Something is draining my car batteries

[harleylady69]

Hello, my name is JUdy. I've been on here once before & I found it helpful. Now it's a new problem I have. This past yr. I have used 3 new batteries. Something in my car is draining them. I'm @ the point now where when I'm not going to be driving it for a few days, that I disconnect the neg. battery cable & when I want to drive it, I reconnect it. Every once in a while (more so when I first start my car) I hear a faint like beep(high then low) so usually I'll hit the dashboard & it goes away. I also notice that when I start my car the heater comes on. It & the radio were turned off from the last time I drove it. Before I started disconnecting the battery cable, one day I can be driving here & there running my errands, then I don't drive it for say 3 days. Then the battery is dead. My nephew said it might be the ignition switch, but he can't figure out how to take the dashboard cover off below the steering wheel. The repair book that I have for my car doesn't tell me how to take the dashboard cover off either. Oh yeah coming back from my sister's last wk. My nephew had charged my battery in the morning, I left in the afternoon. I noticed when I first started my car it made that faint noise then it went away, but when I was driving home I notice my heater came on & the numbers (Telling what's the temp.) were all going haywire. Flashing on & off like there's a short in it somewhere.Please help.

[Tech II]

Well, would help to know the year and mileage...

When was the last battery installed?

Has the alternator output ever been checked?

Another problem is short trips......if you sporadically drive the vehicle, like once every 3-4 days, and only do a short trip when driven, that alternator is not given enough time to recharge the battery....

But, do not replace the ignition switch....that's guessing....

If the battery is fully charged, and the alternator checks out, what you need to do is called a "parasitic draw test".....what this test does, is check the level of current out of your battery, when everything is off.......current from the battery should be no more 30ma or 0.030 Amps.....if the test shows something like 3 Amps, or 3000ma, that is what is killing your battery.....this can be caused by several things....something as simple as a glove box light or trunk light, that stays on, even though the glove box door and trunk are closed......

And there can be other things, like after market devices that have been added to the vehicle that may cause a current draw.....

So that would be the first thing I would do......make sure your alternator is charging ok....then make sure the battery is fully charged, before having a professional check you vehicle for a current draw.....

[aleekat]

Tech II gave you some great advise. Don't just start throwing parts at it because "someone said it's this". Get some good diagnosis.

[harleylady69]

Other than taking my car to a shop for a diagnosis how can I find out what's draining my batteries. I'm on a tight fixed income & I really don't have the $ to take it to a shop.
I don't even know how to take the dashboard panel off & it doesn't even tell how in the book I bought for my car.

[brcidd]

Flashing temp display (for two minutes) means a climate control code is set.....

[Stealthee]

Here is a Youtube video showing how to perform the Parasitic Draw Test that Tech II mentioned

https://youtu.be/KF1gijj03_0