Battery Dead after a few days.

[Gav240z]

I recently bought a new battery because my old one would go flat after several days of sitting. Since I haven't been using my Z all that much and getting transport to work it sometimes sits for a week or 2.

I've had to jump start it so I got a new battery however it appears the problem remains. I don't mind buying a new battery since I think the old one was fairly old anyway. I borrowed a trickle charger off a friend and set it up to charge over night. It didn't reach full overnight and all day yesterday so i disconnected the battery from the car and what do you know the battery was full this morning.

I'm thinking it has something to do with my stereo like my amp is staying on or there is an electrical short and it's slowly draining the battery.

I guess I'm asking to see if i could be wrong. I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem or if there is anything I should check for. I haven't really changed the wiring on the car it's just something that started to happen. Come to think of it my stereo has been acting a bit funny lately.

Feel free to throw in some opinions or suggestions.

Also any trouble shooting advise would be appreciated. :cheeky:

[seerex]

there should be a signal wire I think it is called if it happens to be wired with the power wire it will cause a draw constantly

[Gav240z]

I don't believe I have wired it that way. I remember setting it up off the remote wire from the stereo. This is the amp we are talking about yeah?

I'm thinking that possibly the amp is playing up and maybe that's how it's drawing the power. Either that or one of the power wires has become exposed at the solder point and is now grounding. I'll take a closer look tonight if I get a chance.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[speedyblue]

Most (all) amps have a LED that shines when it is powered up. But if this was the problem, it would go flat in a few hours. I found if I turned the stereo off, but left the detatchable face on, the battery would flatten in around a week in my 4x4. By removing it the problem was solved. Seems just turning it off doesn't completely turn it off. This was for a Pioneer CD player BTW.

Good luck hunting the promlem.

[Zulaytr]

I recently bought a new battery because my old one would go flat after several days of sitting. Since I haven't been using my Z all that much and getting transport to work it sometimes sits for a week or 2.

If you are lucky it could be as simple as your glove box light is staying on. Mine did! First charge the battery. If you have access to a volt meter and amp meter do a draw test to look for a drain. If you don't have them and you do not want to have someone do the tests, then while the battery is charged disconnect the battery and then lightly reconnect. Watch for a small spark. Be careful since sparks can explode the battery. If you see one you have something drawing the battery down. If you suspect the amp disconnect the power to it and see if the battery goes dead. It is also possible that you have a short in the alternator. It can short and drain the battery as well. Good luck in your search. You may have to disconnect other items as well until you find it.

[Gav240z]

I recently bought a new battery because my old one would go flat after several days of sitting. Since I haven't been using my Z all that much and getting transport to work it sometimes sits for a week or 2.

If you are lucky it could be as simple as your glove box light is staying on. Mine did! First charge the battery. If you have access to a volt meter and amp meter do a draw test to look for a drain. If you don't have them and you do not want to have someone do the tests, then while the battery is charged disconnect the battery and then lightly reconnect. Watch for a small spark. Be careful since sparks can explode the battery. If you see one you have something drawing the battery down. If you suspect the amp disconnect the power to it and see if the battery goes dead. It is also possible that you have a short in the alternator. It can short and drain the battery as well. Good luck in your search. You may have to disconnect other items as well until you find it.

Yes I had a feeling this could be the case. I suspect the stereo because I've sometimes got into the car and found the FACE of the stereo to be doing strange things like flickering. I thought it was strange but didn't put the two together properly till I started to type out my original post. I thought my stereo was just a bit faulty.

Most (all) amps have a LED that shines when it is powered up. But if this was the problem, it would go flat in a few hours. I found if I turned the stereo off, but left the detatchable face on, the battery would flatten in around a week in my 4x4. By removing it the problem was solved. Seems just turning it off doesn't completely turn it off. This was for a Pioneer CD player BTW.

Good luck hunting the promlem.

I think you could have solved my problem I'll let you know how I go.

Obviously the drain is as strong as the charger since it wouldn't charge for 24 hours then as soon as I diconnected the battery from the car she charged fine overnight.

I'll be sure to post my solution once I find it.

I'm pretty sure I have a multimeter somewhere in the garage. :nervous:

[Gav240z]

oh btw my amp sits under the passenger seat for sake of neatness and so I haven't checked the led light because it's out of sight out of mind .

[kenz240z]

Just put a switch in line with with hot lead to your stereo equipment, that way you can turn it off and prevent the drain on your battery.

[EScanlon]

Geez, the ONLY good suggestion so far is Kenz.

Zulaytr, not only is sparking a battery an extremely BAD idea, it's very dangerous to boot, as you stated. You stand a good chance of really causing problems by doing that. How do you recommend people check if a gas tank is truly empty, by sticking a match down it's filler pipe? You stand a better chance of blowing fuses, melting fusible links and pitting contact points than to note the intensity of a spark. Leave the sparks to the spark plugs.

For the most part, LED's by themselves do NOT cause a major enough drain to drain a battery unless that battery is already on it's last legs. It's the OTHER components attached to that LED that are the ones that would drain your battery. Remember the LED only comes on when the item is powered up. (Except for Stand-By LED's)

The signal wire for most newer stereos is for the automatic antenna sensor and again it's draw is minimal. The continuous power lead to safeguard your settings (Time, Favorite Stations, Equalizer settings, etc) again also only draws a few milliamps. This could also be routed directly to the battery and will minimize the drain that it does use.

None of the items discussed would have enough draw by themselves to drain your battery that quickly.

Now if you've left your lights on, your radio amplifier, fog lamps, or other high current items, then that would be the cause.

To prove this to yourself, get a single element light bulb like a running light bulb (1156 in the U.S.). Attach wires to it so that you can connect it between the Negative post of the battery and the battery connector. (or the Positive post for RHD cars, as the battery will be on the LEFT side of the car, and most batteries now days have the + post on the right, the intent is to use the post that's easiest to get to.) Then with the ignition off and all items that you would normally shut down, check if the light bulb glows at all. The brighter the gloiw the more current you have going through it.

If there is no glow at all then you don't have any current being drawn, or it is so infinitesimally small as to be of no consequence.

If on the other hand you have a glow, then to identify WHAT component is causing the glow, start disconnecting items one by one. If disconnecting an item does NOT change the condition of the bulb's brightness, then re-connect it. (You don't want to introduce other problems.) If however, disconnecting an item extinguishes the bulb youl've found your culprit. Note that it may be more than one item, so if the bulb diminishes in brightness, but does NOT go out, then you still have something else drawing current.

For grins, check your Accessory Relay, which on the early 72's should still be mounted on the Passenger Kick Panel. Later 72's have it mounted on the same cluster board on the kick panel, or on the engine side of the firewall. I have had an accessory relay go bad and cause a slow drain (usually 4-5 days to no power) which took several days to diagnose. It wasn't until we used the bulb that we found it.

Lastly, if you know that you will NOT be using your car for an extended period of time, then park it with the battery trickle charger on it. Otherwise, your battery should hold charge for at least a month or more.

FWIW

Enrique

[speedyblue]

For the most part, LED's by themselves do NOT cause a major enough drain to drain a battery unless that battery is already on it's last legs. It's the OTHER components attached to that LED that are the ones that would drain your battery. Remember the LED only comes on when the item is powered up. (Except for Stand-By LED's)

The LED uses virtually nothing, but the amplifier that it is part of chews lots, even if it's not making any noises. The LED shining would mean the amp is still running when it shouldn't be, one of the things Gav said might be happening.

I'm thinking that possibly the amp is playing up and maybe that's how it's drawing the power.

It's easier to first check for a glow, then to start pullng fuses if the amp isn't the fault.

[jmark]

Here is how I maintain my Z car batteries.

http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=4

Try Pep Boys or ebay.

Super Ebay price. I bought two from this guy. Great deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Battery-Tender-Jr-12-volt-750-mah-Deltran_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34284QQitemZ4576102869

[SteveJ]

I suggest doing a proper diagnosis on the problem.

Use an ammeter to find out the current draw. Use one that can measure up to 10 Amps. No, you shouldn't be drawing that much current, but many meters have a maximum of 1 Amp or less while your car could be drawing over 1 Amp. Disconnect the positive cable from the battery. Touch the positive lead of the meter to the positive terminal of the battery and the negative lead to the battery cable. Ideally, you should be measuring only a few milliamps.

Now, eliminate the easy stuff first.

1. Unplug the voltage regulator and re-measure the current. If the reading drops significantly, replace the regulator or attempt to adjust the regulator if you like.

2. Make sure your glovebox light is not on as well as other constant power systems. Yes, I've drained a battery that way.

3. Disconnect the constant power on the stereo and re-measure.

If the current reading stays high after those steps, start pulling fuses until the current drops.