Anyone have a Battery Draw problem ... if so, how did ya trace it?
Daughter's 2005, will kill a "new" battery within 2 hours. I have the battery out of the car and will trickle charge for the next 24 hours before I tackle this situation. Was hoping for some insight before I start.
Thanks in advance.

PS: The car is stock ... no add on's. Was running great until last week.

 

first verify that the battery is indeed good and doesn't have an interally shorted cell

then, using proper diagnostic proceedures, determine exactly how much draw is on the system. it's normal to have around 100ma or less. if you are seeing Amperage draw, then you have a major parasitic load. Interior light bulbs are in the 1amp range each.

if the battery checks out and you are finding very high draw, then start with pulling fuses to see what circuit is the culpret.

 

Thank you for your reply. I'm curious as to the shorted cell test of the battery. How is this accomplished? This battery just is 2 weeks in the car. As for the parasitic load test, I tried it both ways. My meter between the + post of the battery and the disconnected positive cable. No draw. Then I reversed it between the - post and disconnected negative cable. No draw. Although ... when I put the battery back in and started the car, turning on acc (headlights, a/c, defogger etc) the battery showed a small amount over 14 volts. The second time I did it, when I turned the a/c on the car started to stumble and my meter showed 13.4 volts. I am now starting to think this is an interminet alternator problem. Upon looking at the alternator, I'm not sure I want to tackle changing it. ( I see some busted knuckles and cussing ), or is an easy task?
Thanks again ...

 

from the way I'm reading the way you did the test, it is not being done correctly.

http://www.bbbind.com/Bulletins_Atta...ery%20draw.pdf

since you say the battery is new, then I can't imagine that it has a shorted cell. however to accurately test the battery, you need the right equipment (VAT40 or equiv or Midtronics battery tester). if you have removable cell caps, you can test the voltage of each cell and verify each cell has 2.1v. or you can do a specific gravity test with a hydrometer. any variation of .050 would be considered a bad battery.

a fully charged battery has 12.65v alternator will put out what ever voltage is necessary to maintain system voltage. generally 13-14.5 volts is normal.

 

Thank you ... Your link spells things a little better. I will try it tomorrow.