battery drain!!! why? [Merged 5-7] draining dying

[97gstnick]

this has me boggled. i am not good at electronics at all... maybe someone has some good info... my stock radio seems to stay on, like the left door speaker..(really quiet) drains my battery in like 6 hours. i pulled power from the stock amp and it doesnt drain anymore. how is radio staying on? its stock! also this might be it... this seemed to start happening after my retractable antenna broke. pretty much stuck in the up position... i pulled the b!tch out but still cannot connect amp or it will die....

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179481​

 

[ddavisaf]

No, there are only three kinds of shorts. They are a Direct Short, a Cross Short, and a Shorted Control. They may be different names, but those are the only three kinds of "shorts" that are possible. Regardless of year, 1960 to 2000. But yeah, prolly hooked up something wrong And I hate discussing electrical

 

[j_eclipse96]

Do you have a system in your car? Make sure your remote isn't touching your power if you do. My battery kept dying because of this.

 

[DSM2GNT95]

Man, I forgot I had posted this....There is no stereo or anything in this car, so we can cut that out of the question....The car had this problem when I bought it...I'm going to check all of the fuses when I get the head back on the car this weekend...I do remember a wire being loose off of the alternator last time I looked at it..It's the on that I believe goes through the alternator relay on to the ignition switch..Doubt this could conribute to the problem but giving as much info as I can....I haven't been dealing with the electrical issue much but I will have to this weekend to have it finished..The only thing electrically hooked up on this car is a fuel pump rewire...So I'm sure there is a fuse drawing power somewhere...Your guys help is greatly appreciated..Thanks

 

[ddavisaf]

Here's what to do. Get a test light. Disconnect your positive battery terminal. Run the test light between the terminal you disconnected and the battery post. Then systematically go through all of your fuses and relays while watching to see what the light dims on the test light.

I would disconnect the alternator first as this is most likely your problem. Disconnect the plug first, then take off the connectors that are bolted on.

 

[DSM2GNT95]

Here's what to do. Get a test light. Disconnect your positive battery terminal. Run the test light between the terminal you disconnected and the battery post. Then systematically go through all of your fuses and relays while watching to see what the light dims on the test light.

I would disconnect the alternator first as this is most likely your problem. Disconnect the plug first, then take off the connectors that are bolted on.

I will try that...The alternator is brand new and the drain is happening with the car off...But I will definately go after that first..Thanks

 

[ddavisaf]

Yeah I know what you mean about the alternator. Trust me though

We spent 3 hours one night doing the same thing you're doing. Didn't mess with the alternator because it was less than a week old. Turned out to be the culprit.

 

[DSM2GNT95]

Yeah I know what you mean about the alternator. Trust me though

We spent 3 hours one night doing the same thing you're doing. Didn't mess with the alternator because it was less than a week old. Turned out to be the culprit.

Was the alternator bad or hooked up wrong?...I didn't know they would draw power with it off....also would a bigger fuse cause any kind of draw?

 

[madracer247@aol]

Well i had a little problem well i started noticing my car was lagging to startup and then yesterday. When i left work it barely started and as i was driving home the radio started turning off and on so i was thinking some kind of short. When i got home i turned off the car and when i tryed to start it again it did not want to start and i had to give it a jump does anybody have any ideas the battery is only like 3 months old?

 

[DSM2GNT95]

Well i had a little problem well i started noticing my car was lagging to startup and then yesterday. When i left work it barely started and as i was driving home the radio started turning off and on so i was thinking some kind of short. When i got home i turned off the car and when i tryed to start it again it did not want to start and i had to give it a jump does anybody have any ideas the battery is only like 3 months old?

That's definately a bad alternator

 

[ddavisaf]

Was the alternator bad or hooked up wrong?...I didn't know they would draw power with it off....also would a bigger fuse cause any kind of draw?

Everything was hooked up right, it was just a bad alternator. No, a bigger fuse shouldn't cause a draw.

Well i had a little problem well i started noticing my car was lagging to startup and then yesterday. When i left work it barely started and as i was driving home the radio started turning off and on so i was thinking some kind of short. When i got home i turned off the car and when i tryed to start it again it did not want to start and i had to give it a jump does anybody have any ideas the battery is only like 3 months old?

Or a bad battery

Same thing happened to mine turned out to be the battery. Even though I had all the symptoms of a bad alternator.

Easiest way to check is to jump the car and let it idle. Then while the car is idling disconnect the battery. If it dies, the alternator is bad. If it stays running, the battery is bad.

 

[redfury]

I had the same problem with my battery slowing draining, I would come home at night and the car wouldn't start at night. I changed the altenator fuseable link and a bunch of other relays.

Finally took it to a mechanic and the problem was a severe short in the radio wiring, seems the guy who had the car before me had done a hack job on the install.

 

[speed_krazy_chu]

Ok, i am having a serious problem w/my 2g for the past few months that i have had it. I thought the problem had went away till last month when the battery drain reared its ugly head. This is the rundown

My battery drains within 4ish days after having the battery recharged(i'm switching off between a new duralast and a red top-i have a battery charger at home so i do all the charging). First i thought it could be my alternator since i've had many problems w/alternators in the past with my old gst. But the voltage reading for the alternator and battery were good. I did a parasitic drain test and voila! I am getting a 200mA drain on my system which is killing my battery in a few days. I went through all the fuses to check which ones would drop the mA rating and i found them. The Red 10A Dome Fuse, and the 30A Pink Ignition Switch fuse. I have found what is running off the dome fuse,like 20 diff. things,but i cannot seem to find out what is on the IGN Switch fuse- is it just the ignition switch???? The ign switch is draining 90mA and the dome fuse was draining around 110mA.

It sometimes seems like my battery is fine and i get it,disengage the alarm and put the key in and the lights go out. How would i go about replacing my ignition switch-take out TT plug and what?????

 

[Talon_For_Life]

I think most parasitic drain problems come from shorts. Maybe thats what you already said, but if there is alot of custom wiring I would check it over, make sure some idiot didnt cross wires and tape over them like on my car.

The key in the ignition and turning the key only for it to die sounds like a problem I had awhile ago. I figured I had a serious electrical fault somewhere but it turned out to be one of my battery terminals that had gone bad. You said you change the battery every 4 days so if you had a terminal problem you probably would have seen it by now.

Good luck

-Xan

 

[RossY]

Would you please tell me what all you did to check for where the drain was coming from or how you found out that 200ma was being drained. I am having the same problem only not as bad. If it sits for two days it'll be completely dead. As long as i drive it everyday, im ok. I have a new battery and i don't believe its the alternator.

 

[speed_krazy_chu]

Would you please tell me what all you did to check for where the drain was coming from or how you found out that 200ma was being drained. I am having the same problem only not as bad. If it sits for two days it'll be completely dead. As long as i drive it everyday, im ok. I have a new battery and i don't believe its the alternator.

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54846

No one has touched the wires- i personally do everything on my car-i didnt change anything in a while,so im not sure how this came out of no where. I really need to know about the ignition switch fuse.

 

[luv2rallye]

The 30A ignition switch fuse supplies the ignition key switch (lots and lots of loads) and also the 20A interior fuse which supplies the sunroof.

 

[speed_krazy_chu]

The 30A ignition switch fuse supplies the ignition key switch (lots and lots of loads) and also the 20A interior fuse which supplies the sunroof.

Its def. not my sunroof,i checked it on kickpanel fusebox. That Ignition Key Switch,is that the one which has the plug on it for the TT??

 

[awdtsis]

do you leave your keys in the ignition? i finally figured out that on my 2g it would kill the battery if i left the key in the switch and my 93 does the same thing i have no idea why. but if you leave your keys in it take them out and see what happens

 

[luv2rallye]

That Ignition Key Switch,is that the one which has the plug on it for the TT??

I haven't hooked one up but I would strongly suspect that's where it would be done.

 

[ggaarryy]

I have a 97 eclipse spyder and just replaced the infinity headunit with a basic panasonic radio/cd. Radio works great but now I need to keep jumping my car to start it!!!

Basically, I followed the wiring harness diagram I found elsewhere on this board in connecting the radio to the car...the only wires I left in the old harness were the two that were related to illumination/dimmer and variable illumination/dimmer. For the amp under the seat, basically I just unhooked it and removed it and -- much to my surprise the radio worked great without the need to splice the speaker wires there.

Any thoughts on what could be making my battery drain? Even driving it for an hour, I am unable to get enough juice to start the car.

thanks in advance

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

My 90 did the same thing. I ended up chagning the Alt. and Alt. relay fuse. I went through 1 O'reillys and 1 Autozone ALT. before I found a OEM Alt. that worked and it hasn't givin me any probs. I have 4 JL 12's and 3 Amps with a Alpine DVD player in my dash. check ## ALT first man..

 

[ggaarryy]

thanks but there have to be other options before getting to the point of replacing the alternator -- I hope anyway. Has to be something with the wiring although I was very careful in matching the wires. It's just too coincidental that the alt (or battery) would go the same minute I replace the radio

 

[gsxrtalon]

I believe it to be the alt. as well. The only reason a battery would drain due to a cd/radio would be I alt. is not rechargeing the battery while in use. The battery only has a certain amount of power in it without being recharged by the alt. Its the same thing as if you didnt turn the car on and listened to the radio, after awhile the radio will drain the battery of power.........the alt. in a sense recirculates the battery power. Hope this helps

 

[UCspyderGS-T]

I have a 97 eclipse spyder and just replaced the infinity headunit with a basic panasonic radio/cd. Radio works great but now I need to keep jumping my car to start it!!!

Basically, I followed the wiring harness diagram I found elsewhere on this board in connecting the radio to the car...the only wires I left in the old harness were the two that were related to illumination/dimmer and variable illumination/dimmer. For the amp under the seat, basically I just unhooked it and removed it and -- much to my surprise the radio worked great without the need to splice the speaker wires there.

Any thoughts on what could be making my battery drain? Even driving it for an hour, I am unable to get enough juice to start the car.

thanks in advance

I had a problem with my power door locks draining power from my battery and found a harness that was coming disconnected, i am guessing it was a sensor saying it was locked or unlocked. But it would drain the battery and make me ill also. Finally i decided it was the locks and pulled the fuse, then pulled the door interior off and found it later.

 

[ggaarryy]

yes, thanks also.

But, if there was NO problem with the battery keeping a charge BEFORE i replaced the old infinity headunit and underseat amp (we are talking 24 hours here since it was swapped)...wouldn't that rule out the alternator as the primary suspect? It would seem to be something with my wiring but I don't know what