Hello to all I have a 90 accord coupe ex 2.2 automatic. I have a serious issue with something on the car draining power from somewhere. I had my battery die rather quickly so I got a new one and had the car diagnosed with a new alternator, battery, starter, and system check machine. Everything was fine on the test except the (DRAIN) section on the test it clearly showed that something was making a serious drain on the system. A mechanic told me it was probably a ground from a positive cable somewhere on the car and that he would not help me or work on the car. He said it could be too many things and to sell the f... car.... I don't like that negative attitude surely someone one this forum has had a similar problem and can help me. The query is what/where and how would a drain in the electrical flow going to the battery happen? Again 2 people looked at the problem and results from test and concluded that it was probably a faulty ground (can't remember if they said faulty positive or negative ground). So I am perplexed here what could cause this and where to start looking at the positive or negative cables and which ones. Please advise me to help narrow down the hunt/search thanks.
Dave

 

if no one will help you (lame) you'll have to chase it down yourself.

a service/repair manual will come in handy here. but the way to check and track down the fault/drain is to check amperage draw with a multimeter. i would first check at the battery, disconnect the cable and test between the cable and the post. i think 2-5 mA is normal draw for the ECU memory. if you pull the backup fuse you should see 0 (if you didn't have a drain). this is all with the key out.

if you do see some amperage with everything off and the back-up fuse out, check one at a time the amperage at each fuse in the fuse block. when you find a draw, refer to the manual for the circuit diagram to narrow down the faulty component or wire.

it's a little sad to me that a "mechanic" was unwilling/unable to do this basic (though a little tedious...) troubleshooting procedure. enjoy not paying him to do it

 

Hello,
Wow thanks for all that info I really appreciate your help. Come to think of it I forgot to mention that I saw a small spark when the key is turned to start the car but only saw it 2 times not again after that. Whatever is causing that spark problem has got to be connected to the drainage problem. So I will check the connections on the starter tomorrow I will start there. Today I checked the positive and negative cables they look good/okay. Also another thing I should mention and tell me if you think this might make a difference or not. I changed the positive and negative clamps that connect on the battery. When I did the job I am sure I did it sloppy and used black electrical tape to hide any loose wires that I could not squeeze into clamp. I did copy and do what was already there from the factory were they had the 2 wires connecting together and touching/ on top of one another. So I don't think that could be messed up or have anything to do with the problem but let me know what you think thanks.
Dave