electrical gremlins suck

[Thomas91169]

ok so heres the situation. ever since i got rear ended things just aint been right(which was in march of 04). so i get it back and it seems fine, so we head off to vegas for a week on vacation, i leave the car home(we flew) and when i get back and start it, its dead. so i jump it, everythings fine. so the next morning i go to go to work and dead. so i get a new battery that evening, and all seems well. well later that month i leave it yet again as we went camping, get home, its dead. definately some sort of short or crap ground. but if i drive the car everyday it will be fine, but if i leave it for more than a day without driving it, dead.

all my interior lights, exterior lights, aftermarket stuff work fine. if it was a short wouldnt it not work? im left with 2 options.

1. take it to mitsu - this option sucks, cause i have a warranty but lost all the paperwork, and theyre just gonna blame it on aftermarket stuff.
2. rip everything out and start from scratch. im talking starting over from stock. all stock, no gauges, no undercars, not even ic pipes, and see what happens, if it holds charge and doesnt die, then ill know its something i did. if it still dies then ill have to go to #1.

what do you guys think i should do?

 

[Omega]

Check the wiring from the alt to the battery.. also replace the alt.

 

[luv2rallye]

but if i drive the car everyday it will be fine, but if i leave it for more than a day without driving it, dead.

First make sure your alternator is working. Measure battery voltage with engine off, then running. Running voltage should be about 2 volts higher (around 14.8v). If you don't have a voltmeter, turn the headlights on and notice if they are brighter with the engine running than with it off. If alternator is ok than you have a partial short slowly draining your battery. See here for troubleshooting http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54846. If that is too complex you can pm me.

 

[Thomas91169]

dam that was a good ass write up, too bad i already bought an alternator. i told the guys at autozone and while they couldnt test the alt(they didnt have the plug for it) they all recommended that it would be a 95% chance that the alt is causing the voltage drain. ill replace the alt and if i still have a drain im gonna do what that writeup sugessted.