Parasitic battery drain - what am I missing? (Page 3/5)
Mickey_Moose JUN 18, 04:27 PM
It comes out the wheel well, jacking the car up so the suspension is hanging makes it easier (wheel and liner off) - IIRC, I found that taking it out back side first was easier (if not it was the other way - any event try turning it and taking it out in another direction.

Can be done, just a pain.
CenLA JUN 22, 07:18 PM
Guys, I want to thank you for your guidance. I believe the problem with the parasitic drain was related to the alternator.

I've changed the last Fiero alternator I will ever change in an automatic V6. What an absolutely horrible design for a part everyone knows is liable to be replaced at some time. After a lot of very loud @$#%$!# I found the only way to remove the alternator was from the bottom through the wheel well. I had to remove the wheel, wheel well skirting, split a tie rod, undo the four bolts supporting the alternator bracket, those funny pipes (what do they do anyway?) between the trunk and the dogbone and a few electrical cables that were in the way.

But it's done and it's working like it should. Thank you all for your assistance. I do appreciate it.
IXSLR8 JUN 22, 09:22 PM
Right on. Glad you solved it.

Sweet to have a forum of folks with all kinds of ideas, perspectives, and problem-solving capabilities.
fastblack JUN 22, 10:32 PM
Those "funny pipes" come from a blower motor mounted behind the carpet in the trunk. They are there to "cool" the alternator and coil. IIRC, the blower motor comes on whenever the radiator fan comes on. Most will say they are completely worthless, 88's did not have them.
PaulJK JUN 23, 03:17 AM

quote
Originally posted by CenLA:

What an absolutely horrible design for a part everyone knows is liable to be replaced at some time.




Not "liable to be replaced" but "necessary to be replaced". Notice that only an extra 1/2" or so would have made it possible to lift out the top. this is where my "GM is evil" theory comes from

Glad to see you got it solved. Battery drain is the worst.

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 06-23-2014).]

PaulJK JUN 23, 03:24 AM
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[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 06-23-2014).]

Rsvl-Rider SEP 29, 12:33 PM
I'm also having a battery drain issue. I'm tacking it onto this post in hopes of some help on a specific point that I've not seen covered before.

The problem started several weeks ago. First noticed it on a Monday morning following a weekend that I did not drive the car. The battery was dead. I jump started it and it was fine all week and the next weekend (when I drove it on that Saturday) and through the folowing week. Then on the following Monday after not driving it Saturday or Sunday it was dead again. I suspect I am having the same issue as described here. A slow battery drain caused by who knows what at this point.

So, for about three weeks now I have been disconnecting the positive battery cable (since it's easier to get to) every nite and reconnecting it in the morning before going off to work. (it's my daily driver) I also disconnect the battery when ever I leave the car for several hours. I disconnect it when I arrive at work and then reconnect when take off for lunch. Then the same when I get back from lunch and then again when off to home.

In all that time I have not had a single instance of a dead battery. Then yesterday after working on the car a bit I cleaned up the ground connection from the battery to the chassis and decided to leave it overnight to see what would happen. No other troubleshooting yet. This morning the battery was dead.

My question is... since I have been disconnecting the battery, and it holds a charge, and the alternator appears to be working OK since the battery must be charging when I drive it, have I sufficiently isolated out both the battery and alternator as a source of the battery drain?
------------------
John Wayne as John Bernard Books in The Shootist...
" I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."

My rides...
1988 GT with a 3.4L V6 automatic
2006 Harley Sportster
'cause I love the twisties on two wheels or four.

[This message has been edited by Rsvl-Rider (edited 09-29-2014).]

2.5 SEP 29, 05:11 PM
One other thing, a battery can fail internally. I had a battery that i took out of the car and set on a bench charged it up full, it would sit there and lose 2 volts a day all by itself. I also had one fail internally so it was only able to be chaged up to 7.5 volts. Both were Autozone batteries, one red top and one yellow top.
Neils88 SEP 29, 06:21 PM
Rsvl-Rider....make sure you have a good multimeter when doing electrical testing. You need to be able to measure current and voltage. Read the manual carefully so that you hook it up correctly. The first thing to test is the battery. You can take that into most autoparts stores to be tested....don't assume that the battery is good. A bad battery will damage other parts of your charging system. Once you know the battery is good, then you can test current draw (put the multimeter on the current setting, with the leads in the correct connections on your meter, inline with positive wire from the battery). You should get about 15-20mA with everything shut off. If you have a higher draw than that, then there is a problem. Pull one fuse at a time, until the excess current draw disappears....that will indicate which circuit is bad (just remember that the ECM is drawing current...when you disconnect the fuse to the ECM, the current draw will drop 15-20mA). Then you have to follow the circuit from one end to the other, testing each component / connection / ground on that circuit until you find the problem. You can also have multiple problems...which obviously makes it tougher to find. Just work through everything using the above methodology, slowly and systematically.
Rsvl-Rider SEP 29, 09:02 PM
Thanks for all the good advice guys but for now I am just looking for an answer to the question I posed a couple of posts up....

Can I safely rule out the battery and alternator based on the following experience...



quote
Originally posted by Rsvl-Rider:

So, for about three weeks now I have been disconnecting the positive battery cable (since it's easier to get to) every nite and reconnecting it in the morning before going off to work. (it's my daily driver) I also disconnect the battery when ever I leave the car for several hours. I disconnect it when I arrive at work and then reconnect when take off for lunch. Then the same when I get back from lunch and then again when off to home.

In all that time I have not had a single instance of a dead battery. Then yesterday after working on the car a bit I cleaned up the ground connection from the battery to the chassis and decided to leave it overnight to see what would happen. No other troubleshooting yet. This morning the battery was dead.

My question is... since I have been disconnecting the battery, and it holds a charge, and the alternator appears to be working OK since the battery must be charging when I drive it, have I sufficiently isolated out both the battery and alternator as a source of the battery drain?