I've been chasing down a battery that'd die over course of 2-3 days if the car hasn't been run. Idk if its because I have a 2% crank and 5% alternator pulley with my sprintex but it still SHOULD charge , which when I put a volt meter on my battery while the cars running I see 14.2v so I imagine the alternator is working, plus I replaced it in spring along with a new battery and I had the same issue then also. I guess the new battery only helped for so long.
I got ANOTHER new battery to start testing and chasing down this issue this afternoon.
Here's all ive done:
​​​​.2x checked all fuses
​​​​.unhooked obd2 plugin gauge
.I unhooked ANY aftermarket power using accessories
.New alternator and new battery
.Checked and cleaned ground wires on passenger engine mount and ground wire in the trunk
.removed fuses for cd player ( both ) I read its a common issue with the headunits
. I also ordered another unser seat gps unit JUST encase for some reason that has something to do with my car not powering something down.

my next question is , can someone PLEASE post me a list of the footwell fuses that retain power once the vehicle has been **** off , key out and off for 5min and which fuses should also always retain power and which should immediately power down once key off.
I'm hoping to use a probe on the fuses to see one light up and retaining current when it should be off but I don't know which do..
does not having my underseat gps plugged in cause something to stay on or because I removed the multi disc changer out of the trunk ??
I thought I had this fixed but apparently it's such a slow drain that a new battery holds up fine for months , even with using the car but once a week.
thx guys... any help is always much appreciated.

 

Voltage (power) will be present even when there is no current but current is what drains the battery. Current is measured in amps.

Harbor freight sells a battery disconnect switch that is helpful for measuring current draw when the car should "be asleep". Typically, a healthy current draw would be less than 0.025 amps.

With the disconnect switch you would maybe run your car a few minutes and then open the doors, the bonnet and boot and trigger all the switches so the car thinks all the openings are closed. Shut the car off, hook up your ammeter between the negative battery terminal and the far side of the disconnect switch then open the switch to read the current flow. After a few minutes, the car should go to sleep and the current draw should drop below the specification. If it does not drop that low, you then know you have excessive current draw to diagnose.

 

Before you go out and buy that disconnect switch, just do the simple test of connecting a VOM in series with the negative side of the battery. First, lower at least one window so that you will ensure that you can get back in the car. Disconnect the negative battery lead. Put the VOM reading in milliamp range and connect one lead to the Negative side of the battery and the other lead to the Negative cable you just disconnected. Bring the VOM outside the trunk and carefully close the trunk lid. Close both doors and the hood. Wait for the car to go to "sleep". You should see the milliamp range drop to something below .050 Amps or 50 milliamps. If not, you will then need to start pulling a fuse at a time to locate the source of the draw. If your trunk lid should not open, pull up on the rear seat and use the emergency wire to open it or attach a 12V source to the cigarette lighter receptacle.

 

Thx guys..I will have to get a multi meter because lol mine started smoking last time and all I did was test the battery voltage with it..lolol my luck.

 

Fluke 8024B .

best I’ve ever used for automotive work (used to be mechanic and car audio installer) as it isn’t autoranging and manual set for ac dc. Don’t like the yellow flukes, they autorange so you can miss transient spikes, as it take a while to figure out ac dc voltage range etc.

got my first one from grandpa in the late late 90s, and he’d been using it at work for umpteen years till bellsouth made them switch to newer models and he took two home. . Sadly It got stolen, & had to replace with yellow fluke, hated it, and second one was sadly from his estate a few months later.

when it died died to a leaky battery…. I went and bought another one the same on ebsy and been using it for 20+ years now but still intend to go back and fix his one day.

 

Pretty sure most of the Flukes that any normal person might consider have manual ranging plus a min/max/avg mode. I know the 115 does. I keep telling myself I'll buy one one day, but I haven't really been able to justify the cost. At this point I may buy a benchtop meter before I buy a nice handheld one.

 

Never saw the usefulness of the 8010a vs 8024b. Apparently neither did Ma Bell.


true classics and a lot less expensive and easier ot use than the later rotary **** flukes.

 

Well, I believe the 8010A was a true RMS meter, which I’m not sure is true of the 8024b, but I’m not sure why anyone would bother with an 8010A these days. It’s quite the dinosaur at this point. Having a meter that stacks with other instruments on as bench is quite nice. My scope already takes up quite a bit of space (because it’s quite the dinosaur, but I have a bit of a thing for old analog scopes, even if the digital ones are superior).

 

Love a good analog scope, I even have an analog fluke multimeter somewhere in my collection

 

Love the old analog stuff. To get back on track and avoid waxing poetic about my old Tek 465 and the particle accelerator sitting in front of my face, make sure you’re on the voltage setting if you’re measuring battery voltage across the terminals. I imagine it would be pretty easy to smoke the fuse in a meter by placing it in parallel with a car battery on the ammeter setting since the impedance is quite low. (Not that cheap meters don’t just die, but I thought I would mention it).

 

Actually iirc you’d have to put it in series for amperes. But yes, they are limited to 2amps max generally, the radio draws more than that as does ac et etc . So you’d have to be super sure everything was OFF amd key off.

 

Anybody got any info on what fuses should retain power and what shouldn't?
I had the battery tested and lol if was half dead..though it would see 14v , they sure wernt lasting and it would drop charge unhookedas fast as if it were hooked up and headlights left on.. I wonder if all the times I simply let my car idle a few min and pulled it out the garage then back in later or all the times I've done stuff to it and then test started it to make sure all was OK. I wonder if it killed my battery doing that. Also my waterpump runs for 5min every time the car fully powers up too so I'm gonna run that to a switch also so it will only run that long IF I want or might need it to.
plus having a 2% crank and 5% alternator pulley im sure has effected the cars charging ability too..
awe well because racecar.

 

Correct. You would want to place it in series. I was just pointing out that if you place an ammeter in parallel with the battery, you’re essentially creating a dead short across the terminals.

 

last time I probed the ones in the driver (U.S. / left) footwell panel they were all hot. Car off, key out. 12V hot.
If that's 5% undersized on the alternator would think it would spin it faster as the undersized SC pulley does, help out low end / idle charging capability (like for your H20 pump). But maybe it also wears it out faster. Maybe have it load checked on a machine?

 

Found my issue. I had the wrong type relay in my waterpump fuse harness. It required a 4x prong and I had in a 5x prong and it was continually grounding out , it was even warm to the touch when I found it out today.
lol this was found ONLY AFTER i installed a remote battery disconnect. Awe well , its nice to have that disconnect for when i park the car over winter.

 

 

When stereo amplifiers start going bad they will cause a parasitic voltage drain ….