Battery draining 2 days after charge

[BobWeiss]

I have a problem with my 91 Xplorer. The battery keeps dieing about 2 days after I charge it if I don't use the truck each day. If I take the truck out for a drive (at least 15 miles) each day then its fine but if I park it for more than a day then the battery dies. I know there is something draining the battery but how would you go about testing for it? Nothing is on inside the truck and all lights work as normal. I am lost at this point trying to find this live line.

Thanks,
Bob W.

 

[chakaD]

Are your terminals clean? How old is the battery? How do you charge the battery up?

I would take your car to autozone and have the battery and charging system tested(Free).

If that checks out then grab a multimeter and with the EX off. disconnect the postive cable. Set your mulitmeter to Amps. Place one lead on the battery and the other to the cable. The reading should be zero. If it isn't start pulling fuses until it reads zero. That will allow you to track down the drawing circuit.

 

[jimbo74]

either your battery isnt charging, or its dieing because its screwed.... with sitting vehicles, if they are charged/discharged "cycled" too many times, they basically stop working all otgether.... regular batteries can do this cycle very few times if that, some can fail with jsut one cycle and others it takes awhile.... if you plan on long term storing the vehicle, get a deep cycle battery and disconnect the power wires before you park it

 

[shamaal]

Some good advice here
1. Get your battery tested
2. Use an ammeter (part of a multimeter) to test pathways for current, chakaD's method works. Unplug any accessories in the cigarette lighter. There may be a small draw for the radio. If any questions ask.

Once I had an improperly installed seat wire that rubbed through the insulation and shorted, that drained my battery after four days. Once fixed, I've left my vehicle for 2 months without draining the battery.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Check all of your interior lights, glove box, sun visors, etc. There are a few different things always draining the battery, such as the PCM memory, radio/clock memory, and alarm system (if equipped). When you use an Ammeter to check for a current drain, it can't show 0 amps, since it's always under a small load.

 

[BobWeiss]

Thanks for the replies!

I had the battery and charging system checked out before and everything is good. This is the 3rd battery in 2 years since all the charging and recharging with a regular battery charger has killed them. Something is drawing power when the truck is parked and its enough to drain the battery after 2 days. I am going to do the multimeter test on it and see if I can track it down. I bought the truck 3 years ago and haven't installed anything into it so the previous owner might have done something to cause this and there is no easy way to know what.

I will let you all know what I find when I do the test.

Thanks again!!!
Bob W.

 

[ma96782]

Food for thought:

You may think it's fully charged........but, it's dead after only 2 days..........something is WRONG. Time to check............

Test the battery and alternator. Take it off the vehicle (IMHO) that way you get the opportunity to clean up and inspect all of the contact points (loose, corrosion, broken). Battery calbe has been known to be rotten on the inside while outside still looks good.

The battery.......might not be able to hold a charge..........just cause volt meter says 12V don't mean much.........you need AMPs to crank the motor. You could test under "load" w/ a tester..........also, test spec. gravity of each cell.

As for the alternator............figure that you trickle charged the battery..........then drove it verrry little...........the system was using power..........but, it wasn't charging the battery. Result quick death, for the battery. Also, voltage regulator?

Of course, there could be something drawing down the power while it's parked........open circuit..........ground.............short............much to look in to.

Aloha, Mark