gmrulz4u Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 As I have already posted, last Wednesday I had my engine shampoed and my interior steam cleaned. At first I had a whole slew of electrical problems such as a non working drivers-side power window, and then Friday morning the car wouldn't start in the as the battery was completely drained!!?? I got it boosted Friday evening and drove for about 45 minutes on the highway to charge the battery up. It worked fine Saturday and Sunday but I did notice that the voltage was a bar or two less on my dash than it was before I had the cleaning done. But none-the-less, it didn't fail to start on the weekend. Then, today, going out to go to work, I could tell right away that the battery was almost drained again!! And of course, turning the key didn't even engage the starter at all! It wouldn't even turn over, that is how dead the battery was! So I got it boosted again and made it to work a few minutes late. All the other electrical problems have been fixed ever since the car got dry, but this one remains. I am convinced that something is draining the battery when the car is off. I've checked all the interior lights and they're all off...and of course the exterior lights are off as well. The battery is good and strong and is barely 1 year old, same with the GM alternator as I replaced them both at the same time. Again, before the engine and interior cleaning, I had absolutely no problems at all with my electrical/charging/starting system... Are they any tricks in determining where a drain on a battery is coming from? THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Maybe they shampoo'd your alternator.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrulz4u Posted August 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Well the alternator is charging really good...and putting out the necessary amperage allowing the battery to be 14.5 volts while running... But, I read that if an alternator has a bad diode, it will still charge good, but drain the battery when the car is shut off? I'm going to do that thing where I take a multimeter set to milliamps and measure the current drain when the car is off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 I'm going to do that thing where I take a multimeter set to milliamps and measure the current drain when the car is off...Hook up the meter in series with the battery, measure amps, and start pulling every fuse from the fuse boxes one by one, watching the meter while you pull each fuse. When you see a change in the reading, then you know which circuit the drain is on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 Maybe they shampoo'd your alternator.. Dunno why but I just burst laughing from that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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