Craig Seybert

Hello,


I recently purchased a 03 Civic, the driver side door "dome light" switch was not working, and in fact pushed into the body of the vehicle, I had to fish it out. I replaced the switch, and found that now my battery dies overnight. I'm assuming the switch it bad, hence why the previous owner disconnected it.

is there an easy way to figure out where i'm draining juice at?

ezone

Simple: Disconnect that switch again, see if problem goes away.



I have a couple multimeters with ammeter function, but they take too long to set up.
For speed I use a low current inductive (clamp on) ammeter to measure draw.
This one:

Craig Seybert

Thanks for the reply! I guess I could try that, but it may take several days like last time for it to drain it enough.

ezone

So then you want to hook up a low current ammeter of some sort to measure the draw.

If it's within a normal range, no problem. (I'd consider 30mA or less normal for that car, 100% stock) Look for a low charge/weak/sulfated or failing battery
If draw is excessive, you have more work to do.

Craig Seybert

Thanks, I'll try that, I currently have the current battery trickle charging for a couple days, because when I tested it, it was at 3v. may need a new battery. it is 5 years old.

ezone

A sulfated battery will discharge itself without being connected to anything.

5 years for a battery...is like 18 dog years. That's a long time.


Still ought to measure the draw just to be sure it's normal.