battery keeps draining! need help/advice!
battery keeps draining! need help/advice! so the camaro sits in the garage for 2 weeks at a time while im at school. Since maybe 2 months ago, its battery seems to get drained. I figured its my battery because if jump-started works fine. So for the past 2 weeks, ive had my dad start the camaro every 3 days just to charge the battery. Still, it has a hard time starting. Is it time for a new battery? i only have 30,xxx miles on an 02 on the battery. I have a suspicious feeling it happens because of the 2 sets of hid's i have on the car... anyone have any insight or advice on my problem?
thanks in advance
thanks in advance
im a bit confused now... so by it charging to full potential, then its not the battery right? any insight on what could be the problem? maybe the 2 sets of HIDS i have on?
Could be anything draining the power from it. I had the same problem and could never figure it out.....so i just disconnect the battery now. The car is in the garage more than on the road so it doesn't bother me.
To check for shorts to ground follow these steps.
1. put turn your multimeter to the ampmeter position.
2. Remove one fuse at a time from the fuse block.
3. Put one of your multimeter leads from the + wire
4. Put your other lead on the fuse block you removed the fuse from, they both should show 0 amps UNLESS you have a fault to ground OR something in the car (clock for example) is drawing current.
5. Reinsert fuse into its original position and continue steps 2-5 until you've done all fuses.
You can atleast narrow down what your issues are to the circuit that its on instead of chasing wiring problems forever. At work I use an ifrared camera to do this exact thing and find loose connections in huge motor controls cabinets, much faster and easier if you can afford a $15,000 camera.
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To save all problems get a red or yellow top. My car is going on 6.5 months being stored in a garage that is not heated and i just started it up yeaterday. First time in 6.5 months and i have not been charging it.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
If there is something draining your battery then it could not be a "short to ground" - it would have to be some circuit drawing power when the car is off (such as the radio memory and clock). By definition, a short circuit occurs when the path to ground is uninterrupted by any load. Without any load, the resistance in the circuit is essentially zero and the current flow is the maximum the power source (battery) can produce. This will result in a blown fuse or a charred heap where your car used to be.
I suspect you'll find that the battery is bad and isn't retaining a charge. As long as none of the cells in the battery is shorted, you would be able to charge the battery up to normal voltage potential. But if there is excessive sulfation in it, the battery won't be able to hold that charge and it will have to be replaced. Six years is an extraordinary length of time for the factory battery to last so it really doesn't owe you anything at this point.
I suspect you'll find that the battery is bad and isn't retaining a charge. As long as none of the cells in the battery is shorted, you would be able to charge the battery up to normal voltage potential. But if there is excessive sulfation in it, the battery won't be able to hold that charge and it will have to be replaced. Six years is an extraordinary length of time for the factory battery to last so it really doesn't owe you anything at this point.
If there is something draining your battery then it could not be a "short to ground" - it would have to be some circuit drawing power when the car is off (such as the radio memory and clock). By definition, a short circuit occurs when the path to ground is uninterrupted by any load. Without any load, the resistance in the circuit is essentially zero and the current flow is the maximum the power source (battery) can produce. This will result in a blown fuse or a charred heap where your car used to be.
I suspect you'll find that the battery is bad and isn't retaining a charge. As long as none of the cells in the battery is shorted, you would be able to charge the battery up to normal voltage potential. But if there is excessive sulfation in it, the battery won't be able to hold that charge and it will have to be replaced. Six years is an extraordinary length of time for the factory battery to last so it really doesn't owe you anything at this point.
I suspect you'll find that the battery is bad and isn't retaining a charge. As long as none of the cells in the battery is shorted, you would be able to charge the battery up to normal voltage potential. But if there is excessive sulfation in it, the battery won't be able to hold that charge and it will have to be replaced. Six years is an extraordinary length of time for the factory battery to last so it really doesn't owe you anything at this point.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Then it wasn't a short circuit - it must have been after some other load. There are many circuits in cars use grounding switches or relays to control an electrical load. If the wire that runs from the load to the switch gets damaged, it could touch ground and provide a complete circuit even when the switch (or relay) is off. This would cause battery drain because the load would be there at all times. But it's not a short and would not cause a fuse to blow because the amount of current flow is normal for that circuit.
For example, if the wire going to the door pin switch gets damaged so that the bare wire touches metal and provides a ground, then the interior lights will stay on (causing a battery drain) but no fuse will blow. The circuit doesn't "know" that the ground is not coming from the switch but rather from a damaged wire. Since the interior lights provide a load for the circuit it's not a short and no damage will be done other than the drained battery. On the other hand, if the power wire feeding the interior lamps happened to get damaged and contact ground, that would be a short circuit (power going straight to ground with no load) and it would blow a fuse or overheat the wire and cause a fire.
A short is a short...if an unloaded power source connects to ground it will flow as much current as the battery can produce and it will fry something - that's electricity 101.
For example, if the wire going to the door pin switch gets damaged so that the bare wire touches metal and provides a ground, then the interior lights will stay on (causing a battery drain) but no fuse will blow. The circuit doesn't "know" that the ground is not coming from the switch but rather from a damaged wire. Since the interior lights provide a load for the circuit it's not a short and no damage will be done other than the drained battery. On the other hand, if the power wire feeding the interior lamps happened to get damaged and contact ground, that would be a short circuit (power going straight to ground with no load) and it would blow a fuse or overheat the wire and cause a fire.
A short is a short...if an unloaded power source connects to ground it will flow as much current as the battery can produce and it will fry something - that's electricity 101.
