ok i have a 1991 si hatch.every time i leave my car without starting it for 2 days it never starts until i get it jump started or unless i disconnect the negative from the battery.if anyone has had any of the same problems and found out the solution please help me out here.

 

You need to do a voltage draw check to see what pulling current when the car is at rest. Do you have a multi meter?

 

no i have to borrow one from some one.

 

How about a 12V test light?

Also, exactly what do you mean, "or unless i disconnect the negative from the battery." do you mean disconnecting it while parking the car?

Borrow a meter or test light, [I find the test light is a better tool for testing for draw] you can even make one out of any 12V bulb, [dome light bulb]. 94

 

yes, when i turn off the car for the night i disconnect the negative..and how exactly do you make your own test light.

 

You do not have to "make" anything, remove dome light bulb, there is your test light.

To test for draw, start by making sure everything is turned off.

Disconnect batt. terminal, either one, touch one end of bulb to batt. post and the other end to batt. clamp, [bulb is in series] if bulb lights up you have a draw. 94

 

ok so i have a multi meter but im not sure on how to use it to find a draw some where in my system..can some one help me plz?

 

Set meter to DC amps, disconnect the batt. neg.(-), connect one meter probe to the batt. post and the other meter probe to the cable clamp, if there is a draw the meter will tell you what it is, in amps.
A test light would have been easier, you can buy one for $2-$3. 94

 

I'm having the same problem now, I'm not quite understanding how you do this fcm. I have a multimeter with the red and black wire. You're saying

1. Disconnect negative battery post
2. Connect one meter probe to the battery post (does this mean the negative battery post that is unhooked?)
3. The other meter probe to the cable clamp(what is the meter probe? and are you saying the cable clamp that is unhooked from the negative post?)

Also, what amps do you set it on?

 

well i had a multi meter already i just ddnt have any batteries for it...but ok i tried testing it i put the multi meter positive wire inserted into the 10A DC port thing and i set the multi meter to 10A with the line and broken lines rite under it..after i set my multi meter to these settings i took off the negative terminal and put the negative wire from the multi meter onto the negative post of the battery and the posotive wire from the multi meter to the positive terminal and when i touched the positive all kinds of sparks started accuring after that i proceeded no more because i didnt want to short out anything or the battery to explode on me..but if you can explain to me if im going about this situation properly i followed all the step and all i got was sparks???

 

The multimeter probes, [red and black] go in series with the batt. lead you disconnect.

Remove the neg.(-) batt. cable from batt., connect one of the meter probes, [black] to the batt. neg.(-) post, connect the other meter probe, [red] to the neg.(-) batt. cable, the meter is "wired" in series with the batt.(-) post and batt.(-) cable.
The batt. pos.(+) cable is not disconnected from batt. and the meter probes are not connected to it in any way.

Again, that is why I say a 12V test light is a lot easier, even a 12V light bulb is easier. 94

 

I disagree with using a bulb. A very very small amount of current is normal. You need to know exactly how many amps drain you have if you plan on doing anything with the information. Also, a bulb isn't going to be much help chasing it down.

He said he already has a meter anyway. Why leave that on the bench and solder up a janky bulb and some wire you found on the garage floor? You got a meter, put it to use and start getting comfortable with it. Don't be another honda-head saying "I'm scared of electwicity".

 

Actually the test light is better because it is simple, if the light turns on at all you have a draw, [overdraw] if it does not turn on there is no overdraw.

Yes there is always a draw, but if the draw is enough to turn on the bulb it is too high a draw.

Tracing the draw is the same with a bulb as it is with the multimeter, pull fuses untill draw drops, [meter] or the bulb goes out, [test light].

As my boss would say, "why use a $600 Fluke when a $2.99 Princes Auto test light works better". 94

 

ok so i read the milli amps that were getting pulled and it read 0.40-0.43!!i then opened and shut my passenger door because while i drive the beeping noise and seat belt light on the rearview blinks on and off while the door light on the dash stays on as well.so i shut my passenger door a few times till i got 0.04 amps.i then unscrewed my door pannel and disconected all the door sensor wires and now i have only 0.04 draw.thank you guys so much for all your help iv'e been trying to find this problem for about 4 months now and i didn't realise a door sensor would drain so much.now my other obstacle is trying to find a short some were in my system.i check all my grounds and battery connections everything is tight and no popped fueses?how can i go about this problem now?

 

Door sensor?

Do you mean the door pin switch?

Exactly what "door sensor" wiring are you disconnecting inside the door, [behind door panel]?

It would be the door pin switch, [on "B" pillar below striker plate] that that triggers the door open warning light in the cluster.
I am also wondering why a chime, [buzzer] is being triggered by the pass. door, the chimes are controlled by the ICU off the drivers door pin switch.

Questions...
Did opening the pass. door also trigger the warning chime for key still in ign. or lights still on?

Do you have an alarm in your car?

As for the short, what makes you think you have a short, you said you found no blown fuses? 94

 

Try getting a battery charger and fully charging your battery. Your problem may be that your battery is never quite getting charged enough to offset any potential drain there may be in the system. The Lexus I drive had a similar problem and the solution was to get a battery charger, and fully charge the battery because my amount of driving seemingly wasn't enough to charge the battery. City mileage is very likely to drain a battery more than charge it compared to highway mileage, but this does not mean you'll necessarily fully charge your battery driving around on the highway unless you plan a really long trip or something.

 

well sorry yea i disconnected the door sensor and the door pin switch in the passenger and drivers door panel there were 2 plugs in each door i disconnected.the passenger door was the cause of my battery drain due to those 2 plugs so i disconnected the drivers side while i was at it...and as for the short every time i connect the negative terminal a little spark occurs.i was told that i have a short some where due to that..and when i use my turn signals my dash check engine light dims but not to much

 

It is normal to get a little spark when connecting a batt., there are constant powers, ECU and radio memory always draw power, at .04A your good to go.

The door pin switch is a 1 wire lead, [green/red].

What two plugs, what color are the leads and where did you unplug them? 94

 

Say what???
Unless you are running something that draws more current, [big watt audio system] then the alt. can supply, or there is some other problem, then there should be no problem keeping the batt. fully charged with as little as 5 - 7 km of driving, at any speed. 94

 

In theory yes, but in practice I've found that to not be the case. I've had my charging system checked in various cars but in the end, it turns out that once I've needed to jump start the car, even once, the only way to prevent myself from having to boost again is to use a battery charger.

 

That may be the case if the batt. has been drained completely, the cars alt. was not designed, [or should it be used to] charge a dead batt., but even a batt. that needed a boost to start the engine will recharge to it's full charge in relatively short time, again, at any speed, even [idling] as long as there is nothing else, [other then low batt.] wrong.94

 

I think you're contradicting yourself in the very same post! I agree with the first part but not the second part.

 

ok so if its normal should my dash check engine light dim a little bit when i turn on my blinkers?and as for the color wires i have to check again i cant recall i just disconnected them.

 

How so?

On one hand I am talking about a dead batt. on the other a batt. that is just too low to start the car. 94

 

Those are the same thing! Yes I see where you're going with this but sometimes the difference between a dead battery and a low battery is so small, there is no difference. I had an idiot AAA guy try to boost my car but wasn't able to because my battery was dead and he came to the conclusion that I needed to fix something because something was seriously wrong when in reality, all I needed to do was charge the battery. Anyway even when I've had a battery that was really low, I never found the car to be able to recharge it back up to the top, at least in a timely fashion. Some people are also misled into thinking they can charge their car just by idling it and that's simply not the case.