Well, in the last 3 monthes, I have replaced the battery, @ the time also did an alternator test and they said it was fine.....and ever since about 1 1/2 monthes ago when I installed a new deck, it has lost the ability to hold a charge for over 3 days. I'm really not sure if it actually has something to do with the stereo...This is really getting frustrating....what else is there to do? Is there a chance that I've lost a ground, or that something is shorting out and draining the battery? Should I just take it in and have a mechanic look at it?

 

make sure nothing is on like the rear interior light you said something about the decklid could be that little light
you also said stereo if you have an amp make sure the remote wire has power onlf when key is on
alt. can discharge your battery if the diodes are bad but will still charge while running
if its nothing simple like that pay someone to fix it

 

Yeah, I already checked to be sure the lights weren't coming on....but as for the remote wire....I did have my buddy...[a pro by no means] install the stereo....it works fine, but what is that you were talking about..."make sure the remote wire has power onlf when key is on"..... what is that?

Thanks.....

 

i just got done fixing the same problem, i had a few wires that were touching on my fan switch and were creating a draw on the battery. after a new alternator, 2 batteries, and an afternoon at my shop, we figured it out. i haven't had time to reroute, re-mount the wires yet, but i just snipped them and covered the ends in electrical tape for now. but now i have to get another battery because my one now has been run down, then jumped so many times that it will no longer hold a decent charge. you gotta love those wal-mart return/exchange policies!!

thomas

 

that does sound alot like what I have going on.....and I had zero problems with this car for the last year, and now all this....hey, you don't have a picture or anything on where the fan switch is...also, there was an alarm installed on this car before I owned it...it seems to work good, but it also has a bunch of wires and stuff up near my battery underneath the hood...I'd rather it be uninstalled, and taken out, but looks like real hassle....

 

Could be parasitic draw. I've had a buddy install a stereo and the capacitor was wired to battery power... should be wired to the power antenna (sp?) so that it turns off when the key is off.

But, you could check for parasitic draw. If you disconnect the positive battery cable, connect a volt meter (set to AMPS) between the battery and the red cable. You should see some current flow through... less than an amp is preferable.

Begin to pull the fuses (this helps to have a buddy) and watch the voltmeter (set to AMPS)... if it goes down when a fuse is pulled, you found the circuit with the parasitic draw.

I've seen this happen to glove box lights and trunk lights... but in your case, could be part of the stereo system... like the amplifiers on even with the key off.

 

Thanks Wild1,

I'm charging up my battery right now so I can check a bunch of things on it tomorrow.....

 

Not sure if someone answered you or not (was quickly reading through the responses) but a remote turn on turns your amps on when the key is turned on. it should NOT have 12V when the key is off. If it does your amps will always be on and will drain you're battery.. easy way to check that is simple.. Disconnect the remote turn on on you amp (should be right on the amp somewhere labeled remote or something like that if not look in the book that came with the amp) check it to ground with your battery hooked up. If you get the 12volts then that should be your problem. To fix all you need to do it unhook it from wherever you friend hooked it up and hook it up to an accesory wire or a keyed 12volt source. Mine is off of the old accesory wire (i believe it's the red wire in the old harness) only bad thing with that is the 15mins the radio stays before you open your doors while the car is off. if you run a big amp it will drain the battery (hasn't happened yet I turn it off before so

 

I just got done charging it up again....[damn I'm prob. gonna have to get a new battery after all these charges....] Anyway, I have no power to my deck, my amp, or my EQ underneath the passenger seat......sounds like remote wire right? Maybe came loose or something....

Other than that, the car runs fine, and my amp guage is right where it should be, [@ least for today....it will prob. be dead by tommorrw or the next day.....] I'm gonna pull the deck, what a hassle! For everybody that's ever had to change their own deck..all the damned little screws you have to get to after the glove compartment is down....and all the plastic paneling you have to pull off....well, I'm not looking forward to this....

 

Thanks for the update... let us know what you find...

 

FWIW...I had a draining battery/non-starting every 5-6time car for 6months about 6months ago. In the time I had the battery load tested by two differnt places...both said it was fine. So, I bought a new battery...2 weeks later, it was dead. So I bought antother one thinking maybe I got a bad battery. 2 weeks later, it was dead also. So, I searched my whole car from top to bottom and front to back for shorts, ungrounded wires etc...found nothing. So, I decided what the hell...ill buy a new alternator and see what happnes. My car has started every time since then for the last 6 months. Turns out...even though the alternator load tested good...it was still bad. Im guessing maybe they didnt load test it to the necessary rpms and/or maybe the voltage regulator was bad...who knows. Either way, a new alternator fixed my problem. Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be.

 

Thanks n2oTransAmLT1....you know, I'm almost to that point considering that the battery is still new, and I know the alt. is @ least a few years old...

Also, just wondering....anybody know what this thing is, or what it's function is...it's a little plastic thing that houses 2 ends of wire, and connects them by this little transistor looking thing....I need to know what it is....it's only on the red power wire. I just pulled my deck, the reason that my stereo wasn't working is because I had a loose connection on the red power wire.

 

Have you tested for Parasitic Draw yet?

 

Not yet....I just bought one off eBay though...should be here in a couple days.

 

Take your new deck out and see if the battery will hold a charge.