[HELP]Tracking down battery draw

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Dec 19, 2004 | 04:32 PM

Ikester

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From: Whippany NJ

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St. Jude Donor '08-'09

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[HELP]Tracking down battery draw

If the car sits for only 3 days, it needs a jump start. But if its driven every single day its fine. Battery has been already replaced.

Anyone know the easiest way to find where a power draw can be comin from? It sounds like even though the car is off, theres an accessory that is still continuing to draw power.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Dec 19, 2004 | 04:54 PM

RCK1999

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jul 2004

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From: Spring Branch Texas

Quote:

Originally Posted by eamador11

If the battery was completely run down, a good 24 hour trickle charge will do much better than charging off the running engine. That being said, hooking a multi-meter up to the battery to see the draw, and then pulling fuses one by one to watch when the draw goes away might be a good place to start. (Bill C is the resident electrical guru. He might be of more help).

Dec 19, 2004 | 06:57 PM

ronwc

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Joined: Sep 2003

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From: Largo FL

I'm kind of having the same problem with my 98 conv. Has 1 yo battery and even though not a "red top", there is no way it could drain that much in a few days. I read a couple of responses that said the drivers side pwr seat can cause problems. I'm going to pull that fuse tomorrow and see what happens - I'm the only one driving the car anyway. I'll let you know,

Dec 19, 2004 | 07:27 PM

alanh

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From: Rogers, AR, USA

Put an amp guage in line with the battery to be sure there is a current draw. If there is, then go fuse by fuse unil the amp guage drops back to nearly 0 amps. If there isn't a large current draw, you may have put in a battery that wasn't much better than the one you took out. I've seen it happen, sometimes you can get a new battery that just isn't any good.

Dec 19, 2004 | 07:47 PM

Ikester

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From: Whippany NJ

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St. Jude Donor '08-'09

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Quote:

Originally Posted by RCK1999

Cool, thanks i will try that, sounds like it will narrow the search quite a bit! Thanks to everyone that chimed in too, its well appreciated!

Dec 19, 2004 | 10:14 PM

Bill Curlee

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From: Anthony TX

CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet

St. Jude Donor '08

You will have current draw! The PCM, BCM, and security circuits are always on. When you hook the AMP meter between the negative battery terminal and the neg lead you will see a large current draw. The car will wake up and if left un attended it will go to sleep This takes around 2 minutes. In the sleep mode you will see/should see around .2-.3 amps

Some things that can draw lots of current if they fail are:

Alternator, Bad diodes
Seat control module, always trying to adjust the seat

Bill Curlee

Dec 20, 2004 | 12:00 AM

lost

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From: Spring Tx

Mine ran down when my fob went into passive mode, switch had barely moved, but three days of the doors unlocking locking,interior lights going on and off, god knows how many times. My car sits within 10 feet of my living room but 50+feet from my bedroom, so everytime I walked around the house the damn thing was cycling. Also do not entertain the neighborhood by turning up the stereo and opening the hatch, three hours and its jumper time or charger time.And yes I rode the short bus to school.LOL