I have a 96 GSR 4dr. I just got a new battery cause the old one wouldn't hold a charge anymore. I was changing the battery and when I went to reconnect the negative battery cable it sparks a little.

I also notice that when I connect the cable I see that the fuel pump come on for a second cause I can hear it and I see my fuel gauge jump up in psi. Is this normal? I thought that this would only happen when you turn the key on.

Also I can hear the vtec solenoid click when I reconnect the negative teminal. Is this also normal?

I checked for parasitic loss. when I connect the -cable my meter jumps to about 110ma when the fuel pump comes on then drops to about 60ma. What should the normal parasitic drain be for a GSR?

 

It is normal to get a little spark when connecting batt. cables for the first time after they have been disconnected for a while, if you keep getting a spark when connecting and disconnecting and reconnecting again and again, that is not normal, there is a draw.

It is not normal for the fuel pump to turn on when connecting a batt., unless the ign. switch is on.

I would start by checking/redoing the main grounds, a poor ground can lead to "feed-back" and it takes very little current, [power] to turn on a relay, in your case two relays in the PGM-FI Main Relay, both the fuel injector relay and fuel pump relay would have to turn on for the fuel pump to turn on, this can only happen if the fuel injector relays coil gets power, [normally ign. switched controlled] or there is a feed-back from a 12V constant circuit.

The same applies to the vtec solenoid, it should not engage, "click" when connecting the batt., but can be triggered by a feed-back, and again feed-backs are almost always due to a grounding problem.

Remember neg.(-) off first, [when disconnecting a batt.] and on last, [when reconnecting a batt. 94

 

haha, oops. nevermind. I found the problem. Somehow I forgot the IGN switch was ON. I guess I tried to roll the window down so I don't lock myself out and then forgot I had switched it ON.

 

Now theres only a 40ma parasitic drain. is that normal?

 

40ma isnt a lot but just check lights and make sure radio is turning off. but its normal for a little drain. 40ma is normal tho.

 

cars usually draw around 50ma. you're good there