Continued: Battery Drain

[DarkStar]

I've now replaced in total, battery, starter, alternator and now because tons of people on here told me it's the Ignition switch causing these issues, I still have a battery drain. It's been now 3 years. And I'm starting to lose hope. The drain tests have come back negative to a drain. But I leave the car overnight and 90% of the time I come out the next morning and it's dead. Causing me to be late to work and other events. Sometimes not leaving my house for hours. I had to buy a jump box, that thing is almost worthless.

History: I've done the "remove the fuses while searching for a drain." I removed every single fuse in the fuse box and let it sit overnight and it still killed the battery. Computerized drain test comes back as everything is ok. And this sucker used to be totally random. As it would happen for a week every few months. Now it's practically every day. I've gotten to the point that I must disconnect my battery every day I leave the car for a few hours just so I can have juice to start it up later.

Idk anymore.

[particlewave]

If it's draining the battery overnight, it has to be a significant drain. I would disconnect the positive lead, then attach wires to both the positive post and the positive clamp. Run the wires outside of the frunk so you can close the lid (having either frunk or trunk open turns both lights on, so removing the frunk bulb is not enough - best to close the lid to eliminate both). Hook up ammeter to the leads, then turn ignition on to wake the car up. Shut ignition back off. Read current draw. Check every hour. Report draw.

[algiorda]

Did you put in a custom radio and think you wired to accessory power, but instead to constant 12v power?

[Gelbster]

Originally Posted by algiorda

Did you put in a custom radio and think you wired to accessory power, but instead to constant 12v power?

This would be an example of a Fuse that was not pulled when the OP was hunting for the parasitic drain. There are several such obscure fuses - like the one for the SAI pump in odd locations. Need the FSM Wiring Diagrams for your specific MY to locate them all and remove one at a time,then test.

[thstone]

Do this simple test to measure the parasitic drain on the battery:

1. Turn car off with key removed and doors closed - just like it would be if it were parked
2. Disconnect neg battery cable
3. Using your multimeter, connect the positive probe to the neg battery terminal and the negative probe to the neg battery cable
4. Divide the measurement (in milliamps) by 1000 to get amps
5. Post the number of amps here ______.

If I had to guess, your battery should have somewhere around 30 Ah (or more of capacity). You can find this by looking up the "C10" capacity of your battery from the manufacturers website.

If the C10 capacity is 30Ah, then divide 30Ah by the number of amps that you measured above to get the number of hours to draw the battery down to zero charge.

Using the example numbers from above, it would take a 3 amp parasitic loss to drain the battery completely in 10 hours (30 Ah divided by 3 amp = 10 hrs). This is what PW meant when he said that it takes a significant draw to drain a battery overnight. 3 amps is a lot of current in a car that is turned off!

But the battery probably needs something like 30% capacity in order to start the car, so a draw of 2.1 amps would still be enough to drain the battery to the point where it wouldn't start the car (30 Ah - 30% = 21 Ah and 21 Ah divided by 10 hrs = 2.1 amps).

[BirdDog]

I just need to throw in here that if you deep discharged that battery several times it might be no good (the new battery may now be bad). If it is bad you should be able to swap it out for another new one under warranty.

P.S. I like the orange and silver scheme (my 2 favorite colors)

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by particlewave

If it's draining the battery overnight, it has to be a significant drain. I would disconnect the positive lead, then attach wires to both the positive post and the positive clamp. Run the wires outside of the frunk so you can close the lid (having either frunk or trunk open turns both lights on, so removing the frunk bulb is not enough - best to close the lid to eliminate both). Hook up ammeter to the leads, then turn ignition on to wake the car up. Shut ignition back off. Read current draw. Check every hour. Report draw.

Both Trunk Bulbs are LED so not exactly a big draw here. However I have had them both removed at one point.

Originally Posted by algiorda

Did you put in a custom radio and think you wired to accessory power, but instead to constant 12v power?

lol No. I don't make such mistakes. I've been a professional car audio installer for the better part of 10 years. And while I technically don't have a stereo in my car, my setup is wired correctly or it wouldn't work at all and I'd rather put a bullet in my head than leave my stuff running continuously.

Originally Posted by BirdDog

I just need to throw in here that if you deep discharged that battery several times it might be no good (the new battery may now be bad). If it is bad you should be able to swap it out for another new one under warranty.

P.S. I like the orange and silver scheme (my 2 favorite colors)

Yes, I know. However I cannot just keep replacing the battery after every fuse or part I replace. I may have an awesome warranty on my very expensive Bosch battery but replacing the battery every couple months will eventually be denied due to an obvious issue killing the battery.

And for record, I posted that pic as I jumped the car, Ran around town to do some errands. Came home and left it for 6 hours. I just went out there and the battery was completely gone. So its not exactly over night anymore...

I'll try doing yet another drain test/exam on it, again. But after removing all fuses in the box and letting it sit and it still killed the battery, I don't see how any of those are going to give any results. Right now the car is running so I can get some juice into it.

And again this is not every day, Mostly every day but not every day. There are random days I can go out to the garage and put the key in and fire it right up fast without any issues. So despite the battery most likely is dead now, it does hold a charge just fine without something draining it. And whatever is draining it, isn't a constant. Its a random.

[DarkStar]

Ok, for this I've done the same as I've done in the past. I disconnected anything that might be it, ie:radio, amp. Even tho I dont have a radio in my car. I disconnected what was wired to the ACC.


HOWEVER!!! This time being its super quiet right now when I connected it up to do this or when i put the battery terminal back on I can hear something. Very faint. Kinda like a small electric motor moving but extremely faint. Located under here...

[DarkStar]

Ok the noise was coming from here... But the draw didn't go away when i disconnected it..

[particlewave]

If it were me, the next step would be to disconnect the fusible links one at a time until the current draw goes away. Report back with the fusible link # and we can track it down.

Whatever it is, it's consuming 28-30 watts...quite significant.

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by particlewave

If it were me, the next step would be to disconnect the fusible links one at a time until the current draw goes away. Report back with the fusible link # and we can track it down.

Whatever it is, it's consuming 28-30 watts...quite significant.

I told ya! Lol however no luck Like last time. I removed every fuse completely from the fuse box and even one big one in the back trunk by the relays back there. And I disconnected amps, radio plug, even my Bluetooth obd2 adaptor... I yanked all easilly accessible bulbs despite being led in the trunks and door panels.

One more thing, idk if this is significant but if I were to shut everything off, the dome light led/mood light stays on 24/7. Also, I'm not sure if this is normal but all my lights in the cabin are led. Like the light switches and cluster and all that, well they stay ok... Even when they are off if you're in dark area you can hardly see but there is light.

[DarkStar]

This is in a pitch black garage...

[particlewave]

Fusible links, not fuses.

They're bolted on at the current distribution center.

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Fusible links, not fuses.

They're bolted on at the current distribution center.

Dude! THAT right there is some usable information. This has been going on so long and I've brought it up numerous times, and nobody told me a thing about that. I did not know. The last time I brought this up, everyone said "Dude its your ignition switch, trust me!" And I mean I had a ton of people claiming Ignition switch. So it has a brand new Ignition switch on it.

I got your PM with the info. I'll get to it in a lil bit and post my results. I can't think you enough for someone finally telling me there are more fuse's to check.

[steved0x]

Do you have any trouble with your windows dropping and going back.up when you open and close the doors? If so maybe the door lock microswitch has failed in the "door open" position and the computer thinks your doors are open all the time, which could explain the interior lights staying on all the time?

[particlewave]

The small dome light LED and frunk/trunk latch lights (among other things) are powered by the "consumer switched off" circuit. This circuit stays active for a while after the ignition is shut off to allow use of certain functions while the car is off (like power mirrors, seats, etc). Reports on the length of time that this circuit stays active are conflicting with some saying as little as 3 minutes and others saying as much as 3 hours.

Can you confirm that the dome LED never shuts off, even after sitting overnight for 8+ hours?

Opening a door reactivates the circuit, so Steve may be on to something.
However, it would take roughly 100 LEDs to draw 2.6 amps.
There are about that many between the 986.2 gauge cluster, climate control and switches...

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by steved0x

Do you have any trouble with your windows dropping and going back.up when you open and close the doors? If so maybe the door lock microswitch has failed in the "door open" position and the computer thinks your doors are open all the time, which could explain the interior lights staying on all the time?

No. Minus being a lil slow on opening the door fast. But thats probably just me opening the door super fast. Other than that there are no issues here. The window moves up when door is closed and down when door is open.

Originally Posted by particlewave

The small dome light LED and frunk/trunk latch lights (among other things) are powered by the "consumer switched off" circuit. This circuit stays active for a while after the ignition is shut off to allow use of certain functions while the car is off (like power mirrors, seats, etc). Reports on the length of time that this circuit stays active are conflicting with some saying as little as 3 minutes and others saying as much as 3 hours.

Can you confirm that the dome LED never shuts off, even after sitting overnight for 8+ hours?

Opening a door reactivates the circuit, so Steve may be on to something.
However, it would take roughly 100 LEDs to draw 2.6 amps.
There are about that many between the 986.2 gauge cluster, climate control and switches...

I cannot confirm the time yet. Lets see, the pictures I took yesterday were maybe an hour or 2 after locking the doors. I just know I've noticed it in my security camera's that have night vision that it looks like the entire cab is lit up. I can check this tonight as I've already opened the doors and fired up the car today to get some charge in there since I'll be playing with it soon. I do know that feature when you shut off the key and pull it, the windows and what not can move. But usually this stops when the door is opened. I think. I did open my door last night and without turning the key on I was able to roll the seat back.

But I do agree that, these LED's are not drawing that much amperage. The window/heated seats led's are hardly noticeable but if you look hard at the pic you can see them lightly glowing. The led's that pop the trunks is lit up all the way.

I'll get more info tonight. But will start the testing of those fuseable links now.

[DarkStar]

Well looks to be taken care of. Seems I have super insane bad luck. 2 Alternators, 1 Starter, 1 Ignition Switch, numerous failed tests for drain. Find the starter is the issue. So I call the parts store to have them grab me one since it's under lifetime warranty. They tell me a store a mile up the road has one in stock. Holy crap, luck is turning around. I go get it, pop it in and test it and no drain. Sweet so I fire up the car and guess what... Battery light. FML. So I call them back up and have them order one. Bring it in today to swap out yet again and sure enough it tests bad. Made sure to have them test the new one before I walked out. Now time to put it all back together and see if one of my neighbors will help me put the top back on.

So I guess my luck has screwed me over the past few years.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[particlewave]

Well, get to it. It's not going to fix itself!

I hope that does it.

[Gelbster]

What happens if you ensure you lock the car before you leave it? All the lights insde should go out. Easy to check.

Originally Posted by DarkStar

No. Minus being a lil slow on opening the door fast. But thats probably just me opening the door super fast. Other than that there are no issues here. The window moves up when door is closed and down when door is open.

I cannot confirm the time yet. Lets see, the pictures I took yesterday were maybe an hour or 2 after locking the doors. I just know I've noticed it in my security camera's that have night vision that it looks like the entire cab is lit up. I can check this tonight as I've already opened the doors and fired up the car today to get some charge in there since I'll be playing with it soon. I do know that feature when you shut off the key and pull it, the windows and what not can move. But usually this stops when the door is opened. I think. I did open my door last night and without turning the key on I was able to roll the seat back.

But I do agree that, these LED's are not drawing that much amperage. The window/heated seats led's are hardly noticeable but if you look hard at the pic you can see them lightly glowing. The led's that pop the trunks is lit up all the way.

I'll get more info tonight. But will start the testing of those fuseable links now.