help ?????????????????????????????
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: tulsa, ok, usa
help ?????????????????????????????
Brothers car is an 88 2dr lxi, and some thing keeps killing the battery. New alt. new starter, new battery and a couple of days and it will not start(no juice). Would like some suggestions.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 453
Likes: 1
From: Bostic, NC
Re: (mts.)
Sounds like it definitely has some kind of parastitic draw.... here's how to find it. You will need....
-digital multimeter with an 'amps' scale
-some kind of jumper wire with alligator clips, or whatever you can think of to hold the meter probes to the battery post and battery cable
Make sure all doors are closed, and all lights and everything are OFF. Set your meter to read "amps/milliamps". Disconnect the negetive cable from the battery and connect the negative probe from the meter to the negative post on the battery, then connect the positive probe from the meter to the clamp on the negative battery cable. Your meter is now set in series, thus the cars electrical system will still operate but goes through the meter on it's route. Give it about a minute or so for any electronics to settle down (our cars don't really have many modules or anything so it shouldn't take long). The draw should not exceed 50 milliamps (.05 amps), and again make sure no lights or anything are on and doors are closed while doing this. If it exceeds 50mA, start pulling fuses one by one, watching the meter after each fuse (remember, there's a fuse box under the hood AND under the dash behind change tray). Don't put the fuses back in until you've found the source of your problem, and pull individual fuses before pulling any mega fuses. When you pull the fuse of your problem, the meter will go down to about 15-35mA (.015-.035 amps). Once you've found that fuse, plug it back in and see if the draw goes back up (just to make sure), if it does then you've found you're problem (sort of). If it goes down, but it's still over 50mA, remember what that fuse controls and keep pulling fuses until it goes under 50, keeping track of each fuse that makes it go down. Look what the fuse controls and that will give you a good idea of what/where to look for problems. From there you can start unplugging individual components on that circuit, and you'll soon find out just what is draining it down. After it's all done, don't forget to put all the fuses back in their proper locations.
There's a good chance it could be a headlight motor causing your problem, but it could be anything really.
Good luck!
-digital multimeter with an 'amps' scale
-some kind of jumper wire with alligator clips, or whatever you can think of to hold the meter probes to the battery post and battery cable
Make sure all doors are closed, and all lights and everything are OFF. Set your meter to read "amps/milliamps". Disconnect the negetive cable from the battery and connect the negative probe from the meter to the negative post on the battery, then connect the positive probe from the meter to the clamp on the negative battery cable. Your meter is now set in series, thus the cars electrical system will still operate but goes through the meter on it's route. Give it about a minute or so for any electronics to settle down (our cars don't really have many modules or anything so it shouldn't take long). The draw should not exceed 50 milliamps (.05 amps), and again make sure no lights or anything are on and doors are closed while doing this. If it exceeds 50mA, start pulling fuses one by one, watching the meter after each fuse (remember, there's a fuse box under the hood AND under the dash behind change tray). Don't put the fuses back in until you've found the source of your problem, and pull individual fuses before pulling any mega fuses. When you pull the fuse of your problem, the meter will go down to about 15-35mA (.015-.035 amps). Once you've found that fuse, plug it back in and see if the draw goes back up (just to make sure), if it does then you've found you're problem (sort of). If it goes down, but it's still over 50mA, remember what that fuse controls and keep pulling fuses until it goes under 50, keeping track of each fuse that makes it go down. Look what the fuse controls and that will give you a good idea of what/where to look for problems. From there you can start unplugging individual components on that circuit, and you'll soon find out just what is draining it down. After it's all done, don't forget to put all the fuses back in their proper locations.
There's a good chance it could be a headlight motor causing your problem, but it could be anything really.
Good luck!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rody084
Audio / Security / Video
1
Oct 8, 2003 03:05 PM