battery drain

[linwiz]

it seems my car has started draining batterys. the battery that came with the car went out, and the temporary battery was killed as well. both were not the correct battery (smaller) as far as what is recommended. im afraid that the $80 battery i just bought today will have the same fate.. no symptoms yet but just a bad feeling. charging system was checked, said it was fine. the regulator in the alternator is working according to the tester.. i bought a maxx 35n.. comes with a 3yr warranty. any ideas? trunk light doesnt stay on, dome light doesnt stay on..

 

[tweety2300]

Its got a warrenty so try it both the batteries could have just been dead happens a lot with cold weather. Just to be on the safe side does your stereo stay on? And have you checked the fuses? Starter can also drain the battery

 

[DrooandhisES]

do you use an aftermarket amplifier? my sub amp shorted and was draining the battery daily. replaced the amp and problem solved.

 

[P-Funk!]

Take a multi meter and set for currrent.
Remove the neg terminal from the battery.
Measure amp draw between the bat neg post and the neg cable you just removed.

How much draw is there?
A few milliamps? Not a problem.

almost an amp or more? Pull fuses one by one (including stereo as stated above) until the meter suddenly drops to a few milliamps. That is the affected circuit! Report back what circuit and we go from there..

 

[linwiz]

stereo does not stay on. i have not checked the fuses.. what am i checking for? blown fuses? no amp. i will test the draw when the car gets back. i tested it last night, but instead of doing negative terminal to negative cable, i tried to test positive term to negative term.. lol. my little meter didnt want to test that. thanks guys

 

[linwiz]

red wire on my meter is on 10A DC. dial is on DCA mA 2m it reads .012 on initial contact and then only reads .002/.001

 

[P-Funk!]

Okay! Now that we established that there is no drain on the system...

Do a voltage check (voltmeter across the pos and neg terminals at the battery with all cables hooked up) before starting and again after starting (at 1500 RPMs) to see if the alternator is putting out proper voltage.

 

[linwiz]

i had it tested at the auto parts store, it was working great.

 

[tweety2300]

Sooo is it safe to say 2 bad batteries?

 

[linwiz]

probably