Ok, I'm working on my new (to me) 99 while it's winter and all. The battery is seems in good condition as far as I can tell, as it charges when the car is started etc. etc. but the power drains quickly if left over night or more.

(the longest it runs is about 30 minutes or so, so it never charges fully)

All the switches are off, and I can't find anything inside the cockpit that is being left on, or similar.

The car is "love tapped" in front, so the headlights are gone/unplugged.. so that's not it.

I have a multi-meter I just don't know how to track the power drain down.

 

The battery could be bad. The car uses some power even when its off, very small amounts, it would take months for this to drain a good battery. There could also be a short somewhere causing the drain, for instance if it took a hit in the front something could be shorting such as the headlamp harness etc. A short would usually blow a fuse. You can track a power draw with the multimeter through the fuse box. Use it in the place of fuses looking for power. If you dont find anything there and your convinced it is a draw in the car somewhere youll want to check before the fuse box. Also if you have an aftermarket headunit check for poor installation make shore your not getting a draw in the wiring on the headunit. Are you shore the battery is good? If its cold around you this would be a good time for a bad battery to show itself. If it is the battery get yourself an optima red top. It wont fail you and its a deep cycle battery so if it does get drained it wont hurt it (draining a normal battery will damage it).

 

Thanks for the info exstyle, no I'm not sure it's bad, but I wanted to give the Delco a chance before I removed it. I think I'll go ahead and pick up a new one and see what happens. I am going to check for shorts first though.

 

a good way to check if someting is causing a power drain is to pull off the negitive battery post (make sure the ignition key off and all doors are closed so no interieor lights are on) and connect a testlight between the battery and the negitive cable you pulled off , if the testlight does not light up you do not have a power drain but if it comes on you know you have a drain and you can find out were the draw is coming from by pulling out fuses 1 by 1 till the light on the test light goes out.

 

I also have a problem with my battery draining. I've already ruled out a battery problem. Would this method for checking a short work for me? Is there a unique fuse for the front R/L speakers? Wouldn't the blinking red light for the car alarm effect this test?

For additional details, please see my other post:
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...89#post4316189

Thanks!