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this battery problem is driving me nuts!! help!!!

Old Jan 23, 2009 | 01:43 AM
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Unhappy this battery problem is driving me nuts!! help!!!

hey guys i need your help really bad.
my cars battery keeps dieing after siting in the garage for more than 5 days or so.
when i drive the car every day its fine this only happens when it sits for a period of time.
i checked the interior fuses and a few of them have power all the time with the key is out of the switch.
these are the fuses that have power all the time so tell me if all these should allways be hot.
fuse #1 stop/hazard
fuse #4 radio accy
fuse #5 tail lamps
fuse #7 pwr accy
fuse #8 courtesy
fuse #11 cig/accy
it kind of seems strange that fuse 4 and 7 are constantly hot.
help me out guys because this is pissing me off!!!!! lol.
car is a 98 z28 and i checked evey thing and nothing seems to be on i pull the main power fuse for my system and checked all the wireing and its all fine so im stumped.
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Old Jan 23, 2009 | 09:24 AM
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Merely testing whether a fuse is live with the ignition off doesn't provide any useful information about a battery draining current draw. Unless you have done significant rewiring, all it will tell you is what circuits GM intended to have available when the ignition is off.

The RADIO ACCY fuse protects the Monsoon amp. It has direct battery power just like aftermarket amps but it should only power up when it detects input signal from the head unit.

The PWR ACCY fuse protects several body functions such as the remote hatch release, alarm system, shock sensor, and radio clock/memory. These will draw a small amount of power all the time.

You need to use an ammeter to determine the source of a current draw. Put the meter inline between the battery positive terminal and the positive cable. Note how much current is flowing. If it seems excessive, start pulling fuses until you find one that causes the draw to drop to acceptable levels - then you know which circuit is causing the draw so you can start tracking it down.

If the draw isn't excessive, it could just be the first indication of a failing battery. Most shops like AutoZone and Pep Boys will do a battery load test for free.
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Old Jan 23, 2009 | 01:42 PM
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well the battery is not that old but i will get it tested.
as for the radio accy fuse if it powers the monsoon amp should i pull the fuse because im not useing the monsoon amp all my system is aftermarket?
i will try what you said and i left the neg terminal off last night and ill check it now to see if it lost any volts.
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Old Jan 23, 2009 | 08:07 PM
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I had the same problem. I turned out to be that the console lid did not engage the switch all the way and the light kept staying on. Couldn't see it until I walked in to the garage when it was pitch black and I saw a thin slither of light coming from the console.
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Old Jan 24, 2009 | 08:54 AM
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You have a light in your console? Or did you mean the dash glovebox?
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Old Jan 24, 2009 | 04:51 PM
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thats what i was thinking lol.
like i said i have a full aftermarket system in the car and i had 2 1.5 caps and i think thats what was draining the battery so i hope that was it. i checked the volts with a dmm and it was a 11.9 last night and all i did was take the power wire off the caps and put it in to the amp and just now the volts where still 11.9 so i hope i figured it out.
i drove the car and it was fine them when i checked the volts on the caps with the meter they only said 4.5 so i dont think they was holding a charge and when they would get low they would go for the main battery power and slowly eat at it.
im going out og town so im going to drive it a little today and ill see when i come back home next week end if it was the caps or not.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 08:33 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
You have a light in your console? Or did you mean the dash glovebox?
I have one in the console. I guess an LT1 console is different :shrug
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 01:36 AM
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Make sure you have the turn on lead connected to your head unit properly. That could be one thing.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 04:45 AM
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I have heard that the fuse in the starter can blow and cause the battery to drain, dont know if there is an easy way to check that or not.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 01:57 PM
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I'm curious as to what type of battery your using?
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