After several days of non-use, the battery on my Suburban goes dead. This has happened several times and I thought I had found the cause, when Walmart replaced the previous battery (under warranty) with a new one. The new one seemed to stay up fine; however, after letting it sit for over a month, I just found the battery is dead again. Any ideas on how to proceed to find the short?
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Are there any devices that might be on even when the ignition is off?
My friend had a tach that he installed and started having the same problem. Come to find out the little light for the tach was on at all times and over the course of time it would run the battery down.
If it was a direct short it should start melting wires and wouldn't be hard to find. Another thought is if you have a meter and pull a fuse and measure to see if any current is going though with the key off. Maybe you can find where the power is going.
Good Luck.
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Are there any devices that might be on even when the ignition is off?
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Not that I know of and I have had this vehicle for years and the problem only started occurring about 6 months ago (nothing new has been installed).
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Ahh the joys of having an aging vehicle.
Now I really wish you luck.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]You need to measure the current flow in the main line with everything turned off. What ever is causing the current drain will show up as a few micro- or milli- amps of current on the meter. Then start disconnecting fuses, one at a time, until you find one that reduces the current flow to zero or nearly so. If you find one that does that, you now will know which item/circuit is causing the drain and you will have a good idea where the problem might be.[/#800000][/font]
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[quote dubob][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]
You need to measure the current flow in the main line with everything turned off.
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Thanks. Please explain how I "measure the current flow in the main line..." (BTW -- I have a voltage meter).
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To measure current flow there has to break in the circut so that you can hook the meter between the break so the the current has to flow through the meter.
You can either disconnect the battery and hook the meter between the cable and the battery and then start pulling fuses like was suggested or you can leave the battery hooked up and pull one fuse at a time and measure to see if there is any current on the meter when you touch the leads to each side of the fuse contacts. If you see either the needle move or the numbers for a digital screen go up then you will know that there is something in that circut the is creating a drain on your battery.
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Thanks for the explanation.
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Also what was the original problem that you had found when you replaced the battery?
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Didn't find any original problem, except that the battery kept going dead. I thought it was just a bad battery because they tested the previous battery with two different testing machines and one machine said the battery was fine and the other machine said the battery was bad. The previous battery was just a few months old, so they replaced it for free under warranty.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][/font][#800000][/#800000][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Kent,
Go here for a tutorial on how to measure current with a variety of measuring devices. And either hook-up that A B N mentioned will work.
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[url "http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/test-methods/meters/how-to-measure-current.php"][/url][url "http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/test-methods/meters/how-to-measure-current.php"]http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/test-methods/meters/how-to-measure-current.php[/url]
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If your stereo has a clock, and other memory settings on it. Just thinkin' out loud.
Good luck. I hate electical problems
Jim
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I had a friend with a simillar problem. Turned out, his glove box light wouldn't shut off when closed.
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Josh makes a good point.
It wouldn't hurt to go out after dark and see if anything stands out. Ash tray or glove box or any other out of the way light could be the culprit.
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Thanks everyone for your great ideas.
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Ok Kent, you have us all wondering now, please share what you discover it to be.
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Will gladly do that. Haven't started the process of narrowing it down yet, but hope to soon.
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Have you figured it out yet? Had the same type of problem but due to knowing my way around my truck and volt meter I figured it out rather quickly. After replacing almost everything..... Turned out the battery was bad. And it was new. Truth is when your battery dies the plates inside of it can short. Yes that's right your battery can short itself out after dying just once. Walmart brand batteries I have heard are notorious for going dead. My truck has a few things that draw power so to avoid the battery discharging completely I start it every couple of days to let it charge the battery. Check it by charging the battery and then disconnect it completely from your truck. Give it a while and check it with your volt meter. If its dropping on its own its the battery. If its not that then you can check the continuity of each fuse with the same meter. Either way my truck is a 2000 Chevy and I've had problems that I've solved already that sound similar to what you're experiencing. Hope this helps
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Haven't had a chance to check things out yet. Good idea on just disconnecting the battery and seeing if it will hold a charge.
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Any luck with the burb yet?
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