5speeder

when i bought my car, it came with one of the remote starts that has an alarm with it. On the positive terminal i have 2 wires connecting to it along with the ABS ground wire unit. and nothing on the negative terminal. during winter i unpluged the negative termnial from my battery and after winter and spring i finally finished up my swap. After plugging up that negative termnial the battery wasnt working. so i jumped the car and it started up. the next day i treid starting again, nothing. so i ended up buying a new battery. It worked for a few days. but i let my car sit for about 3 days then the battery was drained again, so now i will have to keep jumping the battery everyday. Im positive my alternator is working too because after my car starts up, i can start it all day, but when i let it sit all night is when i have problems the next day, just need to know if you guys have any ideas why it keeps draining? ohh btw, i dont set the alarm either, so its not even on, but for some reason it keeps draining. also, my ABS doesnt even work, im wondering if i can take off the ground wire that connects from the abs unit to my positive terminal? help me out guys.

zerovandez

iTrader: (1)

Go get your battery tested at your local Autozone or the like.

joeshmo

You should do a test to see parasitic draw.

KiDDD...

start your car, once running, remove the red battery connection...if the car dies you need a new Alternator.

If your battery is new (like you said) test it with a multi meter to make sure it reads 12.4+ anything below that, its practically dead. I've had a faulty battery before, where I got it brand new, and it was dead the next morning...

give both a shot...if both work, I would say look for a parasitic draw like joeshmo said..

good luck

bp957

It seems like you are getting some type of constant draw from the battery. Something as simple as a trunk light not turning off could drain the battery after a few days

joeshmo

I didn't know you could still do the removing the battery cable trick with an alternator. I thought that was for generators. IIRC, removing the battery cable on a running engine with an alt will cause voltage spikes and possible electrical system failure. I think it would be much safer to measure the volts AND amps your alt is putting out.

5speeder

i'll give those a try though, i've never acutally tested the alternator before, so does the car have to be running? and how much volts and amps should be putting out, where on the alternator am i suppose to test it? so where does the positive and negative needles on the voltmeter need to be touching on the alternator

5speeder

hah i meant multimeter..sorry. kinda wierd though, even though my alarm is not set, the little light for the alarm still blinks, so apparently its always on.

Bently_Coop

If you remove the ground wire from your battery while the car is running it will tell you immediately if your alternator is ok or not. You may want to upgrade your ground wires if you are drawing alot off of your alternator or battery.

5speeder

i dont think im gonna try running the car and unpluging the battery, apparently that can cause lots of problems so im not going to risk it. heres another newbie question, if the alternator was bad, why would the car run fine and run for a long time after it starts up, so i think the alternator is working cuz its charging the battery right? and within hours apart i can keep starting it up. but after night when i try to start it up it wont, so im thinking the alternator is working, just something is drawing from the battery draining it out? lol and i can keep jump starting it everytime and it will start up, wouldnt the alternator eventually go bad? cuz so far its always starting after i jump it.

joeshmo

You need to check for parasitic draw.
http://flashoffroad.com/electrical/B...teryDrain.html
That's a good walkthrough I think.

wrx-killer-Sti-eater

iTrader: (1)

On your honda your fine to remove the battery lead while the car is running. Just don't keep poping it on and off. If it was a newer tl or someting like that i would be more concerend.

5speeder

just an update, i jumped my car again, let it run for a bit, then unpluged the positive battery, and it it was still running. then as soon as i turned it off. i tried to start it again and it wont start. maybe just a bad battery?

5speeder

so im pretty sure the alternator is good

nsxxtreme

Use a multimeter test the car off voltage at the battery should be 12.4V. Now test with the car ON. have someone help you cause you will need to step on the gas to get the RPM's to about 1800. Now turn on every electrical device you can high beam, heater fan, defrost, AC, brake lights everything you can find. Voltage should stay around 14.4V if it drops anywhere near 12V then your alternator is no good.

If that checks out then you need to check for parasitic draw which is what sounds like the real problem is anyway since you said you let it sit for 3 days. With the car OFF you need to connect the multimeter set in current mode in series with the positive lead of the battery. Read the current draw and report back. It shouldn't be over about 30mA.

If it is over 30mA start yanking fuses until you see a large drop. Whatever fuse you pull that causes the drop is where your current draw is located.

joeshmo

Your battery didn't charge up enough to let you crank again. The battery isn't necessarily bad.

If you jump start a car, that means it has too little power to turn it over. An alternator takes a while to charge a battery, so if you took off the battery cable, it was no longer charging. My bet: your alternator is fine, and you need to check for PARASITIC DRAIN. Batteries going dead over a period of 3 days is not generally a sign of a bad alt (unless you TRICKLE charge every 3 days.)

5speeder

okay i'll give that a shot, but now its everyday, i have to jump start it everyday now, when i jump start it, i can see that the blinking light for my alarm is bright and blue, but as soon as i turn it off, the light just blinks very dim but will keep blinking. And i suppose the car didnt run long enough for it to charge my battery, car still needs to be brought to the shop to do my exhaust, i dont even have the headers connected yet, and makes my garage smell like crap so i usually only let it run for a short few minutes. I need to get a multimeter first lol, then i guess i will start off with the parasitic drain.

5speeder

also, my car already idles at 2 grand, still needs to be tuned

rjr162

After being drained and jumped so much your battery may be toast now either way (even if you hook it to a charger and allow it to "fully charge"). At this point I'd get it tested for sure. But to test it you still need to have close to 12.3-12.6 volts in the battery.

Frankie Queeno

ok my civic keeps dying and i just bought a brand new battery and a brand new alternator for it but it keeps dying on me and i always have to jump it or get a jump... what else could it be ?

Frankie Queeno

i mean i always have to put it on a charger... or get a jump

fcm

Either the alt. is not working, [charging] or you have a parasitic draw, [something is "staying on" and drawing power after ign. is turned off].

So first question is, if you turn off the ign., [after driving for a bit] will the car not start, [dead batt.] or will it not start after sitting for a while, [overnight].

If the car starts if tried shortly after turning ign. off, the alt is probably OK, but should still be tested.

If the car will not start shortly after it is turned off, the alt. is probably bad, but should still be tested.

If the car will not start after sitting for a while, you have a parasitic draw.

Another possibility is that there is nothing wrong with the batt. or alt. and there is no parasitic draw and the problem is a connection issue, like a grounding problem.

Use a 12V test light, [not LED type] to do a basic parastic draw test... https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...itic+draw+test

Here is a starter test, also with a 12V test light... https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...cm+bypass+jump 94

5speeder

Contacts from starter went out. Shop did parasitic draw, nothing draining it, alternator tested good. Battery tested good, when car wouldn't start u can hear click click when trying to turn over, so it'll start with a jump start, shop replaced contacts inside starter and I haven't had problems since.