OutCold

Im not sure what has happened but ive been doing some stereo work in the car the last days and now the car seem too get drained for power in just a few hours even when its completly cold - (no ignitions or stereo hookups anywhere)

Usually it took about 4-5 days before it was drained but now its only a few hours, now im not an expert in anything but i got two hands and a voltmeter and should be able too figure this out somehow, Would you guys give me tips on what i should start measuring first?
Should i maybe plug out the stereo power harness from the battery completly since i got direct current from the stereo and too the player inside the car?

I was suspecting this too be the source of the drain at first but it also happens as i said when everything is turned off, the stereo shouldnt be draining anything then.Could it simply be discharging in the wires since nothing is hooked up?

Throughout all ive said here the main power wires for the car has been connected, i just figured id start checking the stereo.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Your battery should last way more than just 4 days, let alone 1 day.

Well first off since you are looking for a parasitic drain, use the amp feature on the multimeter. You will check in-line with the wiring (not from positive to negative like a voltmeter). Start at the battery, disconnect the positive cable, take the positive battery cable, put one lead of the multimeter on it, and the other one on the positive post of the battery, check your amperage draw. I believe the recommended maximum draw is around 30mA (still alot, you want to keep it way less than this).

Now that you have determined what the whole electrical system is draining, you can have someone start to pulling fuses either on the main engine bay, or in the interior kick box (since you are working on the stereo, I would just go for the interior fuses). Once you find one fuse that knocks that amperage drain down, you have narrowed down the component that is draining your battery. Then you need to pull out the fsm (or in this case maybe your stereo wiring) and start to narrow your amperage drain by messing with the wires or what not.

If you have amps and other components, play with them too see what happens to that amperage draw. I had a friend who's amp would stay on all the time due to being faulty and drain the battery.

Hopefully you start to see my point here though, this will work for almost anything. If you can get your amp-meter in line with a positive wire anywhere in an electrical component it works just the same, since the battery cables can be disconnected it is the easiest place to start though. I hope this helps you out.