unknown cause of battery drain
#1
Senior Member
Certified GM nut
Thread Starter
unknown cause of battery drain
Frequently throughout the past 2 weeks my battery has been randomly dead. I installed a new cd player, all new speakers, and 4 channel in that time.
I've came to the conclusion that it'* not my stereo.
We currently have a "breakaway" on the negative terminal of the battery, so everytime i get out of my car for a significant amount of time I disconnect my battery. I've been placing a test light on the breakaway and the test light randomly goes on. If i open my doors the light pulses like it should. But there has been times when i leave my car and the test light is off, and somehow magically gets a current draw hours later. I've came back to the car after an 1 1/2 hrs before and the light has been on hardcore when there was completely no sign of battery usage.
has anyone even heard of this problem before??
o also, i came to the conclusion its not my stereo because one night when the test light was on, i had the deck completely unplugged(remote, wiring harness, rcas) and a disconnected power cable for the amp.
i also pulled all cigarette lighters and my radar detector.
next time the light is on i'm going to start pulling fuses.
good times, hopefully someone has some thoughts here
EDIT - also, it there any way a relay or something is staying on?
I've came to the conclusion that it'* not my stereo.
We currently have a "breakaway" on the negative terminal of the battery, so everytime i get out of my car for a significant amount of time I disconnect my battery. I've been placing a test light on the breakaway and the test light randomly goes on. If i open my doors the light pulses like it should. But there has been times when i leave my car and the test light is off, and somehow magically gets a current draw hours later. I've came back to the car after an 1 1/2 hrs before and the light has been on hardcore when there was completely no sign of battery usage.
has anyone even heard of this problem before??
o also, i came to the conclusion its not my stereo because one night when the test light was on, i had the deck completely unplugged(remote, wiring harness, rcas) and a disconnected power cable for the amp.
i also pulled all cigarette lighters and my radar detector.
next time the light is on i'm going to start pulling fuses.
good times, hopefully someone has some thoughts here
EDIT - also, it there any way a relay or something is staying on?
#2
Senior Member
True Car Nut
Re: unknown cause of battery drain
Originally Posted by zzzzzeke
Frequently throughout the past 2 weeks my battery has been randomly dead. I installed a new cd player, all new speakers, and 4 channel in that time.
I've came to the conclusion that it'* not my stereo.
I've came to the conclusion that it'* not my stereo.
[...]But there has been times when i leave my car and the test light is off, and somehow magically gets a current draw hours later. I've came back to the car after an 1 1/2 hrs before and the light has been on hardcore when there was completely no sign of battery usage.
Exactly what the attempted power draw was that you were seeing with the test light is hard to tell; you _should_ have had a constant draw anyway for the ECM memory and clock/stereo presets. If you have an Automatic Level Control, it'* possible that the air pump was trying to activate and lift (i.e. re-level) the rear suspension.
In short, cutting all power to the car as a routine practice is a bad idea; work on finding that current leak, so that you can go back to leaving the battery connected full-time like it'* supposed to be.
Also, I came to the conclusion it'* not my stereo because one night when the test light was on, i had the deck completely unplugged(remote, wiring harness, rcas) and a disconnected power cable for the amp.
i also pulled all cigarette lighters and my radar detector.
i also pulled all cigarette lighters and my radar detector.
good times, hopefully someone has some thoughts here
also, is there any way a relay or something is staying on?
#3
Senior Member
Certified GM nut
Thread Starter
i came to the conclusion its not my stereo because one night when the test light was on, i had the deck completely unplugged(remote, wiring harness, rcas) and disconnected power cable for the amp. what else could draw from the stereo?
i know the pcm looses the memory, but i can't have a dead battery...i have places to be
i know the pcm looses the memory, but i can't have a dead battery...i have places to be
#5
Senior Member
Certified GM nut
Thread Starter
don't think i have the auto ride suspension
the battery seems fine - less than 2 years old
its just weird that it doesn't drain everytime i shut the car off. And that it just starts drawing sometimes after a couple hours with nobody near the car
the battery seems fine - less than 2 years old
its just weird that it doesn't drain everytime i shut the car off. And that it just starts drawing sometimes after a couple hours with nobody near the car
#6
#9
Senior Member
True Car Nut
Originally Posted by zzzzzeke
heres an ODD update
asn't done it once in the past week and i haven't changed anything???
asn't done it once in the past week and i haven't changed anything???
#10
Senior Member
Certified GM nut
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by acg_ssei
Nobody left one of the overhead back-seat reading lamps on?)