I've been having an on going issue with my cars battery draining while parked. I had the battery tested and they tell me it’s good. I had the alternator tested and they confirm its charging properly. Here's what happens:
I park my car, locking the door as usual with the remote fob. When I come back to leave for the day, my flashers markers are flashing. I unlock the door with the fob; try to start the car and it just clicks. Dash fully lit up, radio will turn on, and lights will come on, but not enough juice to turn over. With a 20 min trickle charge it starts right up. I also jumped it via a jump box a couple times with no problem. I have put a volt meter on battery when it won’t start and it shows 12volts. As the car runs it shows around 14 volts. What could be draining the battery? How can I diagnose this further? Any ideas would be much appreciated.
This has happened parked in my garage for the night as well...

 

Do you have any after market parts installed such as a radio? Also, how old is your battery?

 

I dont have any aftermarket electronics, and my battery is barely 2 years.

 

Normal procedure :
Disconnect the negative battery lead ( after fully charging the battery )
Connect a milliamp meter from the disconnected lead to the negative battery post.
Write down the reading, should be around 30 milliamps or so.
Start pulling fuses in the under hood accessory block one at a time until you see the milliamps drop.
See what this fuse does, go from there.

If all that fails, get in the DeLorean and go to 2036, they might have found a fix by then.

 

I am wondering if locking the door with the fob is the issue. When the alarm is active after locking the door, is it normal for the anti tow switch to flash every second? What do you think about my flashers being on when I come out to the car after its been parked all day. Flashers active all day could drain the battery down a bunch, but what is activating them?

 

If the flashers are flashing all the time, then sure, that is your problem - it would appear that you don't have a battery drain problem, you have a SKREEM/Security pump problem.

I almost think I've heard of this complaint before..... but Im not sure.

 

Is there a way to fix or disable it? I would love to be able to drive and park my car without have to jump it everytime.

 

Update: I checked for drains by monitoring current draw, then pulled fuses of suspected problems. The second fuse I pulled( cigar lighter ) was the issue. There must be leak to ground small enough not to blow the fuse on that line. After leaving that fuse out all day today, no issues. I'll monitor it for the next few days to be sure that was it. I suspect I'll be needing a new lighter socket, know of a good source?

 

I thought that circuit was switched with ignition? My lighter don't work with the ignition off. It works well for me because it will auto turn off my GPS.

 

I do believe the glove box light is also on that same circuit. I did have a problem my lighter not working and I had to pry out the side terminals of the lighter a little bit for it to work. Do you have the lighter in the socket all the time?

 

The lighter and the glove box light are on the same circuit. Neither should work with the key off. I have never checked on the glove box light with the key off, anyone?

 

Willing to bet the glove box light is not shutting off. Faulty switch possibly.

 

Seems the side clips of the lighter have fallen out of the socket. I looked in the socket and they are not there. I have not removed it yet, but I am assuming its shorted to something behind the center panel.

 

I would put an ammeter across the removed fuse terminals and measure the drain. Also see if any lights come on. It must be going somewhere but not getting hot enough to pop the fuse or ignite. Yet.

 

just went out to the garage to put the ammeter across that pulled fuse... front and rear flashers were on. If I wouldn't have went out there it would have been dead again by morning. I did lock the doors with the remote when I parked the car tonight. What the heck is causing the flashers to activate? The alarm getting set off...but by what...? Clearly the cigar lighter is not the issue.

 

Look for water damage in the pump/security module under the foam behind the passenger in the trunk. If you find water you have found your problem.

 

Imagine that...

 

I checked for water or moisture by the pump; there are no leaks its bone dry. I did find a post suggesting the batteries could be going dead on the alarm module up under the windshield wippers. I went ahead and pulled fuse #9 for the alarm to make sure I dont have battery drain until I can get that unit out and replace the batteries. I hope that will be the end of this, or a trade in is in the future for me. I refuse to battle electrical gremlins for months on end like I already do with my Delorean.

 

Just checked on mine: anti-theft turns tail and side makers on flashing. Hazard turns turn signals on flashing.


BTW noticed my rear turns were clear and not amber. Amazon has amber but is hard to find.

Amazon.com: Sylvania 7507 Amber Miniature Lamp, Pack of 2: Automotive

Amazon.com: Sylvania 7507 Amber Miniature Lamp, Pack of 2: Automotive