Battery keeps dying, hard to start.

[tswii]

I'm trying to help my buddy track down a problem with his 2000 Galant. In the past two years we have put around 6 new batteries in it. The alternator checks out. Yesterday we installed a new starter switch. It seemed to help momentarily. The battery just seems to have a slow drain on it that we cant trace. If he doesn't drive it at least every 2 days the starter won't have enough power to crank. Even if he starts it daily the starter solenoid clicks from lack of power and just barely starts. 6 batteries aren't a coincidence. I'm a nissan guy trying to help a dying 8G out. I checked the normal issues that cars in general have, but are their any common issues with this car i should check? There aren't any aftermarket items wired up in this car besides a cd player. We even checked that to make sure it was wired properly. I'd appreciate any advice and help provided. This issue has went on far to long, and google sucks, lol. Thanks in advance.

[Roamingrican]

My only advice would be to check the power and ground cables from alternator >battery, battery >chassis, and engine >chassis. If all of these check out start pulling fuses one at a time to see where the drain is coming from. If you have a multimeter you could check and see if there is a current flow pretty quickly otherwise its just pull one and wait. Rinse repeat. For all you know the trunk switch could be bad keeping the light on. Lol.

[tswii]

ok cool man. i will try that this weekend. thanks

[Roamingrican]

No problem that's what im here for.

[01blackG]

Just a shot in the dark but check the fan control speed knob. On the back of the knob make sure the wiring harness is still good and not melted. If it is melted you could be running into a small problem their. You will have to pull the wire harness off to look at it really good and its the one right behind the knob its self.

[tswii]

Will do. interesting problem area. thanks

[tamim13]

I've seen this problem in my Volvo 850. It was because of the CD player, even though all the wiring was done properly. Why don't you just disconnect the CD player for a few days and see if the battery drain stops?

[Exhaust power]

Its called a parasitic drain and it can happen to many of your cars function.Theres a test out there thatll help you figure if its a drain in the first place. I would basically start with options that stay on even with the key out of the ignition like dome lights, horn etc start pulling fuses and see if the drain is still there.

[Z]

do you have a system in the car? one of my caps went bad and killed 2 batteries in less than a year...

[tswii]

Ok, We did some testing Thursday evening on some fuses. After a few tests on the fuse panel in the dash corner by the drivers door there was no drain. We found the under hood fuse box and decided to test the radio circuit first....nada, but the DVM had a reading on the lighting circuit. It read 0.57, 0.39, then 0.00 amps and went back up to 0.57 to 0.00. We thought it may be a short in the lighting circuit first, but we took all of the lights out of their sockets. The only ones we could find were the two dome lights and trunk light. Dont know if their were any more bulbs, but the drain was still there. The radio is tied into the lighting circuit, not the audio circuit. Some dumbass wired it up wrong. After finding this out we disconnected the lighting/audio circuits by pulling up on the yellow housing the two fuses were in. Didn't know it was designed that way, but it will disable those two circuits if you pull it up. No fuse removal required. My friend has been doing this the past few nights and he has had no more problems with the battery dying or starting the car. We haven't foun the exact problem yet, but know where the issue is isolated. Thanks to all for advice.

[Roamingrican]

Ok, We did some testing Thursday evening on some fuses. After a few tests on the fuse panel in the dash corner by the drivers door there was no drain. We found the under hood fuse box and decided to test the radio circuit first....nada, but the DVM had a reading on the lighting circuit. It read 0.57, 0.39, then 0.00 amps and went back up to 0.57 to 0.00. We thought it may be a short in the lighting circuit first, but we took all of the lights out of their sockets. The only ones we could find were the two dome lights and trunk light. Dont know if their were any more bulbs, but the drain was still there. The radio is tied into the lighting circuit, not the audio circuit. Some dumbass wired it up wrong. After finding this out we disconnected the lighting/audio circuits by pulling up on the yellow housing the two fuses were in. Didn't know it was designed that way, but it will disable those two circuits if you pull it up. No fuse removal required. My friend has been doing this the past few nights and he has had no more problems with the battery dying or starting the car. We haven't foun the exact problem yet, but know where the issue is isolated. Thanks to all for advice.

Glad to hear it all worked out for you. Which wire did he tie into the lighting circuit? Was it a steady on like the red batt+ wire or a switched on like the yellow ACC+ ? I may be able to help you rewire the headunit so you eliminate the drain. Pm me if anything.

[01blackG]

I can bet you it is right at the wiring harness. Pull the radio and re-wire the harness. If im not mistaken it will be an orange wire causing the issue. On most radios that is the dimmer/light wire for the radio.

[tswii]

We only tested the fuses for drain. Haven't pulled the radio out yet, but it's next when we have time. If that don't cure it then we will start looking for shorts in the lighting circuit. We first of all need to switch the radio over to the audio circuit instead of lighting. I've installed radios before, but if I have any questions I'll def ask. Thanks again.