got a gremlin.. tips needed

[ILLEGAL REGAL]

something keeps draining the battery after 2 days of not being ran and I have no idea what to look for.

Nothing that I can find is staying on unless it's something in the column thats keeping the ignition system on.

 

[malibujason79]

disconnect your battery, connect a volt/ohm meter inline on amp scale. note the current value, then start pulling fuses til it goes away. then trace that circuit.

 

[Horsepwraddict]

disconnect your battery, connect a volt/ohm meter inline on amp scale. note the current value, then start pulling fuses til it goes away. then trace that circuit.

very rarely will it go completely away though. It should be a very low reading though if you have a good digital meter that can pick it up.

Just figured i would throw it out their incase he got a small reading and couldn't figure out how to get rid of it.

 

[ILLEGAL REGAL]

didnt try it with a voltmeter since I didn't know how to check, but with a test light it shows nothing so it must be minimal.

none of the lights are staying on, and it doesnt have dome lights
the radio/amps are shutting off correctly and air compresssor also
it has power locks but they dont seem to be the problem

it's not like the car has all kinds of creature comforts and the few things it does have isnt it so I'm starting to think it's in the column and it's keeping the ignition/coil on???

 

[malibujason79]

a meter is the only way to find it.

 

[lurchsmalibu]

To take about 2 days to drain the battery, it should be an easy find. Is the alternator good? Sometimes when they screw up the battery gets drained. With the stereo memory it might read on the meter at around .28-.32 on volts.

 

[chevycopcar]

You sure you don't just have a bad cell in the battery? I've had batteries go bad like that on me.

 

[ILLEGAL REGAL]

changed batteries too.. drained my optima but didn't kill it :?

 

[Doug Keen]

It is most likely your alternator, or the circuit that excites the regulator. Try setting your meter on milliamps, disconnect the battery cable, put one test lead on the battery put the other on your cable, note the value. Now unplug the 2 wire plug on your alternator, and recheck the value. If it dropped the amp load, that is your problem, if not start pulling fuses from your misc circuits till you find your culprit. If none of the fuse solve it, unplug your ignition switch, then the turnsignal, backup light/neutral safety, and so on till you find it.

Oh, BTW if you didn't know most meters have a different plug in for the leads when in amp mode.