Rep Power: 0

Found the battery dead one day last week after the car sat for about five days. The battery will build a charge from a charger while I have it off the car. When I reconnect it it will crank the engine and she fires off fine... alternator charging @ 13.6v, but now, after the car sits just about two to three hours the battery goes completely dead. Zero.

I'm frantically searching for a parasitic draw, and have almost everything unhooked to isolate the sucker. I'm down to the Main Relay, the ECU, and the Alternator. I can't think of anything else on board that might still have power running to it, like with a stuck relay or computer problem.

Any thing else come to mind to check for?



-R

 
Rep Power: 519

Use an ammeter to see how much draw there really is. How many milliamps (or amps) of draw is there?

Here's a method I have been using: [autostream]http://autostream.com/ibcivicforums/?page_type=firebirdplayerthumbnail&framepage=1412& transactionid=1374273229-7123914048&posted_by=_www.civicforums.com&youtube_ video_id=T6rDTtxaeJ4[/autostream]

 
Rep Power: 195

Have you tested the battery to see if it has a bad cell? How long did it hold a charge out of the car? How old is the battery?

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, the battery stayed up for days of testing as long as it wasn't connected, and the draw was always enough to light up my 12v standard test lamp, so today I decided to hook the battery back up and take a good look all around the car. Something kept telling me I might notice something, and sure enough... the damn brake lights were on all the time.

I stuck my head up under the dash and quickly found the silliest little problem. The brake light switch plunger use to bottom out on a rubber stop or bumper ...and the stop was completely missing. All that was left was the hole for the bumper and the plunger just went right through it. I looked around on the floor mat, and sure enough there was bits and pieces of the broken and deteriorated brake switch stopper all over the carpet. It had just disintegrated and that left the brake lights on. I'd say everybody in the neighborhood knew there was a problem with the car but me, until it wouldn't start.

I guess as a car gets older and older weird little things like this are bound to happen. I just happened to have a hard rubber cap from a wheel cylinder bleeder screw that fit the hole perfectly, and all is well now.

Thanks for the help with jump starting my brain, guys!

-R