Skylar Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 So like the title says, my battery dies overnight. Just about every morning i go out and i get nothing. sometimes ill go out in the morning and it will still unlock doors, and ill get some interior lights but theyll be dim and the car wont start. I picked this car up about 2 months ago and ive been swapping batteries back an forth from my truck to the subaru like every other day ! ANNOYING! Lol im suprised these batteries are still holding a charge after dying and being swapped so many times .... I have a junkyard Maxima alt swap, and it is a good alt. i can unplug the battery when the cars running and it will stay running. When i got this car it needed a battery so i bought one used and it is indeed a good battery, it has like 875 CCA so its a pretty decent sized battery . Now, i believe i have some shorts somewhere in my wiring that could be causing my battery to die. 1. I just replaced the headlight relay, and EVERY single fuse & fusible link in my car because i didnt have any marker lights front or rear after pulling the dash, and after replacing the relay i think it was i had my markers and tail lights back But my STOP LAMP light is still on, even after replacing both brake light bulbs so im not sure why the STOP LAMP light is still on ..... 2. The center dome light and the RED open door indicator light on the cluster DO NOT come on when i open my driver side door, so it doesnt show that my door is open when it is . But the dome light and door indicator lights come on when i open every other door and the rear hatch ? ( i have a wagon ) Other than those 2 things i cant think of any shorts anywhere or what could be causing my battery to die overnight. It drives perfectly fine all day long, no problems. no low voltage on the meter or anything. Sits at like 14v on the gauge I have an aftermarket stereo setup and some fog lights wired up as well if that has anything to do with anything lol sooooo what gives ? Electrical in cars is not my cup of tea, yet ...... 88 Gl wagon SPFI Maxima Alternator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubieTrav Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Look on top of the steering column between the sterring wheel and dash, is that switch in the on position. That will kill a battery overnight. Check the door post switch to see if it is functioning properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 I don't think the parking light switch was on but it might've been ill go check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 Wasn't on but I did found out my window lock switch doesn't work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rain_man_rich Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Eric the Car Guy on YouTube has an excellent parasitic draw video. That would be a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj421 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Yeah, watch EricTheCarGuys video. I watched that one a while back, and he said aftermarket stereos can cause a draw of power. Not sure if our cars are subject to that or not. On another note, your door indicator works without the key in the ignition? For me, the key needs to be in the "on" position before it'll tell me which door is open. My dome light comes on no matter the key position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 No it only works when the key is in the on position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdweninger Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 There is an old school diagnostic procedure to check for battery drain. Key OFF. Disconnect your battery post ground. In a low light condition (ie., dark), touch the ground cable to the battery ground. You should see a very small spark. This indicates there is indeed an amperage draw. Now... start pulling fuses, one at a time. And check for the spark after pulling each fuse. When you don't see the spark anymore, you have at least found the 'circuit' that is drawing the amps. I would start by disconnecting the alternator and checking for the spark. On older external voltage regulators, sometimes they would drain the battery when faulty. I would think that a faulty internal VR could also drain the battery... but never seen one do it. Of course, your battery should be charged up first. HTH... Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) Get a cheap digital multimeter, to test for draw and disconnect the memory side of your radio and pull the ECM fuse what ever is left is your drain your experiencing. Pull fuses until it drops once it drops the area that fuse supplies power too is where your drain is, it very well could be your alt. also I second third and fourth Eric the car guy videos. Edited April 10, 2013 by mikaleda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 There is an old school diagnostic procedure to check for battery drain. Key OFF. Disconnect your battery post ground. In a low light condition (ie., dark), touch the ground cable to the battery ground. You should see a very small spark. This indicates there is indeed an amperage draw. Now... start pulling fuses, one at a time. And check for the spark after pulling each fuse. When you don't see the spark anymore, you have at least found the 'circuit' that is drawing the amps. I would start by disconnecting the alternator and checking for the spark. On older external voltage regulators, sometimes they would drain the battery when faulty. I would think that a faulty internal VR could also drain the battery... but never seen one do it. Of course, your battery should be charged up first. HTH... Ron. internal regulator can drain the battery, but it usually charges at like 18v too. This is the right idea, but the correct way to do it is get a multimeter, and connect it between the negative battery post and disconnected terminal to actually get an amperage number on the draw, and not just eyeballing a spark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 I watched the Eric's parasitic draw video last night, I don't own a multimeter so I couldn't start the process but I do know what to do now. So I need to go but a multimeter, I'm surprised I haven't bought one a long time ago :rollseyes: Thanks for the help so far, ill let ya know what ended up being my problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rain_man_rich Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I'm surprised I haven't bought one a long time ago :rollseyes: I said the same thing about 5 years ago. Then I figured out how versatile of a tool it can be. I probably use mine 5-6 times a month for various things, not just automobile work. Is the battery in that toy low or is the toy just trash? Get out the multimeter. That fuse looks good, I wonder if it really is? Get out the multimeter. Is that light bulb dead? Get out the multimeter. Is circuit board blown and if so, what part? You get the idea.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Yep, crazy powerful tool. I have a few. Beats the hell out of a test light! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdweninger Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 What's a multimeter? Ahhh... just kidding. But if you don't have one, you can go 'old school'. After you do the old school method, I'm sure you will buy one. I keep mine in the door panel storage cubby. It really impresses the ladies when I test their resistance! Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Yep my multimeter is always being used on something or other and you can get a nice digital one for a decent price through harbor freight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdweninger Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 They make good Christmas presents.. as well. Skylar... you find the problem yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Not yet, don't have a money for a multimeter. Tomorrow or Friday ill hopefully have one . Idk why happened today I must've hit a bump or something but my dome light and drivers side open door indicator light now come on when I open my door . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 The problem with the door could be due to a faulty switch contacts that are dirty and just need cleaning or there may be a broken wire in the wire harness located in the door jam. The door switch makes a ground connection to activate the lights. You could use a brake light bulb in series with the battery lead to check things with instead of a meter but certainly a meter is the best choice. When you do the testing be sure all the power systems are turned off like the car would be parked and enough time has lapsed for things to go into the sleep mode, which is pretty quick on those models I believe. Normal current draw should be around 20 milliamps or less. The alternator could be where the current draw problem is at. If you disconnect it be sure to disconnect the battery first since the main alternator lead is hot at all times to the battery. Remove the plug in the back of the alternator also though the ignition switch should isolate that connector. There are fusible links in the plastic box mounted on the coolant reservoir you can start the circuit elimination with. Be sure to place the same ones back in the original posiiton as they are color coded for current ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Until you fix it, you could just pull your battery hot terminal connector, after you park it every night. Then reconnect it every morning. If the battery is dead then, you have a battery that won't hold a charge. You could also go back and disconnect the after market stuff, especially the last thing that you installed, just before everything went haywire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 ^^^ That's what I've been doing for the past couple nights is unplugging the negative on the battery and plugging it back in in the morning . And it has a good battery, just something keeps draining it when left plugged in overnight . And it did this before I wired up my stereo & fog lights . So I'm positive it's not those. Same stereo & fogs that were on my last car ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Bump. Gonna update this old thread. The 88 Gl is gone. But I now have that same Maxima alt in my 86 hatch. Did the alt swap last weekend, go out to start it last night. Dead. I'm thinking it's that internally regulated alternator, but it works fine while running. I know you're supposed to upgrade the field sensor wire with a thicker gauged wire and an inline fuse, at least 15amp I'm assuming. I have not done this yet. Could it be the non upgraded wire? Or just this alternator... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I have had an alternator partially fail in a way that put a low current load on the battery. Still worked otherwise, but it would drain the battery. The wire size would not effect this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylar Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 I have had an alternator partially fail in a way that put a low current load on the battery. Still worked otherwise, but it would drain the battery. The wire size would not effect this. Hmm, so it must be my alternator then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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