Car battery keeps getting drained
05-20-2004, 09:13 PM
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,544
Car battery keeps getting drained
I need help my car drains the battery in like 5 days....just sitting in my garage. It drains it so bad the dome light won't come on when i open the door. I have heard of some type of thing that happens to these cars.....someone told me it had something to do with the alternator ground or something?? Anybody have an idea of what could be causing this?
Any suggestions would be great--I am just really tired of this
Any suggestions would be great--I am just really tired of this
05-21-2004, 05:39 AM
#3
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Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,275
Do you have one of those big thumping amps? If so that's your problem. If not you want to see if it's something draining the battery or that it's not being recharged by the alternator.
With your battery fully charged, you want to have it load tested to be sure the battery is not the problem. Check both the ground wires for the frame and the engine to be sure they are clean underneath and tight.
Be sure everything is turned off in the car including any lights. Now take off one of the battery leads at the battery. With a DVM set to the highest current setting (10amps) check the draw by putting one lead on the disconnected battery terminal and the other meter lead on the wire you just removed. Be sure to change the leads before you test for current. They have to be plugged into different sockets. Don't worry about polarity, you might get a negative sign on the meter. You do not want to see current above about .05 amps. If you do, try removing and then replacing one fuse at a time until the meter reads below that point. The suspect fuse would tell you what circuit the offending device is on.
If your current draw is ok, check the alternator to see if it's putting out correctly. Have the engine off and put the meter leads across the battery with the meter set to DC volts. You should read at least 12.6 VDC. Now start the car and check the battery again. You should now read close to 14 VDC. If it's lower than that, you could, notice I said COULD have an alternator problem.
With your battery fully charged, you want to have it load tested to be sure the battery is not the problem. Check both the ground wires for the frame and the engine to be sure they are clean underneath and tight.
Be sure everything is turned off in the car including any lights. Now take off one of the battery leads at the battery. With a DVM set to the highest current setting (10amps) check the draw by putting one lead on the disconnected battery terminal and the other meter lead on the wire you just removed. Be sure to change the leads before you test for current. They have to be plugged into different sockets. Don't worry about polarity, you might get a negative sign on the meter. You do not want to see current above about .05 amps. If you do, try removing and then replacing one fuse at a time until the meter reads below that point. The suspect fuse would tell you what circuit the offending device is on.
If your current draw is ok, check the alternator to see if it's putting out correctly. Have the engine off and put the meter leads across the battery with the meter set to DC volts. You should read at least 12.6 VDC. Now start the car and check the battery again. You should now read close to 14 VDC. If it's lower than that, you could, notice I said COULD have an alternator problem.
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