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Battery drain troubleshooting
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Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:29:38 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: battery drain/ what to look for????, norm vandal, Sun, 10 Feb 2002 06:24:45
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A clamp-on meter won't help much, not unless you're pulling A LOT of current. You're going to want to put a current meter in series with the battery.

A few things first - make sure the battery is in good shape - water level is right in all cells, clamps clean. Make sure the battery is being charged - start the engine, rev it a little, then measure the battery voltage. It should be over 13 volts at idle, ideally 13.5 or more. If not, then there is an alternator/belt/voltage regulator problem that's keeping the battery from being charged properly.

Next, put the negative lead of a voltmeter on the negative post, and move the positive lead around the battery case, especially around the positive post. You shouldn't see more than about 0.2 volts or so. You aren't touching the positive post. What are you doing here? You're looking for current leakage paths on the outside of the battery itself. Some battery acid leaks out, and it combines with dirt and dust on the outside of the battery. The battery can actually have a leakage path on the outside of the case, and would drain even if it were outside the car. If this is happening, wash the outside of the battery with a baking soda and water solution.

If you've still got a problem, remove the ground lead from the battery. Hook up a current meter in line between the ground lead and the ground post. Now jumper the ground post to the ground lead with a piece of wire, and turn the car to ON - don't start it, just ON. Then turn the car off, and wait abut 30 seconds. The remove the jumper.
OK - what was that all about? You want to duplicate actual engine operation. When the car is ON, lots of electronics come on. When you disconnect the battery, some things that are always powered are disconnected. You want to treat everything the same. Why the jumper? That's because you may pull 10 or 20 amps when you turn the car ON - ABS pump, lights, etc. That could burn out your meter. Why wait 30 seconds before removing the jumper? Because some things (like the dome light) have timers.

Now you can see what the current draw is. Of course, you've got the hood open. Some cars have a hood open switch - make sure you put a brick or something on the switch to close it - otherwise you'll pull more current.

It's normal to draw 20 or 30 milliamps. Much more than that isn't good. You can start pulling fuses and see if that helps.

If you're only pulling 20 or 30 milliamps, then you probably have a battery problem - think about replacing the battery.
Good luck!

posted by 140.157....
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