Okay so recently my car has been losing charge on the battery. I believe there may be a short but I don't know where it could be coming from. The alternator, regulator, ignition control module, solenoid, and coil are all new. I removed the radio and quite a bit of wires are hanging so I figured there may be my source. I have yet to do any alt tests to assure I am getting adequate amperage and voltage to charge the battery well but are there any other suggestions to trouble shoot?
Get a multimeter with a 10 amp scale. With the ignition switch off, disconnect one of the battery cables and set the multimeter in the 10 amp scale. Connect one of the leads to the battery cable you just removed and the other to the battery post it was connected to. It should read zero. If something is draining your battery, it will show some current on the meter. Then its just a matter of finding out what. You can also check that it is being charged properly by hooking the cable back to the battery, and putting the meter in a DC volt scale greater than 20 volts. Read the battery voltage with everything off. A properly charged battery should read slightly under 13 volts. Then start the car. The voltage should jump up to between 13.5 - 15 volts.
any progress on finding the problem? if you find a draw doing the test Dennis suggested, pull the fuses, one at a time until you find what circuit the draw is on...
Or just pull the buzzer that tells you when the door is open. That has been the culprit in several cases like this. When it goes bad, it draws just enough to kill your battery, but not enough to buzz. Do the battery draw check as described above, then pull that buzzer, and see if the draw goes away. If I remember correctly (it was a long time ago, when I first got my car), I think that buzzer was up on the right side under the dashboard, sorta long way up there.
I have yet to do the test. I've been busy with work and school this week. I'm waiting for the weekend till I can have real time to sit with her and get some tlc in
So I did the test tonight. Its not the buzzer but I still have to pull the fuses in the morning to check which circuit. There is definitely a draw though.
Try unplugging the voltage regulator and try the test again. The regulator will sometimes go bad and cause a constant draw on the battery. Also make sure you have everything turned off ( including the courtesy light door switches ) when you test.
Okay so I just finished the test again and the darn thing was the regulator which I purchased new not but a couple months ago from oriley. However, my dad reversed the polarity of my battery a while back forcing me to get a new battery. I don't know if I replaced the regulator before or after the incident but could that have made it go bad?
alt...batt.and reg....go together (electrical system). I have found in the past that if one goes bad it will/can mess up the other two...
