Battery Drain
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,362
Likes: 33
From: Warren Michigan
East MI Events Coordinator
Battery Drain
Any ideas on why my battery drains in my 99 in less than 24 hours? Battery is less than one year old. I started the car during winter storage and no problem. This is new and is happening whenever I go to start the car. Where do I start to look? Any help will be appreciated.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 6,461
Likes: 5
From: Ypsilanti MI
Cruise-In 10-11-12 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'14
Are you sure the battery is good, you may have to pull it and have it load tested? I know you say it is a year old, but it could have a bad cell. I had one a few years ago that did the same thing, jump start, drive it, all was good until the next morning.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 65
From: Rochester Hills MI
sounds like it could be a grounding problem. there is a sticky somewhere that lists the locations of all of the ground points that should be cleaned. also, you could try putting the car in a completely dark garage to make sure no lights are being left on. could be vanity lights, under hood light, etc. good luck!
Race Director
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 12,122
Likes: 30
From: NW Suburb Of Chicago
Cruise-In Photographer
CI 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06 thru '26
Done any add-ons or mods? Several of the iPod adapters were notorious for keeping the stereo "awake", resulting in a dead battery in 24-36 hours.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 408
Likes: 2
From: Naperville, IL
St. Jude Donor '13, '15
sounds like it could be a grounding problem. there is a sticky somewhere that lists the locations of all of the ground points that should be cleaned. also, you could try putting the car in a completely dark garage to make sure no lights are being left on. could be vanity lights, under hood light, etc. good luck!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,329
Likes: 0
What kind of battery?? My Optima Red is good for starting but if I listen to the radio for more than 15 minutes with engine off, it won't start. I once left the power cord to my cell phone plugged in overnight without the phone attached and the battery was dead the next morning - if not the battery, then there is a gremlin draining the power - C5's are somewhat notorious for this - seems the C6's are developing the same profile.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,493
Likes: 0
From: The Clem MI
CI 7-8 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07
I agree and was thinking this exact thing. Start with the most simplest possibility first, and that's the vanity, console light or under hood. I know . . . cause it happend to me. 
Give the battery a charge first, then in the dark see if ya left something on, or if something is sticking on to make a drain.
After that . . . you've either fixed the problem or you can move on to the next possible culprit.
Give the battery a charge first, then in the dark see if ya left something on, or if something is sticking on to make a drain.
After that . . . you've either fixed the problem or you can move on to the next possible culprit.
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Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,362
Likes: 33
From: Warren Michigan
East MI Events Coordinator
no mods. dark garage no sign of light, did find a cd still in the player? took it out. will recheck tomorrow. I asked Verna to get under the hood to see if the light went out when I closed the hood, that didn't go over to well. 
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,362
Likes: 33
From: Warren Michigan
East MI Events Coordinator
This is wierd. I took the cd out last night and today it started right up. I am going to let it sit for another day and try it again. Besiodes it is raining here in Michigan and I don't want to put the top up.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 7,179
Likes: 2
From: Charlotte, NC
True...
BTW for battery drains, the best way to check them (assuming the battery is being drained by the car, and it's not a bad battery or some other electrical issue causing the "no power" issue) I use an inductive AMP clamp and check the current draw from the battery, if it's high (as a general rule 250mA or more) then I start pulling fuses and watching to see if the current draw drops down. This way you can isolate the circuit that is causing the parasitic drain. Following a wiring diagram you can then eliminate draws on the circuit until you have found your drain.
One time I had a car that had a decent sized parasitic drain on it, went through all the fuses and still had a drain. with finding no evidence of aftermarket accessories, I disconnected the altenator Batt. + connection. And found the regulator was causing the drain, very odd, it was still charging ect. replacing the alt. was the fix.
-=Rick
BTW for battery drains, the best way to check them (assuming the battery is being drained by the car, and it's not a bad battery or some other electrical issue causing the "no power" issue) I use an inductive AMP clamp and check the current draw from the battery, if it's high (as a general rule 250mA or more) then I start pulling fuses and watching to see if the current draw drops down. This way you can isolate the circuit that is causing the parasitic drain. Following a wiring diagram you can then eliminate draws on the circuit until you have found your drain.
One time I had a car that had a decent sized parasitic drain on it, went through all the fuses and still had a drain. with finding no evidence of aftermarket accessories, I disconnected the altenator Batt. + connection. And found the regulator was causing the drain, very odd, it was still charging ect. replacing the alt. was the fix.
-=Rick
