something to draw the battery down to 10 VDC in minutes would have to be smoking HOT! Take your battery to another reputable automotive shop and ask them to load check the battery. That test will allow you to test the batteries ability to supply current and keep the voltage at the correct levels for the correct period of time. they will apply something like a 200 amp load on the battery for XX time. They have a chart that tells them what the battery output voltage should be. Your battery should be able to maintain 11.5- 12 vdc for quite a while.
When you reconnect the battery, make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight. They require 11 FT/LBS of TQ to connect correctly.
My money is on a bad battery!
You cant pull fuses and see if the voltage drops off on a C5. There are PCM, BCM and security circuits drawing current/voltage all the time. As Bruceatlam stated, they only draw 20ma at 12 vdc which with a fully charged properly working battery will allow the car to sit for MONTHS with out a starting issue!
BC
When you reconnect the battery, make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight. They require 11 FT/LBS of TQ to connect correctly.
My money is on a bad battery!
You cant pull fuses and see if the voltage drops off on a C5. There are PCM, BCM and security circuits drawing current/voltage all the time. As Bruceatlam stated, they only draw 20ma at 12 vdc which with a fully charged properly working battery will allow the car to sit for MONTHS with out a starting issue!
BC
