Battery current drain???

[KCinBR]

I had problems with my battery going dead lately. Decided to do a little checking before spending the $ on a new battery.
I checked the current draw on my car with the switch off, it was 11ma. Then removed all fuses one at a time the only ones that made any difference were # 4 & 5 fuses when pulled the current dropped 5 & 3 ma respectivly.

the question is ....is the 11ma within what should be expected with the switch off?
the car is an 88 Carrera. Made sure everything was off during the test.

thanks

[Early_S_Man]

11 mA isn't enough to drain a battery. Your battery has other problems!

[KCinBR]

That's my thought to, the voltage at the battery when running is 14.36vdc which tells me the car is charging.
looks like a trip to pepboys in the morning.

[Neilk]

I am experiencing some kind of battery drain as well. It didn't help that I overcharged my battery after it was drained.

Can someone explain how to measure the current draw? Do I disconnect the positive lead of the battery and place an ohm meter between the positive terminal and the battery lead?

Thanks,

[KCinBR]

Here's the link to the testing procedure I followed:

also do a search for "parasitic current drain"

http://www.mightyautoparts.com/pdf/articles/tt63.pdf

It's a simple procedure if you have knowledge of electrical circuits, also simple if you dont, but be careful not to screw up your amp meter

[911 in SC]

Great link KC! I used the 'conventional test' about 6 months ago with my daily driver. Turns out, it was the battery. Thankfully, it was still under warranty...

Mike

[KCinBR]

HEY Mike I see you are back from the Great frozen north.

I've been thinking I had a battery problem for some time now, I would go dead if it sat for 5 or 6 days, now it happens over night. But before I spend $$ on a new battery I wanted to make sure that I did not have other problems. Looks like I get to spend the $$. probably go with the optima and get rid of any chance of corrosion due to acid leakage. The battery area of my car looks like new and want to keep it that way....when I say new I mean "it aint even dirty" I was very surprised.

Well since we have not gotten together for a ride.....I have signed on for a 3 day motorcycle run up to Carolina beach NC then to Charleston and back home the last weekend in April. the folks I used to ride bikes with would not go without me, they needed a " red headed redneck in a red Porsche" to give them a little class.

Later................KC, I'm off to Pepboys

[911 in SC]

ARGH! Sounds GREAT!!! I so wish I could go. I'm off to NW Arkansas tomorrow for a little while...

Then I have the opportunity to go to Europe for a couple of weeks...

Later,
Mike

[KCinBR]

BATTERY Replacemnt is complete!!!

went with the optima 75/35 from Advance Auto parts, and with the info from this board about the mounting plate (black poly cutting board from wal-mart) the job was a piece of cake.

It also required another longer ground cable.
Now with the extra room, I can put my extra quart of oil in the space in front of the battery with room for a funnel to boot.

[911 in SC]

I'll have to check out the optima battery, simply so I can have a little more storage space... That's a very cool added benefit. Any pics KC? (we all love pics!)

Later,
Mike