Really BAD electrical Problems!

96' Eclipse GS · Oct 22, 2011

Hey, guys i need some help on a BAD battery drain... :confused:

I have tried everything in the book, from 1ohm resistor and voltmeter, hoping it was the alternator, but no dice. Also we sat in the car for a good long time at night to see if anything would come one....Nothing!....took it to our mechanic found that a door jamb switch was one of the problems and fixed it...So i looked online and read some forums here and there, and couldn't find anything...What i have trouble is that this is the second time i have charged the battery and it is new! i charged it to 100% because it was died, so i thought maybe i left a light on or something, No....no light...drove all night until i got home turned it off. Next morning i went out to go to the car wash, no click, no nothing, completely died battery, charged at work, and tested good. I just can't think of anything that could drain a battery that bad without being able to see anything, headlights, domelight, etc.... :aha:

Again i have no idea, when i bought the car from the guy, he did destroy the radio harness :ohdamn:

It looks like a spaghetti bowl and i thought, Could the radio be the problem, because of all the wiring?....what i want to know if i completely took out the radio and taped up the ends....and if that was the problem to say. Would the power still be running to it and still battery drain... :hmm:

or take it to an audio shop and hope that they can work some magic? anyone that has had this problem or any insight would be great! :idontknow:

V12 Killa · Oct 23, 2011

There is a chance if the PO wired up the stereo to stay on all the time (even with the key out).

1: Make sure all your connections on your battery/alternator clean.
2: Test to see if it's your alternator or not.

Here's link. You will need multimeter to test it.

In Car Alternator Testing Updated - YouTube

3: Check the wiring on the stereo and check if its hooked up right.

This is the stock harness wire colors. (If you have adapter they might be a little different)

Constant 12V+ Red/Black
Switched 12V+ Blue
Ground n/a
Illumination Green/White
Dimmer Black/Yellow
Antenna Left Rear
Front Speakers 4" Doors
Left Front (+) Black/White
Left Front (-) Black
Right Front (+) Black/White
Right Front (-) Black
Rear Speakers 5 1/4" Side Panels
Left Rear (+) Yellow/Blue
Left Rear (-) Gray/Blue
Right Rear (+) Yellow/Red
Right Rear (-) Gray/Red

4: You can do it the waiting route or testing route. Start disconnecting anything that will draw any power (Alarm & etc). Let it sit overnight or a few hours, if it drains that's where its draining the battery. If not its something else. Then start pulling fuses one by one while you measure the Amps on your Multimeter (with the MM connected between the Negative (-) Side Battery Cable and Negative (-) Battery Terminal). The fuse that reduces the drain is the draw/draining your battery.

Letting it sit is the way I do it with anything that's big batt. drainer (Alarm, Stereo & etc) and when I don't need to be somewhere the next day helps. When it's something smaller/unknown drain I do the fuses. Good luck. :thumb:

knewblewkorvett · Oct 23, 2011

Good write-up V12 Killa.

I would do #4. Unhook either your positive or negative cable to the battery. Then connect your multimeter between the unhooked cable and the battery terminal. Turn your multimeter to read amps (do not turn car on or you'll blow the multimeter's fuse. My Fluke meter will only handle 10 amps). You will probably show some draw. Pull fuses till that reading drops significantly (it is normal to have some draw for things like your radios memory). That will get you to the area where you need to troubleshoot.

Unfortunately, your battery probably has been weakened by going dead like that. The exception would be if you have a deep-cycle battery like the Optima yellow top. I would go to like Advance Auto or Auto Zone and they'll check your battery and alternator for free. Hopefully everything checks out okay. Best of luck to ya.
Jay

96' Eclipse GS · Oct 23, 2011

Ya thanks guys, have tried pulling fuses and no draw anywhere....but after pulling the fuses and putting them back, now i have no power to the radio.....?.....radio fuse is still good, and replaced it anyways.....
still trying to find a draw.....?

DirtyDSMDan · Oct 23, 2011

So when you pull the battery cable and run your DVOM in series with the wire (one lead on the wire, other on the battery terminal) what is the amperage you are reading? should be less than one on most cars.

luv2rallye · Oct 24, 2011

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...-partial-short-battery-drain.html#post1496998

concept4g63 · Oct 24, 2011

Guys the way to test a parasitic drain problem is to disconnect the negative terminal from the battery, use a test light and connect the lead to the terminal and touch the negative post on the battery, the light should be on but faint, if it is really bright then start pulling out fuses one by one tiller the light goes out! That's how you will know where your drain is, you can also use a dvom to test it to see how much it drops. Good luck dude and post feedback if its helpful

DirtyDSMDan · Oct 24, 2011

concept4g63 said:
Guys the way to test a parasitic drain problem is to disconnect the negative terminal from the battery, use a test light and connect the lead to the terminal and touch the negative post on the battery, the light should be on but faint, if it is really bright then start pulling out fuses one by one tiller the light goes out! That's how you will know where your drain is, you can also use a dvom to test it to see how much it drops. Good luck dude and post feedback if its helpful

You do realise that connecting an ammeter in the same way will not only tell you if you have a parasitic draw, but it will tell you how much of one. A testlight is a great way of testing for power, but for a parasitic draw? Skip the testlight and use something that can actually give you information.

As for the OP. If you do find you have an excessive draw, then I would hazard a guess to go through all your speaker wiring and clean it up, put everything back together correctly; ie, sauter the wires and use shrink tube to make it clean. that way you know that the parasitic draw is not from a hokey wiring installation.

knewblewkorvett · Oct 24, 2011

96' Eclipse GS said:
Ya thanks guys, have tried pulling fuses and no draw anywhere....but after pulling the fuses and putting them back, now i have no power to the radio.....?.....radio fuse is still good, and replaced it anyways.....
still trying to find a draw.....?

No draw? You should have some. All normal cars draw some current when off which is needed for memorys (example: so your radio's FM stations presets stay there).
No power to the radio? If I understand you correctly, the radio did work before you pulled the fuse but after you put back the fuse the radio does not work. I cannot explain that :hmm:

Is your battery charged? Most radio's have a protection circuit that will not let the stereo turn on if at 10.5 volts or less.
Sorry, but I do not agree with the possibility of the speaker wires causing a current draw. The radio would have to be on for any current going to speakers. Speakers after all are already low impedence (usally 4 ohm). If you did have a speaker wire shorting out it would either send your radio into a protection mode or fry your radio's amplifier.

DirtyDSMDan · Oct 24, 2011

There is a lot more than just speaker wires behind the stereo. If someone who did not know what they were doing went back there.. then Lord only knows what is going on. Best idea in that case is to get a wiring diagram and follow known wires and clean it up as best as you can.

96' Eclipse GS · Oct 27, 2011

Ya!.....sorry guys about the wait on a reply, but i was trying to figure it out.....got a local DSM shop in town....didn't even know it exist.. :ohdamn:

..told them my problem and 10 seconds later...said "we know what it is...don't worry"..
So the problem was an alternator....it read a "pass" on the tester at work.....but it would suck the life out of my battery overnight...new alternator was the fix... thanks again everyone for the advice! :thumb:

V12 Killa · Oct 28, 2011

knewblewkorvett said:
Good write-up V12 Killa.

I would do #4. Unhook either your positive or negative cable to the battery. Then connect your multimeter between the unhooked cable and the battery terminal. Turn your multimeter to read amps (do not turn car on or you'll blow the multimeter's fuse. My Fluke meter will only handle 10 amps). You will probably show some draw. Pull fuses till that reading drops significantly (it is normal to have some draw for things like your radios memory). That will get you to the area where you need to troubleshoot.

Unfortunately, your battery probably has been weakened by going dead like that. The exception would be if you have a deep-cycle battery like the Optima yellow top. I would go to like Advance Auto or Auto Zone and they'll check your battery and alternator for free. Hopefully everything checks out okay. Best of luck to ya.
Jay

Thanks man. I have to give some credit to luv2rallye's posts/threads learned a lot from them.

Had a feeling it was going to be the alternator. I never trust those testers at auto part stores. Had many good batts/alts test bad on them.

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Really BAD electrical Problems!

96' Eclipse GS

V12 Killa

knewblewkorvett

96' Eclipse GS

DirtyDSMDan

luv2rallye

concept4g63

DirtyDSMDan

knewblewkorvett

DirtyDSMDan

96' Eclipse GS

V12 Killa

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