Parasitic Battery Drain Troubleshooting
Parasitic Battery Drain Troubleshooting
So I'm almost done with KA-T project (several months in the making).
Got a new battery and it maintains a charge for days if not connected (so I know the battery is good) but if I leave it hooked up to the car, the battery is completely drained the next day.
Pulling fuses I noticed that it does not drain if I pull the big alternator fuse out. I did have to slightly remove the alt when I swapped out the PCV valve with a straight fitting. So I did mess with the alternator (though I'm not sure if the problem existed before this). Is this an alternator issue or is something else on the same circuit with the alt?
BTW the car does run, and the alternator seems to be working, I read about 13-14V on the battery with the car running.
Got a new battery and it maintains a charge for days if not connected (so I know the battery is good) but if I leave it hooked up to the car, the battery is completely drained the next day.
Pulling fuses I noticed that it does not drain if I pull the big alternator fuse out. I did have to slightly remove the alt when I swapped out the PCV valve with a straight fitting. So I did mess with the alternator (though I'm not sure if the problem existed before this). Is this an alternator issue or is something else on the same circuit with the alt?
BTW the car does run, and the alternator seems to be working, I read about 13-14V on the battery with the car running.
Yeah, that big fuse powers a LOT of stuff inside the car, i.e. turn signals, radio, blower, windows, etc. Pretty much everything inside of the fuse box inside of the cabin.
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- nismoautoxr
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First of all ...I didnt see in your post where you said what year and trim model 240 you have ...but....this is how to check for parasitic draw....
method 1) disconnect negative battery cable . Connect a 12v test light between the neg. bat.post and the neg cable . If there is a draw then the test light will be lit bright. Pull fuses untill the light goes out . You must disable the interior lights to do this becuase you will obviously have the doors open and this in itself will cause a draw.
method 2)disconnect negative battery cable. connect a DVOM or an analog ameter between the neg.bat post and neg.bat cable...it there is a draw you will have more than 500 miliamps(1/2 an AMP) showing on the meter . Pull fuses untill the draw goes away. Again...you must disable the interior lamps because you will obviously have the doors open and this will in itself cause a draw.
I would expect a draw that is capable of running a battery down overnight to be at least 2-3 amps. or a very bright test lamp(depending on which method you use)
The test lamp method works but you have to take into account that if you have a radio in the car and the ecu in the car ...they will consume a little bit of energy as part of their keepalive memory . If you dont want to have to account for that then just disconnect the radio and ECU to take that out of the equation. Make sure the ignition key is out of the switch if the dinger still works
If its an S14 SE it will have a factory alarm sytem that will also draw a small amount of current also ...
Happy hunting!!
method 1) disconnect negative battery cable . Connect a 12v test light between the neg. bat.post and the neg cable . If there is a draw then the test light will be lit bright. Pull fuses untill the light goes out . You must disable the interior lights to do this becuase you will obviously have the doors open and this in itself will cause a draw.
method 2)disconnect negative battery cable. connect a DVOM or an analog ameter between the neg.bat post and neg.bat cable...it there is a draw you will have more than 500 miliamps(1/2 an AMP) showing on the meter . Pull fuses untill the draw goes away. Again...you must disable the interior lamps because you will obviously have the doors open and this will in itself cause a draw.
I would expect a draw that is capable of running a battery down overnight to be at least 2-3 amps. or a very bright test lamp(depending on which method you use)
The test lamp method works but you have to take into account that if you have a radio in the car and the ecu in the car ...they will consume a little bit of energy as part of their keepalive memory . If you dont want to have to account for that then just disconnect the radio and ECU to take that out of the equation. Make sure the ignition key is out of the switch if the dinger still works
If its an S14 SE it will have a factory alarm sytem that will also draw a small amount of current also ...
Happy hunting!!
Ricky Ragan,
95 SE ,LS1 N/A and T56, 230/232 @.050 cam, MS3 with MS3X,GC coilovers,17x8.5 Enkei RPF1 on 255 40 17 RS3 Hankooks, 377HP/351TQ , megasquirt3 fully sequential
95 SE ,LS1 N/A and T56, 230/232 @.050 cam, MS3 with MS3X,GC coilovers,17x8.5 Enkei RPF1 on 255 40 17 RS3 Hankooks, 377HP/351TQ , megasquirt3 fully sequential
- ppctx
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Thanks for that. Dont have the issue but if I did, I wouldn't have known where to start. For me, electrical issue are so much more difficult to diagnose.
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- nismoautoxr
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y/wppctx wrote:Thanks for that. Dont have the issue but if I did, I wouldn't have known where to start. For me, electrical issue are so much more difficult to diagnose.
Ricky Ragan,
95 SE ,LS1 N/A and T56, 230/232 @.050 cam, MS3 with MS3X,GC coilovers,17x8.5 Enkei RPF1 on 255 40 17 RS3 Hankooks, 377HP/351TQ , megasquirt3 fully sequential
95 SE ,LS1 N/A and T56, 230/232 @.050 cam, MS3 with MS3X,GC coilovers,17x8.5 Enkei RPF1 on 255 40 17 RS3 Hankooks, 377HP/351TQ , megasquirt3 fully sequential
never seen some body use a test light for this kinda test..
but i would deff have a dvom for this. also i wouldnt dissconect any thing in the car.
you could have an exccesive draw say from a radio and wouldn't see it if you already unhooked it before the test. also leave all the doors closed and so on. start with the relays in the eng. bay then the fuses, then work your way into the cabin.
but i would deff have a dvom for this. also i wouldnt dissconect any thing in the car.
you could have an exccesive draw say from a radio and wouldn't see it if you already unhooked it before the test. also leave all the doors closed and so on. start with the relays in the eng. bay then the fuses, then work your way into the cabin.
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Test light is what I've used in the past and it works great, I have a draw on my 240 but all I do is pull the fuse that causes the draw when I get in and out lol I don't feel like hunting it down and am going to wire in a kill switch eventually.Jmcc wrote:never seen some body use a test light for this kinda test..
but i would deff have a dvom for this. also i wouldnt dissconect any thing in the car.
you could have an exccesive draw say from a radio and wouldn't see it if you already unhooked it before the test. also leave all the doors closed and so on. start with the relays in the eng. bay then the fuses, then work your way into the cabin.