[quickstarx]

My car every once and while when it sits for a long time without being driven will not start. I know its the power because it just has to be jumped and it will work fine. Something has to be draing the power but i have no idea what. Its not a bad battery because i had it tested. I unhooked my alarm and my stero system and it still has died. What else should i check. i dont have any other electronics hooked up...???

 

[Steelcity6]

same problem

man i have the same problem, so i took it to the alternator shop he could not figure it out .So i took it to my local MAZDA dealer ,they said there was nothing wrong it had a.8 miliamp drain and thats ok, well it did it again so this week i plan to hook a kill switch to the battery so it doesnt drain ..things to check....100 watt fuse to the starter.if thats not it just disconnect the battery at night ,a pain but should work till you get it fixed ..good luck

 

[scubasteve]

have either of you added anything electrical?, It might be hard to wire in a switch as for the cable and current demands of a car battery.

If you havnt added anything electrical, then I would prolly say that there is a fault somewhere with a factory electrical connection/device (power antenna maybe, those things suck)

Get a voltmeter/ammeter (current meter) can be had on any DMM from walmart ($15), can go through the fuse panel under the hood,

Pull all the fuses, Take the black lead from the DMM and put it to the big cable the feeds into fuse block (This is a hot 12v+ wire), then take the Red lead and put it to each fuse lead (point where fuse is inserted in the fuse box) you should eventually find the Amp drainage (the DMM will cause a short over what ever fuse you are metering enabling a connection) when you find the current, note what fuse it is, and it will give you a clue as to which device is causing it, then go and hunt from there

a quick tip, test the meter with know current draw before you try to find the leakage, For example, if you know that its a 8mA draw, then pull the main (100 Amp fuse) from the fuse box, and make sure you read that Current draw first, once you confirm that draw, then go accross all the othe sub fuses second, that way you know what to look for, and that you have the correct settings on the meter

 

[magik8]

Scuba's got the right idea here. Something is drawing too much current when the car is off (this is known as "dark current"). Another way to check this is to remove either the positive or negative battery cable, and put the ammeter in series with the battery (i.e. remove negative battery cable, connect one meter lead to neg battery terminal and the other to the disconnected battery cable) and note the amperage reading on the meter. Then, start pulling fuses until you see a significant drop in the meter. This will tell you what circuit the current draw is on. With the help of a good wiring diagram, you can further diagnose the excessive current draw.