POWER DRAINAGE
12-08-2007, 06:34 PM
#13
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: pa
Posts: 1,420
RE: POWER DRAINAGE
ORIGINAL: contentsunderpressur
Get a multi meter. Loosen up the neg battery post. Put one side of the meter on the post and the other side on the battery end then pull the end off the battery making sure you keep the meter hooked up. If you have a drain it will show you on the meter just how much of a drain in volts. Then you just pull fuses until the drain goes away and you have the problem pin pointed then. Most of the time it's a broken coil in the alternator that does this though. The alternator will still charge while it's running but drain the battery while the car is off. I know from experience. If there is no drain then you might want to check the battery.
Get a multi meter. Loosen up the neg battery post. Put one side of the meter on the post and the other side on the battery end then pull the end off the battery making sure you keep the meter hooked up. If you have a drain it will show you on the meter just how much of a drain in volts. Then you just pull fuses until the drain goes away and you have the problem pin pointed then. Most of the time it's a broken coil in the alternator that does this though. The alternator will still charge while it's running but drain the battery while the car is off. I know from experience. If there is no drain then you might want to check the battery.
12-08-2007, 08:33 PM
#14
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location:
Posts: 2,363
RE: POWER DRAINAGE
ORIGINAL: kenv
[sm=exactly.gif]
ORIGINAL: contentsunderpressur
Get a multi meter. Loosen up the neg battery post. Put one side of the meter on the post and the other side on the battery end then pull the end off the battery making sure you keep the meter hooked up. If you have a drain it will show you on the meter just how much of a drain in volts. Then you just pull fuses until the drain goes away and you have the problem pin pointed then. Most of the time it's a broken coil in the alternator that does this though. The alternator will still charge while it's running but drain the battery while the car is off. I know from experience. If there is no drain then you might want to check the battery.
Get a multi meter. Loosen up the neg battery post. Put one side of the meter on the post and the other side on the battery end then pull the end off the battery making sure you keep the meter hooked up. If you have a drain it will show you on the meter just how much of a drain in volts. Then you just pull fuses until the drain goes away and you have the problem pin pointed then. Most of the time it's a broken coil in the alternator that does this though. The alternator will still charge while it's running but drain the battery while the car is off. I know from experience. If there is no drain then you might want to check the battery.
12-08-2007, 10:36 PM
#15
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12,575
RE: POWER DRAINAGE
You guys need to get a decent meter with a clamp style amp reading. Anyone looking for a good meter should look into the fluke TS-600 (I think its TS). Its about 100 bucks, and only has 3 settings, but there is no need for all that other crap (I am a maint tech and its what I use at work every day).
They are correct, look for the amp draw, not the voltage. Turn off the car, put the meter inline (or get a good meter like I said) and then start pulling fuses. Eventually, as you pull them and put em back one at a time, the amp draw will go away.
This will tell you where the amp draw is. When you find the fuse that makes it go away, check to see what that fuse runs. This will tell you where the draw is, now all you have to do is check each thing it runs until you track it down.
They are correct, look for the amp draw, not the voltage. Turn off the car, put the meter inline (or get a good meter like I said) and then start pulling fuses. Eventually, as you pull them and put em back one at a time, the amp draw will go away.
This will tell you where the amp draw is. When you find the fuse that makes it go away, check to see what that fuse runs. This will tell you where the draw is, now all you have to do is check each thing it runs until you track it down.
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