LS1 TA Static Battery Drain
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
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You will never get 3 mA draw from all the modules in the car. Typical parasitic drain is 20-30 mA without any aftermarket acc's. 71 mA shouldnt drain the battery in 1 day unless the battery is junk or undercharged.
Did you pull fuses on the I/P fuse block to see if the drain drops? You will have to do this with the d/s door open...but make sure you pull the interior lights fuse first or you may pop the internal fuse in the meter when you open the door.
Remove not only fuses, but relays and circuit breakers too. Some relays may be sticking causing the draw. Trust me...I've had my fair share of cases chasing down **** like this.
Did you pull fuses on the I/P fuse block to see if the drain drops? You will have to do this with the d/s door open...but make sure you pull the interior lights fuse first or you may pop the internal fuse in the meter when you open the door.
Remove not only fuses, but relays and circuit breakers too. Some relays may be sticking causing the draw. Trust me...I've had my fair share of cases chasing down **** like this.
I say 20-30 mA as normal but technically its supposed to be the battery reserve capacity divided by 4. So if the RC is 100 then the acceptable drain is 25 mA. 71 mA is a bit high. I had a blazer in last week with an 83 mA draw and it would drain the battery in about a week. I traced that one down to the rear hatch release actuator.
Did you pull relays and breakers too? If so and the draw is still there, try disconnecting the main power wire to the fuse boxes....this will eliminate the fuse box as a possible cause. Also try the starter and alternator cables.
If you drive the car every few days then I would just leave it. If you let it sit a week or two before drives and you still cant locate the drain, you can put a battery tender on there to offset the drain when you dont drive it.
Did you pull relays and breakers too? If so and the draw is still there, try disconnecting the main power wire to the fuse boxes....this will eliminate the fuse box as a possible cause. Also try the starter and alternator cables.
If you drive the car every few days then I would just leave it. If you let it sit a week or two before drives and you still cant locate the drain, you can put a battery tender on there to offset the drain when you dont drive it.
I recurred to the battery charger/tenderizer solution since my car is not a DD. I use it only once or two times per week. What i do have is an alternator low charging capacity at load...thats with A/C, all lights, radio of a 11.2-11.3 volts, specially with the auxiliary fans on full blast. I searched in the garage manuals i have and apparently GM refers that down to a 11.1 value in this setting is normal. Im thinking of going with a 120 amp alternator instaed of the 102 I have now.
I think I just figured mine out.
My first suspect was my audio system, and measuring the DC Amps on the separate battery cable to the system, I found a 150mA draw.
Some narrowing down, and it turns out that my 1F capacitor was the culprit. After bypassing it, I'm down to a 0.05mA draw for the audio-system.
A 150mA draw could definitely explain my battery going flat in two weeks, so I stopped my troubleshooting there.
If I still have trouble later on, I'll keep looking.
The capacitor is a 1F one with "automatic current-controlled remote" from Diesel audio. Apparently, that automatic thing isn't working the way it's supposed to..
My first suspect was my audio system, and measuring the DC Amps on the separate battery cable to the system, I found a 150mA draw.
Some narrowing down, and it turns out that my 1F capacitor was the culprit. After bypassing it, I'm down to a 0.05mA draw for the audio-system.
A 150mA draw could definitely explain my battery going flat in two weeks, so I stopped my troubleshooting there.
If I still have trouble later on, I'll keep looking.
The capacitor is a 1F one with "automatic current-controlled remote" from Diesel audio. Apparently, that automatic thing isn't working the way it's supposed to..
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 289
Likes: 0
I think I just figured mine out.
My first suspect was my audio system, and measuring the DC Amps on the separate battery cable to the system, I found a 150mA draw.
Some narrowing down, and it turns out that my 1F capacitor was the culprit. After bypassing it, I'm down to a 0.05mA draw for the audio-system.
A 150mA draw could definitely explain my battery going flat in two weeks, so I stopped my troubleshooting there.
If I still have trouble later on, I'll keep looking.
The capacitor is a 1F one with "automatic current-controlled remote" from Diesel audio. Apparently, that automatic thing isn't working the way it's supposed to..
My first suspect was my audio system, and measuring the DC Amps on the separate battery cable to the system, I found a 150mA draw.
Some narrowing down, and it turns out that my 1F capacitor was the culprit. After bypassing it, I'm down to a 0.05mA draw for the audio-system.
A 150mA draw could definitely explain my battery going flat in two weeks, so I stopped my troubleshooting there.
If I still have trouble later on, I'll keep looking.
The capacitor is a 1F one with "automatic current-controlled remote" from Diesel audio. Apparently, that automatic thing isn't working the way it's supposed to..
Noticed there are quite a few of us trying to chase this down, I have just been disconnecting my batt when I know my car is gonna sit more than a couple of days, which is horseshit!
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Verdad Gallardo Im in the same boat buddy. I just leave mine connected to a battery charger/tender to keep the Optima alive. If it is leaved for a week, it goes dead. Im thinking of ditching the Optima and try regular, but good, battery and what goes down.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
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Yep, me too, when this optima goes, I am gonna just invest in a replacement delco and see what happens.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 289
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If you get a chane, cheack your batt with a multimeter right after you drive the car, and if you are gonna skip a day or two of driving, take the measuremnt again before you start the car, my car is consitently loosing about a volt a day now (unlesss I drive it), and is probably gonna get worse.
THe battery started out about 12.6 V now it will only charge to about 12.25V after a long drive.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
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I think I finnaly narrowed my problem down to a Ipod adapter, a USA Spec, I could swear I read another member having the same issue with his, but I can not find what he said his soulution was, besides just not using the ipod adapter.
I have the same problem and also use ipod adaptor. I know this is an old *** thread, but I wonder if you ever found out how to fix this without not using the ipod adaptor. I have a dead battery after a couple days of sitting, and that's after having parasitic drain tests on it, new batteries, new alternator, and still nothing. However, when you said you had the ipod interface, that raised some curiousity for me as well. Could this be my problem? Did anyone ever find out anymore on this?
Ya need to re-wire the ipod adaptor connection to an ignition wire instead of the always on power wire that the harness uses.
Here is a copy of what usa-spec sent me to fix the problem.
FYI, unplugging the I-Pod itself does not prevent the drain!
Here is a copy of what usa-spec sent me to fix the problem.
FYI, unplugging the I-Pod itself does not prevent the drain!
I was just thinking of posting this up too in your honor Michael02hawk! However, I have unplugged my entire ipod adaptor from my monsoon just to make sure that I'm not experiencing any "other" battery drain. I'm glad usa-spec acknowledged this and provided a copy of a fix. Thanks again man for your help in this 
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 289
Likes: 0
I was just thinking of posting this up too in your honor Michael02hawk! However, I have unplugged my entire ipod adaptor from my monsoon just to make sure that I'm not experiencing any "other" battery drain. I'm glad usa-spec acknowledged this and provided a copy of a fix. Thanks again man for your help in this
bump
I have the same problem, optima battery dead after a couple of days sitting, anyone switched batteries or found a fix to this yet?
EDIT: My stupid car audio installer wired my remote wire on my new amp to the ignition incorrectly and the amp was staying powered on all the time
I have the same problem, optima battery dead after a couple of days sitting, anyone switched batteries or found a fix to this yet?
EDIT: My stupid car audio installer wired my remote wire on my new amp to the ignition incorrectly and the amp was staying powered on all the time
Last edited by DragonBlood; Feb 19, 2012 at 12:39 AM.
