3800RS

iTrader: (15)

I dont drive the car daily but in the winter months the car battery is dead probably daily. I know it has been dropped and re-charged so many times that it should probably be replaced now. Its a delco only about 19 months old.

Anyway, dont want to buy a new battery again only to kill it. I read the batt and it showed only like 8v. I drove the car 2 days ago. So i put inline from the pos cable a multimetter. When the alarm was going off it was reading about 300ma. When i pulled out the alarm brain it read about a steady 158ma. I pulled out numerous fuses to see if I could change that value. The only one that made a decent difference was pulling the 15amp "power Accy" fuse. It dropped the multimeter to 87ma.

My stereo was disconnected for the test, tossed out the cap weeks ago and i do not believe any amps stay on.

Input ? thanks

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Does your security alarm go off when the car is running?

87gnx

iTrader: (3)

Get a "load test" done on the battery. Auto Zone does them free.What did the battery show with car running? Thats where I'd start. $.02

safemode

iTrader: (1)

187mv? units are wrong here. Maybe ma if you have the meter reading current. And if that's the case, then there is no draw here. Your pcm will draw some amount of current all the time so anything less than a 500ma is acceptable.

unless everything you wrote is somehow wrong, then the problem is elsewhere. Either not charging when running or something you no longer have hooked up killed it. Once you kill a lead acid battery as good as you seem to have, it wont hold a charge anyway.

so yea, clarify and fix the first post and we can get a better idea of what you're actually measuring and things can move forward.

3800RS

iTrader: (15)

yes i meant ma. Changed it. I had the battery tested yesterday and it was fine.

i have no idea about the security alarm. It has an aftermarket viper alarm.

safemode

iTrader: (1)

Well if you measured less than 500ma at the battery then you aren't getting a draw that is causing battery drain. So either the alternator isn't charging it for some reason (bad connections or bad alt) or you disconnected whatever was causing the drain prior to testing the current. Or it's intermittent.

3800RS

iTrader: (15)

isnt 500 ma alot ? I was reading it should be under 30.

3800RS

iTrader: (15)

I put a test light inline with the neg cable and the battery. With the radio plugged in, it lit. When i pulled out the radio, the test light was out.

safemode

iTrader: (1)

ok, 500 is too high. But even so your readings are only 100ma or so above what is acceptable. This is not enough to drain a battery in a day or even two. Especially not with driving it during that time span.

I would double check your cables leading to and from the alternator to make sure none are broken or making poor contact.

If you charge the battery and leave the radio disconnected at the fuse does it still kill the battery?

safemode

iTrader: (1)

Also, you should expect some draw from the radio at all times.. It saves settings and such that way. Depending on the aftermarket radio, this current draw can vary. It should be posted somewhere though how much it uses.