Any ideas? I have a 97 Civic VTi hb
with a B16a2 motor. Brand new battery already

 

do you have a mad skillz type R alarm LED?

 

no.

 

Your alternator or generator may be going. Also, check your battery connections. Are you sure your battery is new? Some say you can fill it with distilled water, that might help....dont quote me though.

 

Same thing happened to me with a brand new battery. It turned out to be bad - take it to an auto parts store & have them test it. If the battery's okay, have them test your alternator - it may have a short or bad connection that's allowing it to constantly drain power from the battery.

 

My car club had the same problem with their bus last year. The alternator had a bad something-or-other.

Take the alternator to a shop to get it checked out. That's where I'd start, anyway.

 

You might have some sort of short leaking to ground in your electrical system.

However I would check your charging system first!!!!

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the help. Unfortunately this is my second battery. Only thing I could think of is maybe the wiring for the stereo may be mixed up since its an aftermarket deck. I interior lights do not work???? anyone no the wire codes??? I hope its not the alt. those can be a little pricy!

 

It sounds like a "parasitic drain" -- something's "on" when it shouldn't be. A trunk light? A glovebox light? A short somewhere?

Do you have an ammeter? If so, measure the battery current with the car turned off. There should be maybe 50mA going to the clock, ECU memory, stereo memory, etc., but that's about it. (BTW, that's ballpark number -- check a manual for your car if you have one.) If there's more current there than normal, start pulling fuses one by one until you find the circuit that's drawing the current and running down your battery.

 

When measuring with an ammeter most cars will come nowhere close to 50mA, more like 20 or 30. Even an Infinity Q45 with nav, cd, dvd, entertainment system, voice recognition, etc.. only draws 40.

 

If you read the above post he say read it with the car off......

If your car draws 20, 30 or 40 Amps will car off bud. You got a serious problem!!!!

 

milli amps
not amps
mA
not AMPS

 

I know what mA are!!!!!

I am a journeyman electrician!!!

Put if a person does not put mA beside the number he is talking about then, you assume amps.

Oh and by the way an Infintity draws 1.3amps when shut off.

My friend has one and we tested it with an amp probe.

 

Thanks for the great advice, hopefully I find the short amoungst the mess. Thanks again. I think a meter would be a great investment

 

I believe you're mistaken sir, I've tested them myself, even a basic Altima draws 20mA.

 

this sounds like a typical ground fault scenario; have you replaced any parts in your electrical system lately? by this I mean stereo, ecu, especially the alternator and/or battery. I have had "remanufactured" alternators that were faulty from the get-go. It also wouldn't hurt to check your engine grounding strap, and all other obvious earth (ground) connections. It could also be a duff battery. I have had a coulple of bad experiences with cheap after-market batteries. It would be worth checking all the wiring in your engine compartment for any obvious corroded connections/chafed insulation etc.

bet you 10:1 that it's the battery or the alternator (or a 6-pack wiring job!)

good luck

P.S. if you have the original alternator, check the bushes; these will go, and sometimes create havoc with the rest of the system