FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Yea you're tellin me. Jim obviously has personal issues w/ me...

Yea I saw that...my only question was, how do I go about determining WHAT the source is? Because again, I don't think pulling fuses will help, since the alarm (which is what I suspect is the prob) isn't connected to a fuse.

Hyperite

Here's an easy way to tell if your car wants to drain the battery. Turn everything off like you would park the car, disconnect the capacitor, then disconnect the battery. Wait a few seconds for the circuit boards to discharge, then slowly bring the negative cable towards the battery terminal. If right before you touch it, there's a tinly little white spark with a hint of a click, your car ain't draining much, battery is fucked. If there's a big blue spark (with potentially yellow edges) and a crackle, your car wants power!

This is obviously a "dummy" test for those without an ammeter. Those of us with too much time on our hands draw test everything we add to the car and have a voltage monitor to clip an overzelous current hog. (saved my *** when I left the cooling fans on and went to eat dinner)

No alarm installation shop is going to put one in without a fuse, that's like asking for the car to burn down when their shoddy wiring falls apart. I bet there's either a fuse on the closest positive wire to the battery, and probably a fuse (or two!) on the alarm body itself.

and on a jim-related note...

He and I share a lot of views of the people on the forum nowadays. A lot of posts I look at and just think "did you even ******* try?" and don't bother responding to. On the flip side, there are some problems that pique my interest and I genuinely WANT to help figure out, but those are few and far between. It's times like these I long for "the big list"...not necessarilly happier times, but more though out.

FURTHERMORE, regarding areas of intelligence, we all have our areas of expertise and somehow I doubt that Jim's primary intellect IS with automobiles. Smart people (genuinely smart, not just well educated) can grasp a very wide range of topics with often better understanding than the dumb people that study them. Not trying to even guess what your background is, but saying "well you know cars, I know *medicine*!" is really just silly. Great, you're a doctor. If you had a medical question would you think about it first? or just ask the first person who might know the answer?

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I'll try that. Just to clarify, you mean take the negative cable and bring it toward the negative terminal on the battery, right?

I'll ask 'em where they are.

I understand that, but I think the vast majority of times, I search and even revive an old thread rather than just post a question. Some things that are more in-depth, I'll just ask.

And guess what? My primary intellect (as you call it) is absolutely NOT in medicine. In fact, medicine doesn't take a lot of understanding at all. Just an incredible amount of dedication, and lots and lots of memorization. Unfortunately, understanding is not that highly emphasized, which is quite scary.

I hate priding myself on things, because that's not how I am, but I know a LOT about a lot...but I'm also wise enough to know my limitations, and to recognize my deficiencies. Cars, physics, electricals, etc...that stuff is NOT my cup of tea. I simply don't know a lot about it, plain and simple. But then again, you have no way of measuring what I do know and what I don't, and how expansive or narrow my knowledge base is, because all we really talk about here is cars, cars, and more cars. That, and unlike Jim, I don't feel the need to prove anything to anyone.

On that note, however, I'm sure if I had the time to sit and read up about automotive mechanics, I'd be "rolling w/ the big dawgs" in no time. But that's not a luxury I have. But who am I kidding...you guys simply don't understand what kind of time crunch ppl in my position are in, and prob never will until you're there yourself.

But you know what the difference is? I have a basis, a foundation in medicine. I at least took biology in high school, and all sorts of bio science courses in undergrad. Cars and electronics...pshhh I don't even have a working basis in. No foundation. I sucked at physics, none of my friends know jack about cars, and I was one of the fortunate ones to start med school right outta college, so I didn't have lots of spare free time to do outside reading and mess around w/ cars here and there. If I had a solid basis in cars, then maybe I wouldn't have to ask as many questions as I do. But I'm catching bits and peices here and there as I go along, until I can dedicate enough time to get some fundamentals down. And some other very nice ppl have no prob whatsoever helping me find the answers to my question.

Feel free to correct me, but I don't think there's a pre-requisit level of knowledge you have to have to join the forum. That's the beauty of it. Everyone from the today newb to yesterday's master technician can benefit. And I hope people stay open-minded as such so we can ALL continue to benefit -- and not have it become an elitist group for those who know and that's it.

Hyperite

Yep, it'd be a good idea to be in a moderately ventilated area. Gas and battery fumes don't exactly mix well with uncontrolled sparking.


Well, I guess that's where we disagree. This is a forum for a very specialized car that takes either someone with a lot of money or a lot of skill to own properly. We prefer the latter. Again to Jim's point, this was a question that could've been answered with regard to *any* car, it just so happens you own a 3rd gen RX-7 and have an account to a forum filled with people that also have "a car".

Just to make sure I wasn't being an elitist *****, I searched google for "car battery drain" and found the same link Jim posted about "Why does my car battery drain overnight" as the third result. It's not that I hate you for not knowing, I hate you for not trying. I don't hate you, but you know what I mean.

TylerTRD

VAT-40 dude!!

Hyperite

A little overpowered and overpriced for this application (but then again, who am I to say spending a grand to test a $70 battery is overpriced )

POS7

If you're talking about the stock alarm, there are ways to disable it. Not sure if this will kill the draw in power if its related to the alarm though. The easiest way is disable the connector under the hood latch, other techniques involve clipping wires under the driver side kickpanel.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Good point. Duly noted.

And I'm neither. And I understand your point. I'm working my way toward being both If you'd be so kind as to be patient as I work my way there, I'd be much obliged

Yea yea...I know what you mean, and I know I was quick to post on this prob. My bad...sticking foot in mouth on that one.

POS7, thanks, but it's an aftermarket alarm.