I have a 1997 Stratus that all of a sudden has started to drain the battery over night. I replaced the battery and have tested the battery and it is good. I removed fuses until I fugured out which circuit is draining the battery and it is something on the tailight/interior lumination circuit. When I remove this fuse the battery stays charged. Any thoughts or common problems with wiring on these cars I should try first.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

Hmm, interesting. Typically these cars drain the battery after sitting for 20 days. These cars have a few computers on board (body, powertrain etc.) that require some current draw all the time. There is a special fuse that controls this. The dealers would pull the fuse once they they got the cars on their lot because they usually sit for some time. Ifthe fuse isn't pulledthe battery would drain and the car wouldn't start.

 

Well it could be the computers on board your car. Do you have any devices disabled? (odometer, mileage, safety features) because if you do that will drain your battery as newer cars have this so you won't do it. Also, have you checked to make sure that all taillights are off when you turn off your car?

What fuse # is this?

 

It is the fuse number 7 on the interior fuse panel. From what I can tell this fuse is for the tailights and dash/gauge lights. I have been driving it like this during the day and so far these are the only things I have noticed not working. I am wondering if it is something to do with the dash light dimming switch but I have not tried unplugging that yet.

I have no devices or safety features disabled that I am aware of unless one of them quite working. The car has 122K miles on it but should have some life left in it.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

your looking in the right spot. the fuse has power as long as the batt is hooked in, you don't need the key in to have the lights work. this means the power draw could come from any wire starting from the batt going back to the taillights. frankie12 makes a great point, make sure all the lights are off. might be a bad switch. i once had a sim issue in an old volvo. turned out the wires coming off the alt were shorting out to the block. as pulling the fuse stopped your batt drain, i'd try pulling the dome light, lot faster than going through all the wires with a multi-meter and you don't have to pull out carpet, seats, and dash to get to the wires looking for the short. let us know how it turns out, good luck.

 

taillights ARE a saftey issue, don't tell the cops.

 

Turn signals and brake lights work just not tail lights/marker lightsat night. So I do not drive it at night.