Weird electrical issue with possible parasitic draw question
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Weird electrical issue with possible parasitic draw question
I have a 2019 Pilot Elite and have had periodic battery/electrical issues for a couple years and cannot seem to pin it down. Here is what has happened so far.
A couple years ago I went to my kid's soccer game and everything was good until I went to my car and it was oddly dead from only a couple hours ago. It took not just a jump, but about 30 minutes to get enough juice to start it. Nothing else for a long time. Then, after stopping in for gas one night, it went dead just in the time it took to pump the gas. So, we had the battery tested and it was bad, so we changed it. All good for a year, then the same thing has begun to happen again. So, we had the battery tested and sure enough, bad, but under warranty. However, not even a week later....dead. So I started to search for a parasitic draw after a few YouTube videos.
After disconnecting the neg terminal and a full charge of the battery, I tested it and there was 4.8 amps (10A setting on multimeter). Way too much for a car that hasn't been started and untouched for quite some time. So, I started to pull fuses in the engine bay and get to fuse (position 26 "backup") that cut that draw in half, the next in line (position 27 htd steering) cut in half again and the third one (position 28 horn) dropped into acceptable levels (or at least I think. It was .30 amps. I was hoping to find one fuse alone to drop it, but no.
Next, I thought something else was up and tested it by clamping the test leads to the terminals, and watched it for about 5 minutes. It went from 4.8 amps to 3.5 then 2 and then finally dropped to about .02 amps. I then tested it by opening the driver door, watching the amp spike back to 4.8-5 because the interior lights were on, but sure enough, after the lights went, the amp draw went back to normal.
So, I connected the battery back, started the car and all was good......until the next day and it was at 10.5 volts and would not start. Another full charge and we're good.....but not reliable. We haven't run it back up to Autozone for a battery test, but that's next. Odd there would be two dead batteries so close and the same symptoms. Any ideas? I am not a car mechanic and try as much as I can before running it into Honda simply for costs. Thanks!
A couple years ago I went to my kid's soccer game and everything was good until I went to my car and it was oddly dead from only a couple hours ago. It took not just a jump, but about 30 minutes to get enough juice to start it. Nothing else for a long time. Then, after stopping in for gas one night, it went dead just in the time it took to pump the gas. So, we had the battery tested and it was bad, so we changed it. All good for a year, then the same thing has begun to happen again. So, we had the battery tested and sure enough, bad, but under warranty. However, not even a week later....dead. So I started to search for a parasitic draw after a few YouTube videos.
After disconnecting the neg terminal and a full charge of the battery, I tested it and there was 4.8 amps (10A setting on multimeter). Way too much for a car that hasn't been started and untouched for quite some time. So, I started to pull fuses in the engine bay and get to fuse (position 26 "backup") that cut that draw in half, the next in line (position 27 htd steering) cut in half again and the third one (position 28 horn) dropped into acceptable levels (or at least I think. It was .30 amps. I was hoping to find one fuse alone to drop it, but no.
Next, I thought something else was up and tested it by clamping the test leads to the terminals, and watched it for about 5 minutes. It went from 4.8 amps to 3.5 then 2 and then finally dropped to about .02 amps. I then tested it by opening the driver door, watching the amp spike back to 4.8-5 because the interior lights were on, but sure enough, after the lights went, the amp draw went back to normal.
So, I connected the battery back, started the car and all was good......until the next day and it was at 10.5 volts and would not start. Another full charge and we're good.....but not reliable. We haven't run it back up to Autozone for a battery test, but that's next. Odd there would be two dead batteries so close and the same symptoms. Any ideas? I am not a car mechanic and try as much as I can before running it into Honda simply for costs. Thanks!
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