1996 - electrical issues = battery drain

Wifes car.

Jump the car to start it, runs great, gets great charge, etc.

Park the car for an hour after driving for about 25 minutes, starts right up, runs great.(at this point I think my wife left on a dome light or something when she had parked it the night before).

The odd thing I noticed is that the radio does not work (no power, no clock). I check the fuses and they are all fine - I pull the radio fuse for safety thinking it might be the source of the draw.

Last night we try to start the car, dead again. This time I know for a fact nothing was left on and the fuse to the radio was pulled the night before.

Today my wife gets it jumped (She does have to go to work). When driving she notes that pressing the power on the radio causes the passenger side temp controls to flicker.

She just called me to tell me the power windows do not work - I did not pull the fuse for them.

Anybody had anything similar to this happen to them?

The car only has 105,000 miles and is very clean. This seems to be an age not milage issue.

Thanks

Wifes car.

Jump the car to start it, runs great, gets great charge, etc.

Park the car for an hour after driving for about 25 minutes, starts right up, runs great.(at this point I think my wife left on a dome light or something when she had parked it the night before).

The odd thing I noticed is that the radio does not work (no power, no clock). I check the fuses and they are all fine - I pull the radio fuse for safety thinking it might be the source of the draw.

Last night we try to start the car, dead again. This time I know for a fact nothing was left on and the fuse to the radio was pulled the night before.

Today my wife gets it jumped (She does have to go to work). When driving she notes that pressing the power on the radio causes the passenger side temp controls to flicker.

She just called me to tell me the power windows do not work - I did not pull the fuse for them.

Anybody had anything similar to this happen to them?

The car only has 105,000 miles and is very clean. This seems to be an age not milage issue.

Thanks

You could have corrosion between the positive cables--yours has two positive cables that clamp over each other. Could have a bad battery. Remember to remove negative cable first before checking cables. Test down inside the plastic insulation on the cables to be sure the copper is solid.

You could have corrosion at the ground buss that connects several components to ground. I would have to check a book --I have a 93 book for whether the windows ground through the buss. It's under the door frame just at the place where the A-pillar plastic cover goes horizontal. If you're in a wet climate that may have been wet and corroded with time. I had diagnosed my 93 to that point. The climate control, manual type, would go default to AC and defrost on and the power door locks wouldn't work. After 10 minutes or so or the next time I'd start the car it'd work.

Tonight I took an hour to work on it. I put a volt meter between the negative battery cable and the battery. With everything turned off on the car I was getting a 12.57 Volt draw.

With my wife watching the meter I disconnected every fuse under the dash and every fuse I could find under the hood - including the breakers or whatever they are under those fuses - and nothing affected the draw (meaning it continued at 12.57 Volts).

I am interested in the ground buss. There are random electrical issues that are seemingly unrelated; here are the electrical issues thus far:

-Radio does not work
-Right turn signal does not work (left does and all lights work with the hazzards)
-Power windows do not work
-None of the steering wheel controls work (temp and radio controls)

Can anybody definitively tell me where the ground buss is on this car and/or if the items I listed above have a common ground?

Tonight I took an hour to work on it. I put a volt meter between the negative battery cable and the battery. With everything turned off on the car I was getting a 12.57 Volt draw.
You are testing DC voltage, not DC current (draw). Read the instructions that came with your digital multimeter on how to test DC current. BTW, if the reading is less than .2 AMPs, switch the selector over to the 200 or 300 mA scale. :iceslolan

Thank you for your response - intially I had intended to do one series of tests for voltage only then ammp only. With my wife being a less than dedicated assistant - like herding cats - watching the meter I forgot to go the second round for amps.

I worked under the assumption that there would be no voltage returning to the battery unless there was something completing the circuit. By pulling the fuses I had hoped to identify what was completing the circuit - at least narrowing it down to a range of devices.

We are taking it in to a mechanic on Wednesday - hopefully it will be all fixed for less than $500.

It would also be also incorrect to assume “that there would be no voltage returning to the battery unless there was something completing the circuit”. Several circuits on these cars use fusible links and are hot all the time, so therefore, you will always have battery voltage the way you tested. You may just have a stuck relay of flasher. Let's hope for the best and good luck with the mechanic! Is this person good with electrical? :rolleyes:

You are correct and I did not think of it.

I am not much of a gear head. Basic mechnical stuff I can deal with - plugs, wires, oil changes, lube, brakes, water pumps, etc and am fine with, I have never once had to try to diagnose electrical issues with a car.

I may try to do this again testing for amps this time.


I really appreciate your input.

If you ever have a bicycle or computer question I am aces with those. :grinyes: