Hello

I got some problems with my 2000 Si. I went on vacation for 3 weeks so the rice rocket has'nt been started for awhile. I come back fire her up and after a 5 minutes I notice the batery starts to drain. I figure the battery is dead so I replace it. Still the same result. I changed the alternator and it still draining.

I'm gonna get a volt meter today see if all the voltages are ok with the alternator and maybe look for a short somewhere.

My question is are there any other probles I should be looking for that may cause the battery to drain?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

any corrosion on the plugs or connections between the alternator and battery?

 

charge your battery....install it in the car except don't connect the ground wire...Get a test light and connect the aligator clip to the ground post on the battery, and connect the probe to the negative battery wire...if the light turns on, then there is something drainging your battery..

With everything connected as per above, procede to unplug any fuse or electrical connection (unplug one at time) that you suspect of draining your battery...if you unplug something that turns the test light off, then you have found the culprit...

 

No corrosion.

After I install the test light Im asuming the car should be running then start playing with the fuses. Or can this be done while the cars not on. By the way this is genius. Shure beats checking every ******* wire.

 

thanks!! I have been working on cars since I was 13, I'm 28 now!! I will admit, I don't know everything, but if I know something that can help, then I will...

your car won't run with this procedure...the ground that your are supplying is not secure enough to support a running car, but it is secure enough to trouble-shoot an electrical short...

Remeber to pull one fuse at a time, and then re-install it...if the light turns off when you pull a fuse; find out what circuit it bridges (some fuses can bridge multiple items i.e. radio, clock, interior lights,ect.). With the fuse that originally turned off the test light re-installed, begin to unplug the specific items that the fuse bridges power to until you turn the test light off again...

I chased a short with this procedure in my wife's car for about an hour....I finally found out that the map light bulb was creating the short, I pulled the bulb (turned off the test light) and installed a new one...the test light stayed off!! Trust me, it might take some time to isolate the short, but you will find it!!!

 

that is definitely the best way to diagnose what is causing a draining battery. the only other advice i could give you would be to connect a volt meter between the negative terminal of the battery, and the negative cable to see how much parasitic loss you have, that would only tell you how much though, not where its coming from.

 

even still, if you only have a volt meter, you can still look at the dial (if it's analog) or look at the display (digital)...if the numbers disappear, or the pointer drops, it would be the same as turning off the test light!!

 

I was told to put the test light on the positve terminal not negative. Does it matter? I think I'll try the multi meter tommorow and pulling the fuses prob same thing as the light tester.

 

no it doesn't really matter...the only problem is that you will have a constant drain on the positive post because of various other parasitic loads (i.e. car alarm, radio memory, clock, ect.) and may not be able to isolate the short as effeciantly...I'm not saying it won't work, I just learned it different!! Let me know what happens...

 

Well I decided to use the light test. It works much easier than the voltage test. Found out it has to do something with my radio system. Pulled out the radio fuse and my voltage meter reads 12.5 volts . I'll just install the stock radio and take out my amp hopefuly it will fix the problem. I need music hehe.

Thanx for all the help especialy speedfreek. I'll buy you a beer when your in Northern Cali.

 

cool bro...I'm happy to hear that you were able to isolate the problem...good job! Remember, if a man made it, a man can fix it...