There's been a couiple times this week where my battery has gotten completely drained, and its not happening from the obvious (or so I believe) such as leaving lights on, door open, etc.

I have just installed an OHC and its tapped into my hardwiring for my radar detector (installed over a year ago)

I'll have to double check what the radar detector is hard wired into in terms of the fuse box, but I know that it turns off when I turn the key off...my question is does the OHC have something running constantly that would draw power even when the ignition is turned off?

Any other ideas from what I should check for?

~Jamie

 

Remove the negative battery cable, and put a test light between the battery cable, and the negative battery post. If it lights bright, then there is a significant current drain on the battery. While watching the test light, start removing fuses one at a time until the light dims. When the light dims, you have found the circuit with the high current drain. If you fo through all the fuses, and the light is still bright, remove the alternator output (B+)wire, and see if the light is still bright.

 

Thanks for the test option...i'll look into that tomorrow morning

 

Any luck. Could it be a bad or old battery?

 

first off, how old is your battery

if your battery is over 3 years old, i would recommend replacing it....

 

Didn't get around to testing that method out today....simply cause the truck started up fine this morning. As far as how old the battery is...I'm going to assume that its the same battery it came from when it sat on the dealers lot brand new.......so...going on 3 years since its an '05...suppose I could replace it sometime in the near future

 

Donjt replace it until youve done the following. for one, when doing that test with the 12v tester light do it both with the ignition in the off and on position incase its a Dead Draw, "When it draws power when its off." or just drawing power when not needed.
2. if it goes down or dies while running. check your fuses first, some control both airbag systems and alternator and has actually happened to me. Than go to like a kragens or something if you wish and theyll test your alt and batt. than going off those failed or passed tests. replace the battery or not.

But doing these tests first can save you some cash. for instance i replaced my altenator AND battery and still having the same problems checked the fuses.....a 1$ fuse cost me 200$ so make sure you do a run around on tests first.