If I leave my car parked for more than four days, my battery is dead...I have to put it on a trickle charger to keep it charged. I have no idea where the draining is coming from.
Can anyone give me some advice on how I can find the drain?

Thanks,

 

how old is the batt, and check the water level.(in the batt.)

or take it to Advance and let some 16yr old hook up their diagnostic comp. and fry it.
That way u get a new one for free.

 

Sounds like your CD Player/audio stuff is probably the cause, is anything getting constant power? Maybe your alternator is kicking the bucket on you.

I'd go have load test on your battery, that among other things would be the first step however, and then you can go from there.

 

If your battery condition checks OK:

1. Disconnect the negative cable on the battery and connect a 12V test light in series between the cable connector and the negative post.

2. If the test light comes on (even if it's very dim), that verifies that there is current flowing. If the test light does not come on that doesn't mean that everything is OK, just that there's not enough current flowing to illuminate the lamp. In that case, connect a digital VOM, using the milliamp scale, in place of the test lamp. It should not read more than 20 or 30 milliamp.

3. Once you have determined that you indeed have a drain on the battery, just start pulling fuses until you identify the circuit that is causing the problem; then continue isolating components in that circuit until you discover the source of the problem.

 

Great advice! #3 never occured to me

 

Thanks,

The battery is fine, it load tests fine and also takes a charge. It is the original alt, but voltage seems to be ok with car running. I'll try to disconnect the negative and go from there!

 

Do you have a DVOM? If your 10A fuse is still good, you can check for parasitic draw.

Set your meter to Amps and adjust your test leads to the proper jacks (if applicable). Then take off your negative battery terminal. Put the test leads between the battery and the ground terminal. You should have 0.020 at most. Some modern cars can go up to 0.050 depending on the multiplex system.

If you are getting a higher reading that 0.020 then you have a parasitic draw. Begin to remove and reinsert your fuses until you see the meter drop to a low number. Then that circuit is drawing the amperage.

Check to see what may be shorted on that circuit or if an aftermarket accessory was added (tapped into the line).

 

I'm gonna pick up a Multimeter tomorrow and run through all the fuses...

 

The first one here I've seen get it right. Good job.

Just wanted to add that if anything has been added DIRECTLY to the battery as opposed to spliced in a fused line, check it for draw first.
AND
If you have any sort of (what I call a BTA) check it first.

BTA is Big Thumping Amplifier.

Watch out for the fuse deal, many peeps have a blown fuse in the volt meter and don't realize it and assume they have 0 draw cause the meter says 0.

 

As a matter of fact, I'm a culprit of both. My head unit is connected directly to the battery and I have a BTA.....

 

well thats your problem I ber.

Like they said you need to check for amp draw by pulling each fuse........Why is you amp not on a fuse? also you have to trigger the amp to cut it on.....how do you have the trigger hooked up?

 

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...2&postcount=16

Even if your battery tests good doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Those tests are pretty much "short term." My battery tested good at Autozone. It was fine for several days and then would go dead even though there was no draw. As stated from the link, once you put the meter in-line with your battery you must let it sit for at least 10 minutes when all courtesy components shut off before taking an accurate reading.

 

I have a main fuse (50amp) a foot from the battery then runs to a fuse box to another (40amp) before going into the amp, which is fused also by a 40amp fuse. The amp is remotely switched when the head unit is switched on, the power light on the amp is not otherwise on when the head unit is off.

I had the DVOM hooked up to the negative cable,(disconnected from battery) and battery to read if there was any drain and it consistantly said -.020 to -.030 milliamps. I imagine if there was a draw somewhere, it would be on the positive side of this right? That was with all the fuses connected so no draw I guess, maybe I'm doing something wrong...

 

It makes no difference whether you hook it up to the positive or negative. You are connecting the instrument in series with the circuit; what goes out of the battery through the positive connection must come back through the negative connection. It's just safer to use the negative connection because there is no voltage potential to ground if you should accidentally short out something during the test. I think you meant 20 - 30 milliamps, not .020 -.030 milliamps, but in either case, it doesn't look like you have any parasitic drain going on.

I would look for something in your charging circuit that is preventing the battery from charging properly. Also check the power draw of all the extra audio equipment to make sure it is not exceeding the output of the alternator. The easiest way to do this would be to have the engine running with all the audio and other electric drains (lights, A/C, etc.) on and use a clamp-on style DC ammeter around either the positive or negative battery cable to see how many amps you are pulling. You could also use a shunt type ammeter, but if you use that type I would connect the shunt in series with the negative cable; again for safety reasons.

 

If there is no relevant Parasitic Draw, the next test I would recommend is a Voltage Drop.

Set your DVOM to Volts. With the car running, run a lead to the positive battery terminal and the other lead to the connector on the alternator. You should have zero volts. I recommend the connector versus the bolt since the connector is what needs to run the current and may have corrosion.

* If you did any work that involves removing your alternator, remember there is a small clip connector on the bottom of your alternator. If it isn't plugged in securely, then that can also lead to a charging concern.

The second voltage drop is with the engine running, similar to the charging voltage drop test. Run the lead from the negative terminal to the engine block. Your reading should be 0 Volts. If there is any voltage, check your connections and ground strap.

If those are both fine, then you may have an alternator issue. With your engine running, run a static draw test with the positive lead on the positive terminal and the negative tester lead on the negative terminal. With then engine running you should be getting about 13.2-14 volts.