What's happend so far:

Left my lights on last week, killed my battery
got it jumped ran ok,
Died again
Bought a new battery,
ran ok for a couple days, was dead this morning.
got a jump
let it run for awhile.

What I've checked:
Alt belt is tight

car running, 14.5 volts across the battery terminals

car off, 12.5 volts across the terminals

disconected the negative cable from the terminal, 12 volts between the two (I've got a short somewhere, right?)

disconected the post from the alt. (and the plug in the back too) still 12 volts between the neg. terminal and the neg. cable

pulled the fuses in the engine bay while testing the neg. post to the neg. cable, pulled each one, no change, always 12v (the "main" fuse, the 80, doesn't come out)

pulled the fuses inside, same thing, always got 12v, shook the battery cables around, the wires leading to the engine bay fuse box, still 12v.

What I think:

1. my alt. is charging the battery as it should, is there anything else that could be wrong with it?

2. If I've got a short, I can't find it, where else can I look?

3. Is there anything else I should check? I've got my DMM ready to go.

 

i have the same problem with my moms geo metro actualy, once the snow clears i plan on putting a charged battary in it, then im gona use a voltmeter and check each fuse in the car, if i see current on one, while the car is off, and no lights etc are on, then ill track it down from there

seems pretty stright forward to me

-Jacob

 

I don't understand what you are testing when you are pulling the terminals... voltage would have nothing to do with draw.

You need to do a current draw test (as covered quite a few times in threads if you had searched)... but i'll cover it again

Remove the negitive battery terminal leads.

make sure all your lights are off and doors are closed.

Set your digital multi- meter to the 10 amperage (or amp) scale, connect the positive lead of the meter to the disconnected lead that was on the battery terminal, and the neg lead of the meter to the battey's neg post.

You meter should show you a mA amount. Most FC's draw about 50-60mA of current at idle (everything off), but up to about a 70mA draw is still okay.

If your meter is showing more than a 80mA signal (like 100mA or 1.0 A) you have a current draw that can drain your battery. Start pulling fuses (one at a time) until you isolate the circuit causeing the problem. Then you can check each item, to see if you have something stuck on.

Common things too look for is any aftermarket equipment (like security or stereo systems, and turbo timers) as well as occasionally stuck relays (will show up with about a 120mA draw).

Don't use a test light for checking draw, they are next to useless, and should be considered the same as your low gas idiot light (on only when empty, but not showing you how much gas is in the tank).

 

I had read a few post when I searched, but must've gotten V and Amp mixed up, I'll go see if there's any draw. back in a few

 

the "80" is bolted on on the sides of it...after you take the 3 bolts off it will come out...i just did that...

 

Icemark, were you suggesting I tests the draw with the car off? I assume that's what you meant by idle, or did you mean car on, at idle?

Here's what I did:

Car off, disconnect negative battery terminal, test the draw with the DMM:

I got about 3 or 4 mA, which doesn't quite mesh with your numbers (hence the question about on/off) but it doesn't seem like enough to kill the battery. Assuming this is a normal result, my new theory is that I've got a problem with terminals/connections, and it's time for a good cleaning/replacing, as well as checking for any loose/worn through wires.

Does this sound right? or did I screw up the test (again)

 

Will the car even run with the battery disconnected. Some cars do, others don't.

 

I am sorry, the electrical term for no current being used is an idle circuit.

The car is off, not running, nothing is on, not even the dome lights from the door.

If you have your meter on the amperage scale, it should say something like .06 for 60mA draw.

Does your meter have multiple amperage settings, and have you disconnectd any of the stock items (such as stock radio, idiot lights, ECU, CPU, etc)?

All those typically draw between 5 and 10mA each.

 

Good, that's what I thought you meant by Idle.

So, is 4 mA a reasonable number? Just very low? kinda low?

I plan to check the battery's charge ever few hours, and make sure I'm not losing too much, and as long as everything's fine, just clean/replace all my connections.

 

Its a little low, are you sure you are not seeing 400mA (usually shown on most meters as .4)

 

Just went out and double checked,

set it on the 4 mA scale, it read .03, when I set it on the 400 mA scale, it reads .00

checked my voltage acros the terminals while I was out there too, still 12.5 after 3 hours of sitting.

I think it's a bad connection.

 

I have the same problem and my rx7 has been down for over a month. I could not take it any more and i just bought a honda. now the rx7 just sits and i walk past it with my head down everyday. so much money spent and it lets me down every week.

 

I tightened everything down, cleaned the connections and terminals, worked fine.

But my battery wasn't held down as tightly as it should be so after a driving a while, the negative post lossened up a bit, and wouldn't start. Checked it, tighetend it, and made sure my battery was in tight. Hasn't given me a problem yet.

 

i just tested my amps and i only get .01 and i cleaned up the terminals and post and i still got .01 also i have my radio unhooked. the battery still has 12.4 volts.

what do you think my problem is?