High battery drain = dying battery?

[GSLENK]

My car has been really difficult this past week. I wonder If I killed the battery somehow.

Here are some of my findings: (used craftsman voltmeter/ammeter/ohmmeter... I cannot afford fluke)

All fuses pulled (from 2 boxes, under hood, and by drivers left knee) and I still get a steady ~5 amp current draw.

When I pull the fuse on my sub-woofer power wire (4ga to rear amp, and 4 ga to ground near amp from rear amp) the ammeter jumps from 5.0 to 5.33 amps, this is very repeatable and consistent.

At rest the battery reads about 10v. engine idling is almost 15v, (14.4 ish). a/c max a/c and headlights on reads around 12.5v at idle.

It seems that the alternator is fine.

Are there any other circuits that aren't fused at the 2 locations?
Did I miss a fuse-box?

Are these symptoms of a dead battery?

any other tips for troubleshooting?

 

[hypergenesis]

My car has been really difficult this past week. I wonder If I killed the battery somehow.

Here are some of my findings: (used craftsman voltmeter/ammeter/ohmmeter... I cannot afford fluke)

All fuses pulled (from 2 boxes, under hood, and by drivers left knee) and I still get a steady ~5 amp current draw.

When I pull the fuse on my sub-woofer power wire (4ga to rear amp, and 4 ga to ground near amp from rear amp) the ammeter jumps from 5.0 to 5.33 amps, this is very repeatable and consistent.

At rest the battery reads about 10v. engine idling is almost 15v, (14.4 ish). a/c max a/c and headlights on reads around 12.5v at idle.

It seems that the alternator is fine.

Are there any other circuits that aren't fused at the 2 locations?
Did I miss a fuse-box?

Are these symptoms of a dead battery?

any other tips for troubleshooting?

Battery is suppose to sit close to 12v at rest. The alternator is working fine thats why you get around 14.4V when the car is idling.

Im pretty sure you may need a new battery if those are your volatage readings. Take it off and have it tested at your Autozone nearby.

 

[cmfd]

id say battery also.have you had dead battery problems before or has it just been this week.

 

[GSLENK]

they will be able to tell for sure?

Hope a new battery cures my drain problem...

I followed this thingy a bit and tried the test light method. Seems like I have a hidden capacitor somewhere...

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

I hook up the test light and it lights. then it instantly fades out, disconnect, reconnect, lights, fades out fast. repeatable forever.

Im gonna see what the zone says.

id say battery also.have you had dead battery problems before or has it just been this week.

just this week really, maybe past 2 weeks. I haven't been driving it much lately because there are other cars that needed driving, and I stay home and do HW/study or friends pick me up.

 

[cmfd]

they will be able to tell you if it is bad. also if you dont drive it much all your electronis will drain your battery. if i dont drive my 05 impala for 3 days i have a dead battery. way too many electronics in it.

 

[GSLENK]

Autozone said battery is bad. I bought a new duralast gold (say what you want but I have only had good experiences with that brand and their warranty is just as long as optima, and My autozone will let me return anything for any reason)

I have a radio
A subwoofer
And a keyless entry/alarm combo
thats it for electronics.

Amp is off when the car is, so I doubt that's drawing anything.
I have the radio fuse pulled (along with every other fuse)
The alarm is unplugged...

Still drawing 5 amps.
Test light in series with the car and battery negative post lights up fully and quickly fades to off and stays that way until the connection is broken and the car gets a chance to build up what I think is the 5 amp limit again.

 

[cmfd]

well you are only suposto draw up to 75 milli amps. mabey follow the big wire to the starter see if you have a short in that wire and check your power wire before the fuse check for rub marks and bare wires. you might have a short before the fuses?

 

[GSLENK]

Im a dee dee dee... didnt hook up the leads to the ammeter right... got that all sorted out. I was about to go crazy. No drain. problem solved. Just a classic case of bad battery.