Thread: Battery is near dead after car sits for over a day?

Originally Posted by KeithGTP03

Yes, if the capacitor is discharging on its own it will constantly try and charge. How far away from the battery is the fuse for the amp power line? If you disconnect the cap and the draw is still there, I would check for an exposure of wire between the fuse and the battery. If it was an exposure after the fuse it would blow the fuse. But even with the amp line out of the equation, you're still drawing about 20 miliamps too much. At this point, I would check your power and ground lines that go to the battery for corrosion...this would definitely cause some draw.

The fuse for the amp power line is like 12" from the battery. I'll check for any exposure between the fuse and the battery.

even if I disconnect the amp wire, .04 is still too high?

I recently cleaned up all grounds and the power wire. I did an alt re-wire and I added an additional ground directly from the battery to the chassis.

This is going to drive me nuts !

LOL..yeah, tracking electrical draws can be a nightmare. Did this start happening right after you did the rewire? If so, I would look for a loose/bad connection somewhere. And you already know you're drawing 60 miliamps from your amp line, so I'd definitely get that taken care of.

Originally Posted by KeithGTP03

LOL..yeah, tracking electrical draws can be a nightmare. Did this start happening right after you did the rewire? If so, I would look for a loose/bad connection somewhere. And you already know you're drawing 60 miliamps from your amp line, so I'd definitely get that taken care of.

I'm going to disconnect the capacitor for awhile and see if it still wants to die after awhile. Maybe .4 amps isn't enough to drain it in a reasonable amount of time even though its still higher then the normal .2

thanks for all the help, I'll probably screw with it tomorrow after work for awhile. I'll post back if I find anything else

maybe the capacitor took a **** and is drawing current?

So with all fuses pulled you are still drawing .04? I would unhook your aftermarket stuff and see if it drops then. Parasitic draws suck.

Easiest way to find out is leave the power line connected with the capacitor disconnected and check your draw. If the draw is gone, its the cap or the amp. If its still there, its the power line. If your car is a daily driver, it might be alright with a 40 miliamp draw. As long as you're driving it far enough each day to charge it back up. Mine is not a daily driver and when I installed my alarm/remote start, it was pulling around 38 miliamps and it would drain a fully charged battery in 3 days if I didnt drive it. I removed the alarm/remote start and reinstalled my old remote start (that barely has any draw at all) and its sat for the last two weeks and I just started it up without a problem.

Originally Posted by TheOtherNick

So with all fuses pulled you are still drawing .04? I would unhook your aftermarket stuff and see if it drops then. Parasitic draws suck.

No nick I initially tested if there was a draw with a test light. I one by one, pulled the fuses to see if the light would get dimmer. In theory the light shouldn't of been on at all correct?

Its only .04 when I disconnect my amp power wire, when I hook it back up, its drawing .1 amp.

Originally Posted by KeithGTP03

Easiest way to find out is leave the power line connected with the capacitor disconnected and check your draw. If the draw is gone, its the cap or the amp. If its still there, its the power line. If your car is a daily driver, it might be alright with a 40 miliamp draw. As long as you're driving it far enough each day to charge it back up. Mine is not a daily driver and when I installed my alarm/remote start, it was pulling around 38 miliamps and it would drain a fully charged battery in 3 days if I didnt drive it. I removed the alarm/remote start and reinstalled my old remote start (that barely has any draw at all) and its sat for the last two weeks and I just started it up without a problem.

It is my DD but occasionally it sits for awhile. I'm going up north with my jeep for 4 days to ice fish so its going to be sitting the whole time. This is ultra annoying !

Ok so I hooked up my volt meter and put it on amp draw. I let everything turn off and started pulling fuses. When I got to the cigarette light fuse I pulled it and it dropped .04 amps. There is nothing plugged in my cigarette lighter yet its drawing .04 amps.

Anyone have a clue why this is?

Maybe something's broken off in it, causing its doodles to touch?

Originally Posted by rocknnachos

That fuse runs to the DLC, Accessory Power outlet (console), cigar lighter and to the Auxiliary Drop Connector. I think the Aux drop connector is in behind the glove compartment, check to see if someone has tapped into it for a power source? Do ya have a tuner's toy plugged into the dlc?

You know what, I do. I have a one of those obd2 bluetooth scanners that I just leave plugged in. That must be what's drawing the extra .04 amps

Its more often then not one of those pesky after market items that cause electrical problems. For this reason I will not make any changes to the electrical system to avoid issues. Better to have as much as possible installed from the factory then some grease monkey strip wires and tape them together in a driveway then a few years later have problems.