For the past week or so, when i go out to my car in the morning, the battery is either discharged to the point where the starter will crank slowly, or where the battery barely has enough juice to engage the solenoid. I did a load test on the battery, and it seemed a tiny bit low, but not to the point where it should be a problem, i then thought it might be a parasitic draw, so i left the neg. cable unconnected overnight, and the battery was fine the next morning (12.48v at night, 12.38v in the morning) So i did a parasitic drain test and the car draws about .8 amps with the car off, and locked. i then started pulling fuses to see what was staying on, i found it to be fuse #8 under the dash, which controls a whole mess of things. after i found this out, i figured that the dealer may know something that i don't, so i brought it to them, told them that i was an automotive student, and that it had a parasitic draw. They didnt' listen, charged the battery and told me to try that. I'm down in Bumble **** carbondale IL for 2 more weeks, until i can take it to a dealer that actually know's what they're doing. But has anyone had a similar problem? I searched, but didn't find anything. Any help would be appreciated

Zack

 

The systems that fuse #8 controls are:
(This is from All Data btw)
A/c System
Brake warning light, Fuel warning light, and oil pressure warning light
Central door locking system
DRL's
Dome light, luggage compartment light, and ignition key hole warning light
fog light
headlight
ignition key reminder tone alarm
<Vehicles with KOS (Keyless operating system)>
immobilizer system
Keyless operating system (KOS)
Meter and gauge
Power windows
Seatbelt warning tone alarm
Taillight position light, license plate light, and lighting monitor tone alarm
Theft alarm system
Tire Pressure monitoring system (TPMS)
trunk lid opener
Turn signal light and hazard warning light
Windshield wiper and washer


(Big list, eh?)

 

seems like your on the right track. id go after the keyless operation/door lock system or the trunk lid opener first. the actuators could be causing a slight draw. have you installed anything electrical lately? do you have subs?

 

I installed a radar hardwire kit the second day i had the car, (about 3 weeks ago) but the problem just started on monday, so i don't think its that. I have the stock sub from the SSS package, but nothing aftermarket

 

Could still be the radar kit.....even though it has taken about 3 weeks for it to catch up? Or something related to it....

 

might be the radar kit and the battery..it took 3 weeks coz the battery held up that long, then after that even if it gets charged it wouldn't hold that charge long anymore

 

ahh a radar hardwire kit. hmm. that could very well be the culprit. how do you have it wired.

 

it's spliced into power and ground in the dome light, I just checked it, when unpluged it still pulls the same amount of amperage from the battery

 

If its spliced into the dome light , since it shuts off when the car is off it does not draw anymore power .

I had this problem on my Lancer , turned out to be a bad battery terminal , it wasn't connecting good enough so the alt would not keep the battery charged .

Also while you are at it check the ground wires .


Good Luck !



Antonio

 

do you know how much amperage draw is considered normal when the car is off and locked? there are still things drawing power from the battey when its locked. also, have you checked the output of the alternator at the battery itself.

 

.8 amps is 800 mille-amps.

40 to 50 mille-amps is max for parasitic draw

here's a previous thread FWIW

what about the common corroded connectors upper left of the under dash fuse box?, usually causes other electric problems but you never know

please post your resolution when you figure it out

 

the alternator is charging fine, I don't see how it could be any problem other than there being a parasitic draw. I suppose it is possible that some systems are still running for a while and didn't shut off in the time that I had the ammeter connected. I'm a student in SIU's automotive program and we have a Shop car here that draws about 800 miliamps for 45 min, then the system turns off. I had the ammeter in line for about 15 min and it didn't drop, until I removed fuse 8 when it dropped to .004 amps, the theft system is in that circuit, so my guess would be that it is drawing a good amount of that current, but it probably is supposed to. For now I am just disconnecting the negative cable of the batter at night, I'll keep investigating and let everyone know what I find out, when I find out what's wrong with the car.

 

45 min seems too long. The normal is about 5 minutes, sometimes even the stock stuff will run this long.

 

The radar detector is causing a draw, The dome, trunk light wires are computer controlled so the car wont go to sleep until you remove the power from the computer controlled circuit. Go to a non comp cir IE: Battery,Radio power wire, acc wire at ign,amp power wire.

 

the radar detector is not causing the draw, I had all of the wiring disconnected, except for the splicers, and it was still pulling the amperage. It has to be something else