I need help!!!! Battery Drain
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Inland Empire, So Cal
I need help!!!! Battery Drain
Does anyone have any suggestions for the cause of my battery drain?? I replaced my battery with a Red Top Optima 2 weeks ago and yesterday I tryed to start it and all I got was the typical low voltage clicking.
I had the new battery checked/tested and it came back as being a good battery.
Any ideas for a starting point??? I am very reluctant to take it to an auto parts store, due to the car being so technical and all readings on the DIC are showing everything is working normally.
I had the new battery checked/tested and it came back as being a good battery.
Any ideas for a starting point??? I am very reluctant to take it to an auto parts store, due to the car being so technical and all readings on the DIC are showing everything is working normally.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 141
Likes: 0
From: Walla Walla WA
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Resqjoc)
I know of at least one other person that left the interior lights on (the small push in/out rotary ****). Locking the car does not override the interior lights. My battery was drained in 2 days.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 114,550
Likes: 0
From: At The Beach FL
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Resqjoc)
Had a similar problem and here's how to trouble shoot:
1) make sure battery checks out good and holds a charge
2) make sure alternator checks out and is charging the battery - you can read this from the DIC
3) with battery disconnected, connecta tester to postive side of the battery cable and negative to ground
4) if you get a reading here, you have a drain somewhere in the electrical system
5) check the obvious things like frayed cables or loose connection at the cables
6) isolate the drain by removing one fuse at a time - that will identofy which circuit it is on - from there on it's a matter of finding the specific problem
Mine was isolated to a faulty power seat motor on the driver's side - but it was an intermitent short, which made it a little tricky to find.
If your car is still under warranty, this may be covered by the dealer - fortunately mine was.
Good luck.:cheers:
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Inland Empire, So Cal
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (SeaFive)
I am going to have the charging system tested today. after I get the results and all is OK, I will try what you suggest with the voltmeter.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks,
I will keep you updated.
Thanks,
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 839
Likes: 140
From: Holiday Island AR
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Resqjoc)
I feel your pain. I replaced the Delco battery with a Red Top also. It performed great for almost one year. Then the trouble started when I'd clean the car with the doors, hood & trunk open. The following day the car wouldn't start. This happened three times within a month. I took the battery to Intersate Batteries for testing and got the same answer as you - "it's a good battery". So I took the car to the dealer for a complete electrical system checkup ($35). The results indicated no problems with the alternator, no parasitic power drain, good battery. I swapped batteries with the wife's Tahoe and sure enough, the Tahoe began to experience starting failures. I returned to Intersate for another test. This time it failed the stress and charge test. Intersate replaced the battery at no cost to me even though I had purchased it from a Corvetteforum vendor. Problem solved! Good luck in your quest. :steering:
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 6,269
Likes: 1
From: Richmond Ca
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Resqjoc)
One thing to check for (if you don't find that you have a drain somewhere) is are you giving your battery a fair chance?
Just because a battery is new doesn't necessarily mean it is fully charged. If it's been sitting on the shelf a while it could have been low when installed. Always make sure a new battery is fully charged.
If the car usually sits all week and you do not drive it enough on the week end to replace all the charge used up during the week (always running it with a deficit), then it will eventually get to the point where it will have run down.
The absolute safest thing to do is if you don't drive more than on week-ends is to put the maintainer on it between times. :cheers:
Just because a battery is new doesn't necessarily mean it is fully charged. If it's been sitting on the shelf a while it could have been low when installed. Always make sure a new battery is fully charged.
If the car usually sits all week and you do not drive it enough on the week end to replace all the charge used up during the week (always running it with a deficit), then it will eventually get to the point where it will have run down.
The absolute safest thing to do is if you don't drive more than on week-ends is to put the maintainer on it between times. :cheers:
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Inland Empire, So Cal
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (wwashing)
I had it fully charged yesterday. The car seems to be starting fine for now, but I thought when I started it this morning, there was a slight delay.
I am going to get the charging system checked today.
I will keep you posted.
I am going to get the charging system checked today.
I will keep you posted.
Drifting
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 97
From: Sandy Utah
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Snake Slayer)
My battery would go to the low voltage klicks when ever I left it for more than a week. I had it checked by the dealer and he said everything was fine but the battery had a low charge. Since I do not drive more than about 20 miles per week, he concluded that the battery was always in a state of low charge and that with the high drain for this cars systems when parked and locked the battery had very little reserve. He also said that just walking past the car with your key fob in your pocket would wake up some of the electronics and drain power. I have since left my key fob in a drawer away from the car, got a long term total charge on the battery and now things are fine. He also told me that driving in the cold weather would take longer to charge the cold batery. Food for thought. :D :D
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Inland Empire, So Cal
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Cirrus8)
I just had the charging system checked and all is OK.
I used a voltmeterto see what amp's it is drawing, if any, sure enough I get a reading of 0.24 amp's that is bgeing drawn from somewhere.
I will research this some more and let everyone know, what I find out.
I used a voltmeterto see what amp's it is drawing, if any, sure enough I get a reading of 0.24 amp's that is bgeing drawn from somewhere.
I will research this some more and let everyone know, what I find out.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 839
Likes: 140
From: Holiday Island AR
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (Resqjoc)
>>> used a voltmeterto see what amp's it is drawing, if any, sure enough I get a reading of 0.24 amp's that is bgeing drawn from somewhere<<<
That's within the "acceptable" range. Security system, radio presets, memory etc. use a little juice. Reread my earlier post and consider swapping the battery into another car for one or two weeks. The Optima jel cel battery is so strong that it can be difficult to get it to fail on a a consistent basis, therefore makin it hard to diagnose. Good luck.
:auto:
That's within the "acceptable" range. Security system, radio presets, memory etc. use a little juice. Reread my earlier post and consider swapping the battery into another car for one or two weeks. The Optima jel cel battery is so strong that it can be difficult to get it to fail on a a consistent basis, therefore makin it hard to diagnose. Good luck.
:auto:
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Inland Empire, So Cal
Re: I need help!!!! Battery Drain (TigerVette)
Thanks the bit of info. That set my mind at ease.
I did not start the car for 24 hours and this morning, it started just fine. Can anyone tell me if having a questionable ground for a after-market amp cause the battery to go dead.
I changed the grounding location and improved the grounding point.
Thanks in advance
I did not start the car for 24 hours and this morning, it started just fine. Can anyone tell me if having a questionable ground for a after-market amp cause the battery to go dead.
I changed the grounding location and improved the grounding point.
Thanks in advance