battery draining

89 continental bought a new battery and didn't start the car for two days and the battery was dead nothing in the car is on any ideas what could be doing this?

89 continental bought a new battery and didn't start the car for two days and the battery was dead nothing in the car is on any ideas what could be doing this?

99% unsolved battery drain is from defective Alternator Diodes leaking power to ground. This is sometimes not detected during basic Alternator testing either.

Before jumping into this however, was the new battery fully charged? Did you have the same problem with the previous battery?

Incorrect jump-starting can cause the Alternator Diodes to cook.

yes i had the same problem with the old battery because the previous owner said that the battery he had was also new and it did the same thing it sat for 2 days and then the battery was dead he said the alternator was new also so is there anyway to check to see if the alternator is whats causing the battery to go dead

...so is there anyway to check to see if the alternator is whats causing the battery to go dead

Direct answer, Yes - disconnect it (the Alternator).

A very small drain like yours might make a light spark as the Battery Cable contacts the Alternator + terminal.

Testing:
This can be a daunting task if there's a defective component somewhere in the electrical system.
You'll need a Milliamp (VOM) Tester connected bridged between a disconnected battery cable and that battery post.
A cheepie VOM can be had at Harbor Freight for > $5.00 (http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=Meter&Submit=Go)

The tester will show a milliamp draw, around .04 after the modules have settled down. Any more than that is what's killing the battery.

Lets say you read .5 amp (or more) draw with everything off... leaving the VOM connected... now you have to systematically disconnect every component, one by one, reading the amp draw each time. When you disconnect a component that leaves you with zero to .05 draw, you found the problem.

PS: That Hood Lamp is also drawing current with the hood open, messing up your testing. Don't touch that bulb it's really hot, but turn it off at the pin switch or unscrew it with heat resistant gloves.

Disconnecting component systems can be done at the master power distribution box under the hood, and then at the fuse box near the parking brake pedal.
Simply remove the fuse or breaker and read the VOM results.

Here's some related links:
http://www.misterfixit.com/alterntr.htm
Take some of the Master Mech comments with a grain of salt here (http://forums.automotive.com/70/1031407/auto-maintenance/car-battery-goes-dead-overnight-nothing-been-left/index.html) , read through both pages. :)
Or you can always Google It (http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=Car+Battery+Dies+OVERNIGHT&btnG=Search)

lets say it ends up being a component how do i fix it and if its not then that would mean its the alternator right

lets say it ends up being a component how do i fix it and if its not then that would mean its the alternator right

The alternator would be the easiest to test, just disconnect the main wire from the battery to the alternator while reading the amp tester. Then pull the harness connector and read the amp meter.

If you leave it parked for several days at a time without use, you might just disconnect the alt to batt cable while it's sitting, then see if it drained.... rather than using a tester?

If it turns out to be a component, that component might be bad, or the relays / wires leading to it. For example; if you pull the Cig. Lighter fuse, and the amp meter drops to zero, you've identified the Cig. Lighter circuit to be at fault. Now, that could be the wires to the Lighter, the Lighter socket, or the Lighter itself. On another forum there was a report of a frayed Cig. Lighter coil that was constantly grounding, killing the battery.

thank you so much for all your help i appreciate it