Battery slowly drained

Submitted: Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 12:49
ThreadID: 16312 Views:2525 Replies:7 FollowUps:6
This Thread has been Archived
Hi all,

Two weeks ago I've had a mate of mine install a new radio in my car. Three days later, my battery was still fine in the morning and dead in the evening.. I've disconected the radio, then took out it's fuses, then removed ALL the fuses (from the fuse box). Still, no change. The battery is slowly being drained. Over a 4 hour period there's about a 1 volt drop in the battery. Now I'm thinking that it's probably not the radio at all and nothing that has a circuit through the fuse box.

Any ideas of what I should be looking at?

R.
Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:37

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:37
Is this your main battery or an auxilliary? If aux, why not disconnect everything at the positive terminal except for the main cable connecting it to your relay/black box etc. See if it charges off the main battery/alternator after a drive and then check again a few hours later. If it has dropped again, I'd say the battery is faulty or the "black box etc" is stuffed.
If you don't have dual batteries, then there is a chance the battery is stuffed too, or you have a slow drain from another source. But if you've taken all the fuses out etc, there should be nothing there to drain it.
Really we need more info to try to assist you.
AnswerID: 76630

Follow Up By: Rob! - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:55

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:55
Hi Roachie

Don't have dual batteries and the battery is only about 3 months old. SWMBO took the car for a weekend with the girls and came back with a new battery (but that's another story).

Basically I've had this routine of charging the battery during the day. Disconnecting one item and seeing if the voltage drops overnight. Yes, a very long and tedious process.

Thanks

R.
0
FollowupID: 336418

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:39

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:39
"Any ideas of what I should be looking at?"

an autoelect..
your mate may have bolloxed up a wire while fitting radio. Cause its only happened since radio went in?
AnswerID: 76631

Follow Up By: Rob! - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:00

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:00
Truckster

Yep, that's what I was thinking. But I had this vague hope .....

Oh well,
(8(l)

R.
0
FollowupID: 336420

Reply By: V8troopie - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:44

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:44
Have you got a multimeter that reads Amps?
If so, set it to 10A DC or bigger range and connect it between the + battery terminal and the wires that went to this terminal. Put back all your fuses.
DO NOT TRY TO START THE CAR WHILE THE METER IS CONNECTED!
Now read what kind of current drain you have on the meter. Then try to disconnect things, one at a time, and see when the current drain stops.
Voltage readings can be rather timewasting in that situation - you might have a battery that's on its way out.
The only things usually permanently connected to the battery is the alarm, the radio's memory power input and the clock - everything else should be off with the key out of the ignition.
If yours is a modern car with a computer engine management system, please disregard the above advise.
Klaus
AnswerID: 76632

Follow Up By: Rob! - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:24

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:24
V8troopie,

I wasn't sure on how to measure the amps with the metre. I assumed it was the way you said, but I would've done it on the negative terminal. I was also affraid that those thin wires on the metere would fry if i connected it in series but I guess if I "DO NOT TRY TO START THE CAR WHILE THE METER IS CONNECTED!" it should be fine.

I did try measuring the resistance by disconnecting both terminals, connecting them to the meter and seeing if there's a change when I pulled out each fuse individually. There was only a slight change on the interior-light/radio-memory but only about 1-2% I think.

It's a 92 nissan terrano.

I'll try what you said with the ampmeter tonight.
Thanks.
R.
0
FollowupID: 336425

Follow Up By: V8troopie - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 16:07

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 16:07
Rob, it really does not matter which terminal you connect the ampmeter, as long as its connected in series and your expected current drain is not above the max meter range.
the worst that could happen with a digital meter is blowing an internal fuse ( nuisence) and with an analog meter bending the needle (bigger nuisance:-) if the range was exceeded.
The reason I suggested the pos terminal is that there are usually a bunch of wires connected and you could eliminate each one in turn.

Mind, completely disconnecting the battery does often cause the loss of the security code on the radio (another nuisance), the clock might have to be reset or, if there is any 'black box' computer, anything might happen :-(
Klaus
0
FollowupID: 336430

Reply By: madcow - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:51

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 14:51
what sort of car? I had that happen in the past and it turned out to be the boot light was staying on as the tab with the switch had bent slightly. Could be the glovebox light also!
AnswerID: 76636

Follow Up By: Rob! - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:48

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:48
An light "ON" somewhere - that was my first thought. But I've slowly eliminated that possibility. Oh, and it's a terrano 92.

Cheers
R.
0
FollowupID: 336429

Reply By: Will - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:30

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:30
Hi Rob, Ussually the radios have a power supply that connects to constant power to keep the presets and time corect and another that connects to a switched power supply (acc. or ign.) that powers the radio when you turn on the ignition, maybe they are wired wrong.
Another thought is, has it a separate amp? if so is it switched to go off with the ignition?
Will
AnswerID: 76649

Follow Up By: Rob! - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:40

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 15:40
Hi Will

No amp, but the old radio did have a cd stacker (not working) and the wiring is still there. Maybe I'll look into that too.

Thanks
R.
0
FollowupID: 336428

Reply By: Member - Sparkie (QLD) - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 19:45

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 19:45
Why not try disconnecting the wiring from the battery complete and checking the battery outside of the car first. It probably wont be a bad idea to take the battery to a battery dealer and ask them to check the battery.

Other than that I had the same problem with my old 82 toyota hiace. Turned out that my in car phone kit was the problem. the cradle had a bit of electronics in it which was causing my battery to flatten after about five hours.
It didn't help that the battery was on it's last legs as well off course.

Sparkie(IE not Y) ;-)
AnswerID: 76684

Reply By: Wok - Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 21:46

Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 at 21:46
Remember the alternator has a direct connection to the battery.Unhook the output carefully and check with the ampmeter or connect a 12v bulb (5w will do) between the unhooked alternator lead and the bare output terminal of the alternator.There should be no current, if there is the diode(s) are shorted.

AnswerID: 76704

Sponsored Links

Popular Products (9)