pamike Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 anytime the car sets for about a day the battery dies. we can jump start it and run it but the next day it's dead again. it's a new battery. i disconnected the battery for a few days and reconnected it today and it starts fine. so the car is draining it. anyone have any ideas. this is for a 96 legacy 2.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 there is anything new electric on the car? stereo? alarm? if not, it maybe a shortcircuit around the battery, becuase if it is inside the car, a fuse will be burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reveeen Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Typically you would remove the + terminal from the battery and put a test light between the terminal and the battery. The brightness of the light shows the amount of drain. Now, there are some things that are powered key off, so to eliminate those (like the radio memory) you would pull the appropriate fuse. Now start removing fuses until the light goes out, you have found the draw, fix that circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp98 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 A quick and easy one to check is the alternator, one of the diodes may be bad and you could be draining the battery through it. Just disconnect the battery wire going to the alternator and see what happens. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 Its quite possible your battery is shot. How old is it? it's on it's 3rd or 4th battery the car keeps draining them i know it's not the battery because i disconnected the batt. and it held a charge just fine after setting a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 A quick and easy one to check is the alternator, one of the diodes may be bad and you could be draining the battery through it. Just disconnect the battery wire going to the alternator and see what happens. Jim i'll do that maybe tomorrow if i get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp98 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Just wondering did you find the problem? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 i did disconnect the alt. if i get a chance i'm going to reconnect it today and see if the battery is still charged. i'll let you know what i find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 not the alt. battery still went dead. i did pull the fuses for the radio and a few other things and i'll check it maybe tomorrow and see what i find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 If you don't have a digital meter that will handle a 10 amp current draw this may be a good time to invest in one. You can get one for around 50 dollars and then have a very valuable test tool on hand when you need it. You can then set the meter in the current function and place it in series with the battery ground connection. Normal current draw should be less than 80 milliamps. By pulling fuses one at a time you will find which circuit has the draw on it and narrow down the area to check for the trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircraft engineer Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 The cheap meters from Harbor Freight will do 10A and are on sale for $3. IF you are drawing 10A you have bigger problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Someone on another forum recently had the same problem. Eventually discovered the light in the trunk was always on causing the drain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbrand Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Isolate problem...hook up meter measure current draw from battery-then remove fuses and fusible links one at a time until you find the circuit that is drawing the surrent when it shouldnt-a very little bit of current draw (10 mA or so ) is OK used to keep clock, ECU meemory etc alive, but bet you are seeing 500mA(1/2 A) or higher.... Just went through this on my non-sube vehicle, takes time to isolate and track down-be methodical and patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J A Blazer Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I thought I would share my story. Second owner, 2000 4-cyl OBW, 112K. Previous owner had at some point installed an Interstate battery. I had no problems whatsoever until a week ago. While idling all the warning lights (ABS and AT) came on. Car died and would not restart. Could jump start, but car would still die. Couldn't remove key from ignition (even with the instructions in the manual for manual over-ride). Security alarm would come on when I opened the door. Replaced battery and all is now OK; Sears confirmed that the old battery was 'bad.' I have never had a battery die as precipitously as did that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 i did check to make sure the trunk light was off. i have a meter and when i get a chance i will check it out some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylong127 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 i did check to make sure the trunk light was off. i have a meter and when i get a chance i will check it out some more. when mine kept doing that it was because of the battery connections. they were loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 we had it to the garage and he said it was the keyless entry module. he pulled the fuse for that and this morning the car started right up. now we have another problem. to find the problem above he pulled the fuses and relays under the hood and under the dash. now since we got the car back it wants to cut out and at low speeds and it stalls. even going at highway speeds the car will jerk every now and then like it's cutting out. could this in any way be caused by pulling the fuses, maybe somthing got reset that shouldn't have. would pulling the fuse for the keyless entry system do this if it's ran with the fuse out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 That problem won't happen by pulling the fuse. Check the fuel filter. If that is good then you may have a weak fuel pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 That problem won't happen by pulling the fuse. Check the fuel filter. If that is good then you may have a weak fuel pump. Or a good old fashioned tune-up. Its probably just coincidence. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasy Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I had the same battery drain problem with my 96 OBW. I traced the problem to keyless entry system and another fuse that controls the radio and map lights above the rear-view mirror. It might just be keyless system alone that caused the problem but I pulled fuses for both systems and the problem is gone. It's been about a year since I pulled the fuses and I decided to keep the car the way it is now. Too much trouble to do a real fix. The engine problem you described is not related to the fuses you're talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I traced the problem to keyless entry system and another fuse that controls the radio and map lights above the rear-view mirror. anything else on this fuse?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasy Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 It's fuse #30 in the engine bay on my 96 OBW. The fuse box says it's for clock and room lights. My clock is on the radio. I don't think this fuse's circuit contributed a major portion of the low battery problem but it certainly drew some current. The power door lock system is the main culprit. My battery never totally died because of this. The brand-new Optima got lower voltage than it should after a full charge and sitting 1 night. After pulling these fuses, the voltage stays where it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokermtb Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I have the same mysterious issues w/ my 1998 legacy gt.....I checked the wiring harness for the terminal leads [i removed it for testing when I went to get the new battery, the parts store said it was flowing current] and put a new battery in, next day the car was dead again. The next morning, my new battery was dead again.....argh! Sounds like I've got some testing to do. I'm a noob at this, but how do you actually test the fuses, with a meter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokermtb Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 so if I pull the fuse to a car component that is drawing current, would not the amps displayed on the meter increase, since the parasitic component is no longer drawing current? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 so if I pull the fuse to a car component that is drawing current, would not the amps displayed on the meter increase, since the parasitic component is no longer drawing current? Pulling the fuse will decrease the current since the circuit will be open then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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