Battery keeps getting drained

[privatepang]

Hey guys,

So my previous battery which was 6 months old completely died on me, could jump start it then it wouldnt be able to start back up if left for more than a few hours.

Took it to my mechanic as the battery was still under warranty(interstate). He tried to charge it and it wouldnt charge more than 40%

He replaced it and it was good for about 3 weeks of weekend driving. Now it is sitting at 9 volts instead of the 12 ? And car wont crank...
Any ideas?

Checked the grounds and tried cleaning that up a bit. Will try jump starting it again tomorrow and see if I can get the car to turn over...

[privatepang]

Gonna replace all my fuses as well.

[Peter Zimmermann]

1. Did your mechanic check the charging system?

2. Did he check for drains (clock, electric antenna, stereo, etc.)?

Those are the basics...

[DRACO A5OG]

Put a DVM on the battery and remove/replace each fuse one by one to see where the drain is occurring. Post your results.

[Mitch Leland]

Are you sure that your trunk and deck lid lights are turning off? You don't have an after market alarm system installed in the car do ya? What about any other after market electronics? If you have any of these I would start pulling fuses, disconnecting these items for starters.

Like Draco say's, with a voltage draw like that you should be able to chase that down...

[privatepang]

DVM is this a voltage meter ? Sorry for the noob question. I dont even think i have trunk lights. Gotta have a look at where that is but its a 75 so maybe they didnt have it?

Had an aftermarket immobilser but that got disabled by the PO as it was one of those old school plastic chip readers that you had to put in and it would often malfunction. That may be the reason.

I'll try the fuse suggestion too.

It should be reading 12 volts though right?

[privatepang]

Ok. So did a bit of troubleshooting yesterday. Now my battery is reading 0.5V so its completely drained after OP. What was changed? Well the day i made the OP, i checked the ground wire where the negative battery lead attaches to the front of the trunk and unscrewed it and sprayed carb cleaner to clean the grounding point. Found out that the brown ground wire had the bracket snapped off. Need to replace that. Was able to screw it behind the negative battery lead but thats possibly not grounding properly now?

Yesterday i did further troubleshooting and had a look for that trunk light. Found it was disconnected. Connected it back up and there was a dim light.

Had a look at the front of the trunk and my washer fluid pump was also disconnected so connected that up

Had a look under teh steering wheel and found a green and white wire going to the back of the head light knob also disconnected, connected that up too.

I replaced any dodgy looking fuses in the trunk

Had a look at the engine bay and had to replace the 3 fuse panel as I cracked it a few days ago tightening the screws

Tried to jump the car after that and the minute I connect the jump leads to the battery, my hazards start flashing, fuel pump starts pumping, basically all my electrics start going crazy and my key isn't even in the ignition??

Tried starting the car and it still won't turn over. Thats another issue.

I went around with a volt meter but i'm not even sure where I should be checking??

Tried disconnecting everything that I connected above and still same issue...

So the only thing I can think of is that maybe the ground with the missing bracket may not be grounded properly now?

Ideas?
Sorry I really have no idea regarding electrics... super frustrating

[privatepang]

Originally Posted by Peter Zimmermann

1. Did your mechanic check the charging system?

2. Did he check for drains (clock, electric antenna, stereo, etc.)?

Those are the basics...

Sorry missed this post.

Well we thought it was a faulty battery as the battery wouldnt charge above 40% and that was using an external battery charger

I dont think he checked for drains which seems like the culprit now...

I mean if i jumped the car and was able to drive it all the way to my mechanic, doesn't that mean the charging system is working?

Only other thing I can think of that I changed recently before the drain start happening was the light bulb in the passenger side interior light which wasn't working before... and thats defitnely not on...

[privatepang]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Volt meter will tell you the charge level of the battery. 12.5v+ is a good thing. Less than that put it on the charger. The VM should have a manual and it can tell you how to check for ground or you can use a test light. + to + on the battery, - to the wire that is suspect. Check the wire first to make sure there's no current......

Yea I checked and the volt meter read 0.5V at the battery terminal

lol

I'll have to buy a separate battery charger as having my other car sitting and running in the garage is pissing off the neighbours...

[dhg1337]

Hang in there, sounds like things keep getting worse. Might be time to take it to a expert. Might be cheaper, before things start melting and catching on fire.

[na2ub]

Put the voltmeter on the battery with the car running. Observe for 5 minutes or so. Should be a constant 13.5 - 14.2. If it is not, probably the voltage regulator or alternator. My alternator would run the car, but did not charge the battery very well so it would always go dead. I replace the voltage regulator and all is well now. In the above test, my battery would read 13.8 or so for a minute, spike to 17 volts for a second, then back to 13.8. After about 3 minutes, it went down to 11 volts and stayed there.

If you want to check the charging system, simply monitor it for a little while and see what it is doing.

[privatepang]

Yeah problem is that my car wont crank over even when I try to jump start it

so thats why im trying to sort the electrical issues first

then move onto the running issue. All happened in a span of 2 weeks. Car was running before that. Super frustrating...

[DRACO A5OG]

Take the battery back to test and recharge if good, you should still have a warranty on it.

Ground is import to make the component work. As you have a fresh charged battery, you will see the draw right away. as you pull the fuses you will see it spike. That will be the component that is faulty.

Also see if there are any direct connection to the battery's positive post, i.e. the imobilizer. See if removing that also results in a spike. if so found culprit.

Jim

[privatepang]

Ok so an update.

Took the battery and got it recharged by my mechanic. He said the battery is fine and its sitting at 100%

Plugged it into the 911 and the fuel pump turned on without the key in the ignition. It behaves as if the key is in the ignition on position?

Tried pulling fuses 1 by 1 to see if the pump would stop, tried pulling the relays as well and nothing would stop the pump from automatically...

There are 2 red wires connected to the positive terminal, even if i disconnect those, still does the same thing

I fixed up those ground cables I mentioned earlier...

Really stumped....

DVM is reads the battery at higher than 12V now...

Truly stumped....

Car is having issues starting and I dont wanna keep trying just in case it drains battery again.. need to get the elctrics sorted first

Would welcome any more ideas...
Is there a fuse for the fuel pump? I dont have a fuse cover...

[DRACO A5OG]

That is strange, get under there to see if there is loose connect. I am surpirsed the fuel pump relay is not killing the pump. Hmmm.

Well we found your current draw at least.

Isn't the ignition connected to your pump? May be an errand connection there?

[Joe Bob]

Having a charger and a DVM is almost mandantory....as to the pump coming on w/o the ignition.

Sounds like the ignition switch is going. DVM and test input and output power.....sounds like you have an open circuit.

[privatepang]

I'm not sure.... ive been told i don thave the stock pump on my car... I dont even have the red fuel pump relay

[DRACO A5OG]

Maybe that is the problem:

[privatepang]

Well my car has always had an issue where the turn signals within the car stay on & when the car is on and it does this too when the battery is connected without the key in the ignition so thats why i thought it was an ignition issue?

Could it be due to the transmission ground strap? I have yet to look at this yet?

[DRACO A5OG]

Whoa, check the ground behind the gauge.

It won't hurt to check the ground straps either.

But the pump has an open circuit as JB stated. The pump may have a fused open due to the lack of a relay. Try tapping on it to see if you can jar it off.