'94 SSE Parasitic Short
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'94 SSE Parasitic Short
I have a parasitic short in my '94 SSE bonne and was wondering if there are some main areas I should look at with my ohm meter. If I leave my car sit for a week and then try and start it, there isn't enough amps in the battery to turn the car over. The parasitic load is sucking the battery dry. If I drive it every day it is ok, because the parasitic load needs about a week to drain the battery down. Battery is only a week old. Terminals are clean. Alternator tested ok and is only 1 1/2 years old. I started to notice this problem about 2 1/2 months ago. I live in Fargo, ND so I need all the cold cranking amps I can get. I have unplugged the load leveler about 2 months ago because I know that it will run when car is not running, but I let the car sit over Xmas for a week and still have the parasitic load. I have noticed that "low coolant" light started to come on around the same time I began to experience this parasitic short. Coolant is good for 35 below, nice green color, full, new thermostat and radiator cap. I've also notice other weird things. My oil gauge bounces all over the place. My cruise control will sometimes cut in and out. My overhead winsheild speedometer display will go back and forth from dim to bright.
Any Ideas?
Any Ideas?
#3
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True Car Nut
Holy smokes. You have a number of issues there.
My favorite way to test for a drain on the battery is to use a multimeter and check how many amps the car is draining while off. Your car should only use about .5 amps when off. If this is noticeably higher, have a friend start removing fuses one-by-one until the extra drain is relieved. If there is no change in the drain then reinsert the fuse and move on to the next one. This will narrow the problem down but might take 30 minutes or so with all of the fuses that are in the car.
Once it is determined what circuit is at fault, it is much easier to determine the component.
My favorite way to test for a drain on the battery is to use a multimeter and check how many amps the car is draining while off. Your car should only use about .5 amps when off. If this is noticeably higher, have a friend start removing fuses one-by-one until the extra drain is relieved. If there is no change in the drain then reinsert the fuse and move on to the next one. This will narrow the problem down but might take 30 minutes or so with all of the fuses that are in the car.
Once it is determined what circuit is at fault, it is much easier to determine the component.
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