battery dying

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Jimmy 2 Times

Copper - Posts: 67

Joined: January 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: July 18, 2005 at 10:22 PM / IP Logged

I have had problems with my battery since the day i bought my car. I know its not the alt. i have checked it when running with an alt. load tester.

Here is the story, in my 2001 camaro SS (which is no longer my daily driver) if i let it sit for about 2 days, the battery is dead. Now if i run it every day, there is no problem. When i first bought the car i brought it to the dealership, they said that they could not find a problem. So 4 years later, i have gone through a few batterys, and i feel as if i have a parasitic loss somewhere. How do i go about checking this??

sorry if this is not in the correct forum, but i couldn't decide which one to put it in. If this is wrong, could someone move it for me.

Thanks again for the help

Jimmy

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

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Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: July 18, 2005 at 10:31 PM / IP Logged

Best I could suggest would be to remove, one at a time, every fuse in the car, and see (using a digital VOM with ammeter capabilities) what device is using the power. Do you have an alarm? How about amps? Aftermarket HU and/or changer? A clock in the dash that remains on? If the accessory is off, there should be no reason for it to be pulling more than a few (up to around 50 or MAYBE 100) milliamps. Look for any draw larger than this. Obviously, you are looking for the key off accessory load, so leave the key out of the ignition.

....2

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Velocity Motors

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Joined: March 08, 2002

Location: Manitoba, Canada

Posted: July 18, 2005 at 10:53 PM / IP Logged

The car should have a RAP system in it that turns off all accessory power after a given time. A draw that would kill a battery within 48 hours would have to be significant enough that the DMM will easily find it. Do as haemphyst suggests and post your results.

Jeff

Velocity Custom Home Theater

Mobile Audio/Video Specialist

Morden, Manitoba CANADA

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Jimmy 2 Times

Copper - Posts: 67

Joined: January 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: July 19, 2005 at 8:24 AM / IP Logged

i have a multi meter, but am unsure if it has an "ammeter", how could i check out my meter to see if it has it?

also, i was doing some other searching online, and found a way to find a parasitic drain. In involved using a 12 light bulb, and disconnecting the neg. battery and start pulling fuses. Has anyone ever heard of this method?

thanks for the help

jimmy

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: July 19, 2005 at 8:44 AM / IP Logged

The ammeter function is the "20A" setting on the dial, and you connect the leads to the terminals on the fuse block, where you remove the fuse. If your meter does not have an amp setting, you'll need to get one that does.

As far as the 12V bulb version, yeah, it would probably work, but if the current drain is too small to light the lamp, you won't be able to find your drain this way. The way it works, you remove the positive battery lead, and put the lamb BETWEEN the cable terminal and the battery terminal. When you pull the fuses, if the lamp goes out or gets dimmer, there is (one of) the offending accessory. It WOULD work, but as I said, if the drain is a fairly small one, it will be difficult to determine exactly which accessory it is, as the light may not ligt up enough to see when you have pulled the offending fuse.

....1

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Jimmy 2 Times

Copper - Posts: 67

Joined: January 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: July 21, 2005 at 9:12 AM / IP Logged

thanks, i believe that my DMM has the "20A" setting

i will try that

jimmy

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battery dying

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