Electrical Short.

[cvette98pacecar]

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

If you connect a volt meter between the batter and ground it will read whatever the battery voltage is.

If you connect an amp meter between the battery and ground you'll read current flow. There should be only a few hundred milamps.

From reading the other posts, I think you understand the procedure of using either a test light or an ammeter then pull fuses.

You might also have a battery which is, itself, shorted.

That is what I think it is, the amp draw is .0256 which is 256mA. Guessing there is a dead or shorted cell in the battery. Identical to the 91

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by cvette98pacecar

That is what I think it is, the amp draw is .0256 which is 256mA. Guessing there is a dead or shorted cell in the battery. Identical to the 91

Point of clarification: If you see ".0256" that's 25.6ma which is not a big deal. If you did a typo and it truly is 0.256 (256ma) and is steady you do have a heavy draw. Time to leave the meter connected that way and start disconnecting stuff until you find the culprit. Do you have any aftermarket electrical stuff?

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by scottfab

Point of clarification: If you see ".0256" that's 25.6ma which is not a big deal. If you did a typo and it truly is 0.256 (256ma) and is steady you do have a heavy draw. Time to leave the meter connected that way and start disconnecting stuff until you find the culprit. Do you have any aftermarket electrical stuff?

Good catch, Scott.

Robert: Some meters will auto-range to read in mA directly. How-some-ever, if your meter scale is reading Amperes (not mA), then move the decimal 3 places to the right to convert to mA.

Example: 0.0256A (as Scott points out) becomes 25.6mA - which is well under the GM threshold of 50mA where concern for battery drain comes into play (and is pretty much at the top of the statistical bell curve for "key off" or "keep alive" current draw).

If it is higher than 50mA, leave the meter connected and start pulling fuses, one at a time while looking for a sudden drop in current draw to isolate the circuit(s) with the load. Refer to the FSM to futher isolate the various components that share that fuse.

BTW! What does the voltage across the battery do when you connect your battery charger? It sould jump up a few tenths. (Mine is on a Battery Tender. I just disconnected the BT and measured the (surface charge) voltage, and it was 13.36. Then, reconnecting the charger the voltage bumped up to 13.8. The light on the BT is "GREEN" (indicating fully charged).

My point is, to check the BT while connected to the battery to see if it is in fact working. Just a thought.

Hope this helps.

P.

[scottfab]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it's the battery. I say that because something similar happened to me. A relatively new battery (14mo old) would become useless even after sitting a week or two even with a battery tender on it.

After doing some research into "battery sulphation" back in 2002 I determined the battery I bought must have sat on the shelf for a long time. What happens to cause this is beyond the scope of this thread but the battery turned just fine initially after purchase. Over time it seemed to lose it's ability to pull high amps. Eventually even with plenty of charge time it turned the starter with difficulty. It measured a good 13.7v after charging but.... diminished capacity. Read more if you want at:
http://rollsbatteryne.com/docs/A%20S...%20Battery.pdf
You can also use a device to try and recover a sulphated battery. This is an example.
http://batteryminders.com/battery-sulfation.php
Given enough sulphation the internal current leakage of the battery is higher than the float charger...... the battery drains itself.

If it is the battery and you go for a replacement try to find a car parts or Walmart that has just opened. Chances are they have fresh batteries. Alternatively find a place with high turnover in batteries.

I hope I'm right on this. It's certainly going to be easier to replace the battery than to chase down something draining juice.
Good luck.

[WVZR-1]

If it is the battery and you go for a replacement try to find a car parts or Walmart that has just opened. Chances are they have fresh batteries. Alternatively find a place with high turnover in batteries.

Batteries are date coded these days in generally quite visible areas on the battery, it's wise to confirm the date code of the battery because if 36 months down the road you've a warranty issue and no invoice the date code of the battery is generally sufficient for the application of the warranty. Batteries are generally rotated so a "fresher" battery could likely be the last in the rack! A 75 group battery is pretty popular, you might have a choice of 5 - 7 batteries! Grab the "freshest"!!

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by WVZR-1

Batteries are date coded these days in generally quite visible areas on the battery, it's wise to confirm the date code of the battery because if 36 months down the road you've a warranty issue and no invoice the date code of the battery is generally sufficient for the application of the warranty. Batteries are generally rotated so a "fresher" battery could likely be the last in the rack! A 75 group battery is pretty popular, you might have a choice of 5 - 7 batteries! Grab the "freshest"!!

The only date codes I've ever seen are cryptic. Or they have scratch off pads.
Interviewing the department manager at Wallmart he said they just rotate unsold ones out. The are "reconditioned" and put back on the shelf. And I think they've since gotten out of selling batteries all to gether. The O'Riley's guy I spoke to said they do the same thing. Then a green sticker with a number indicating the month it was last "cycled".
And a local Bi-Mart (coop) does not put acid in them and they sit in the back until inventory is needed. A battery with no acid and sealed will not have a problem. They do not have date codes. They do punch out the year and month on a strip on the top of the battery. Problem at BiMart is the once with acid sit for long periods.

BTW all even the sealed batteries like Optima will develop problems if they sit too long.

[WVZR-1]

Originally Posted by scottfab

The only date codes I've ever seen are cryptic. Or they have scratch off pads.
Interviewing the department manager at Wallmart he said they just rotate unsold ones out. The are "reconditioned" and put back on the shelf. And I think they've since gotten out of selling batteries all to gether. The O'Riley's guy I spoke to said they do the same thing. Then a green sticker with a number indicating the month it was last "cycled".
And a local Bi-Mart (coop) does not put acid in them and they sit in the back until inventory is needed. A battery with no acid and sealed will not have a problem. They do not have date codes. They do punch out the year and month on a strip on the top of the battery. Problem at BiMart is the once with acid sit for long periods.

BTW all even the sealed batteries like Optima will develop problems if they sit too long.

I don't know that I'd consider most of the date codes "cryptic" but I would expect to be able to "confirm" the date code from a sales person before a purchase. I also maybe in "error" assumed we might be discussing "first line" batteries with a "nationwide" warranty! I've never had a problem identifying an ACD, Interstate, Exide, or the Sears line. Were I local to a Bi-Mart I might likely consider a purchase there, but for comparisons and date codes I believe we need to confine the conversation to "sealed batteries"!

Your Oreily guy and Walmart guy know that batteries are sold from the "front" and arriving stock is inserted to the "rear" of the rack. Maybe the question wasn't presented "properly". Did you ask for the explanation of a date code or for the code to be pointed out to you? I'm guessing not!

Regarding a comment in a following post regarding the Walmart "cheapo" battery! Walmart has I believe 3 lines of batteries as do all the other "major" resellers. You've the opportunity to purchase "your choice". If your wallet is speaking you might just grab the $55 choice. There's a product just to the right of it that might be $85 that has a warranty equal to or better than most! Carry it back, explain you've a problem, present invoice leave with a new one after a warranty "adjustment"!

Back to the diagnostics guys!!!!