My Battery keeps draining, WTF?

[IRON-E]

I just disconnected my amp for a couple of days to get my box wrapped in carpet.
I connected everything back the same way as I disconnected and everything worked fine on Saturday, matter of fact I even went to the drive-in with my kids ran my sounds for a few hours without a hitch. I didn't drive the car at all till yesterday in the afternoon., I had no power but with the Family SUV available I didn't pay too much attention.

Now this morning after I gave it a jump start it was fine, again I left the car behind and drove the Family SUV but I just came back home and went to get something out of the trunk of the e30 and my car is dead again, WTF?

[iX-treame]

Check your alternator sometimes they over-charge and kill your battery. The people at the auto parts store will just say "Works great" so use your own multimeter to test it. That's probably not it but my dad went through a lot of frustration and spent money on shit that he didn't need to spend it on when this happened to him so that's just something rare to test for.

[ColdAccord]

do a draw test. get a test light, put it on the battery. with the car off, the test light should still be on as something is drawing power from your battery (if not it could be the alternator, but not likely as i think you said it charges once jumped).

disconnect the amp. if the light goes off, the problem is the amp (or the remote wire actually). if not, keep pulling fuses until the light goes off. then you know where the power draw is coming from and can attend to it

[jr325es]

^ what he said

[IRON-E]

I don't have a tester on hand but I gave the battery a jump again and it took a little time to get my car started. I disconnected the power wire and the remote wire to the amp., maybe I didn't charge the battery enough but the car died again??? Not while running but after a half hour of leaving it untouched!

[ColdAccord]

you can take your battery in to pepboys or something and have them test it. then do a draw test if your battery comes back ok

[IRON-E]

you can take your battery in to pepboys or something and have them test it. then do a draw test if your battery comes back ok

Thanx for the help, I'll attempt to get it all sorted out tomorrow.

[bzboardz]

i had the exact same problem start happen to me a few weeks ago. if you have a multimeter disconnect the negative terminal to the battery and put one end of the multimeter on the battery and the other to the end of the ground. set your meter to read mA and see how much draw you get with the car off. I have 1.5 amps which drains my battery. (normal should be no more then 50mA please correct me if im worng)

To see where your problem is. leave the multimeter connected and goto the fuse box and disconnect every fuse one at a time and see if any of these decreases the power draw

[bataangpinoy]

clean your battery terminals. i found that when i disconnected mine, its had got a lil dirty, and prevented it from properly charging, storing etc

[bmw325csi]

Do a draw test with a multi meter, your car should have 12+ volts with the car running and all accessories on, if ifs less just change out your battery.

[IRON-E]

Well, I disconnected the negative terminal, let the car run for like 10 mins this way.
I turned the key off and attempted to star the car once I put the negative cable back on, now when I turn the key all I get is consecutive clicks like my ALT. Isn't charging at all?

Do you think it might be the ALTernator? I haven't got a hold of a multimeter yet but I might have to wait til the weekend, any help from you guys will be greatly appreciated.

TIA,


Edwin

[bzboardz]

might sound silly but make sure the negative cable is firmly attached since i have been disconnecting my battery for almost 2weeks now i have found that if its not secure it cant start. other then that you can check brushes on the voltage regulator.

[StereoInstaller1]

Well, I disconnected the negative terminal, let the car run for like 10 mins this way.
I turned the key off and attempted to star the car once I put the negative cable back on, now when I turn the key all I get is consecutive clicks like my ALT. Isn't charging at all?

Do you think it might be the ALTernator? I haven't got a hold of a multimeter yet but I might have to wait til the weekend, any help from you guys will be greatly appreciated.

TIA,


Edwin

If you ran your car on alternator only, you likely fried the alternator...if it isn't totally dead, you certainly shortened its life.

No matter what some fucking old school chevy guy says, DO FUCKING NOT DO THAT!

[IRON-E]

Luckily I didn't fry my Alt. and everything else was good besides the battery. A week and a half later and a fresh OPTIMA battery and I'm all good again.



Thank you all for your quick responses....... :up: