2G interior components partially working while engine is running

[BagueTTe]

My car was standing in my garage for a week because I went on holidays. When I came back, my battery was completely dead, which was weird, cuz I would let it sit for a while without problem. I recharged my battery with a battery charger and tried to start it the next day, only to realize that my interior components dont work at all. lights, power mirros, windows, a/c, radio, would not turn on. but after taking my car for a ride, my components slowly started to come back (radio and interior lights). But if I turn off the engine, everything stops working. Any clues why this is happening? I really want to open my windows or turn on my a/c cuz its summer, I'm sweating like a maniac in there ))

 

[car_of_theseus]

Sounds like you either a) have a bad battery, or b) have a parasitic power drain somewhere. I would get your battery tested first and if it's ok, you can use a multimeter to try and find the circuit that's draining the battery while the car is off. Literally went through this exact same problem like a week or 2 ago haha. Good luck!

 

[luv2rallye]

Sounds like weak battery not keeping a charge.

 

[BagueTTe]

Sounds like you either a) have a bad battery, or b) have a parasitic power drain somewhere. I would get your battery tested first and if it's ok, you can use a multimeter to try and find the circuit that's draining the battery while the car is off. Literally went through this exact same problem like a week or 2 ago haha. Good luck!

My battery works, I charged it with a battery charger and it hold its charge (atleast enough for the car to start). I'm fairly new to cars and their components, and electrical issues seems like a nightmare. Might I ask how I would need to check for a parasitic drain exactly?

 

[BagueTTe]

Sounds like weak battery not keeping a charge.

My battery holds enough to start the engine, and even while jump starting my interior isnt working. My interior lights and radio sometimes pop on if I'm in the 2-3k rpms, but no luck with my power mirrors and windows. But I might just buy a new battery for the sake of having a new one.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Maybe a dead alternator that is no longer charging the battery... sounds similar to an issue I had once. Turned out to be a bad alternator.

 

[luv2rallye]

Short and battery drain finding: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/f...l-short-or-battery-drain.179481/#post-1496998

 

[Dericsh]

How old is the battery? I think it sounds like starting with a new battery is the right first step here. Then make sure the alternator is charging properly.

 

[BagueTTe]

The battery is two years old

 

[Sirius1995]

The battery is two years old

new batteries don't last long, specially if you got it from AutoZone or O'reilly's Advance auto parts or walmart, they last pretty much just 2 years, but clean your terminals and take a multi meter, run your car and see how much voltage you get when car is running, if it shows 13.8 - 14.2V your alternator is charging, then turn ac in max and turn your high beams on, and check the voltage, it should drop by ~1-2V, after a few minutes, turn lights and AC off and see if the voltage climbs back up to what you measured it first time, if it stays where you checked it lights and ac on, get a new battery, if it climbs back up, then I think you might have a grounding issue, so check and clean and protect all your ground spots

 

[car_of_theseus]

My battery works, I charged it with a battery charger and it hold its charge (atleast enough for the car to start). I'm fairly new to cars and their components, and electrical issues seems like a nightmare. Might I ask how I would need to check for a parasitic drain exactly?

Hey sorry for the late reply on this, just saw this. So checking for the parasitic drain isn't too bad actually. I honestly used a wikihow article I'll link below to learn how to do it haha. Essentially, you're gonna hook up a multimeter to your battery to see what the drain is when the car is off (see the article for how to do this). If you have a reading that's not close to 0, that shows you have a parasitic drain somewhere. Then, you start pulling fuses and relays one by one to try and find the circuit with the issue. In my case, I pulled the relay for the anti theft alarm system, and bam the multimeter went from reading around 11 to nearly 0 (not sure what the units are here). Now the correct thing to do at that point would be to check the relay to make sure its not stuck open, and then check the wiring for that circuit to see if it's shorted or something. However, I didn't care much about the alarm system so I just left the relay out, and that resolved my issues.

Here's some helpful links on how to do this:

How to Find a Parasitic Battery Drain: 11 Steps (with Pictures)

If your vehicle is drawing power from the battery and all of the lights and other electrical components are off, you might have a parasitic battery drain (or draw). Luckily, you can usually find the cause of a parasitic draw yourself....

www.wikihow.com

https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/car-batterydrain