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How to find out what's draining my battery?

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Old Dec 25, 2009 | 03:50 AM
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alex-z28's Avatar
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How to find out what's draining my battery?

My friend and I tried one time to find out what's draining it by removing every fuse one at the time and looking at the amp meter with no luck. I just got used to getting new battery every 2 years or so. I got 3 amps and cliford car alarm in the car.

I finally decieded to look into it some more cause looks like I will have to buy another battery in spring.
Old Dec 25, 2009 | 08:51 AM
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That's how you do it. With everything off, draw should be in the low milliamp range.
Old Dec 26, 2009 | 12:17 AM
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Originally Posted by shoebox
That's how you do it. With everything off, draw should be in the low milliamp range.
I guess I will try that again. Is there any fuses in the engine bay that I need to check as well. When I did it with my friend we just pulled the fuses that were under the dash.
Old Dec 26, 2009 | 03:35 PM
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Yes, there is a fusebox under the hood, on the driver's side, just in front of the fender well. It's got a cover on it. It has both fuses and relays in it.
With three audio amplifiers and an alarm on it, I would suspect those first, but you have probably already investigated them already.
When you say you have an ampmeter, how is it connected? Inductive, in-dash, hand-held? How much current draw is it showing?
Old Dec 26, 2009 | 03:48 PM
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Originally Posted by koolaid_kid
Yes, there is a fusebox under the hood, on the driver's side, just in front of the fender well. It's got a cover on it. It has both fuses and relays in it.
With three audio amplifiers and an alarm on it, I would suspect those first, but you have probably already investigated them already.
When you say you have an ampmeter, how is it connected? Inductive, in-dash, hand-held? How much current draw is it showing?
We used hand hand-held ampmeter, we disconnected negative battery terminal and hooked up ampmeter between negative terminal and negative battery post. We saw draw to be 1.5 amps.
Old Dec 26, 2009 | 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by alex-z28
I guess I will try that again. Is there any fuses in the engine bay that I need to check as well. When I did it with my friend we just pulled the fuses that were under the dash.
If you want to cover everything, you will have to do the engine bay fuses, too. More than likely, it is something that has been added.
Old Dec 27, 2009 | 05:46 AM
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Don't forget the wires with the fusible links, attached to the positive terminal box.
Old Dec 27, 2009 | 08:08 AM
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Originally Posted by alex-z28
We used hand hand-held ampmeter, we disconnected negative battery terminal and hooked up ampmeter between negative terminal and negative battery post. We saw draw to be 1.5 amps.
An excellent way to measure it.
There are multiple ways to test for current draw, but since you are having such a problem, I would attack it in reverse. That is, I would disconnect everything, then start adding one-by-one. It could be a bit tedious at first, but as soon as you see a significant current draw with one extra connection, you can start to trace that particular wire.
As Injuneer suggested, the positive terminal box (the red plastic one on the passenger's side wheel well, with the red top covering that likes to break off) is an excellent place to start adding wires one-by-one.
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