Battery keeps dying

The battery on my 06 LGT keeps dying if I dont drive it for a few days. I was doing some reading on here and then went out and bought a multimeter. I kept having to charge the battery or jump it to start it.

 

When I hook the MM up to it I get around 12.4v and with the car running around 14 so I dont think its the alternator. So im assuming its something thats constantly drawing power from the battery.

 

With the car off and the charger off the car it, I hook up the MM and its constantly going down. If I pull the fuse for the head unit it stays the same. So im assuming the head unit is somehow drawing power. Now my question is, is there a way to fix the head unit or just buy another one? Or is there any other tests I can do. The audio fuse was the first one I pulled because I saw some other people on here with the head unit causing the constant draw.

 

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, Im bad at explaining things on the net.

I was told some year legacy's have bad grounds causing this problem.

Mine does this as well. My CD's got stuck and they no longer work.

 

Does your CD player still work? I am glad to know it is the head unit causing the problems.

 

Does anyone know more details on the grounding issue?

well you got some options ...

 

pull fuses out one by one

place your multimeter to amps 5 amp or 10 amp and check across the terminals of each fuse .

or simply pull a fuse and wait a few days to see the the bettery dies.

 

start at the clock /radio fuse

 

its probably the radio. its usually that there are not many other things that stay on.

well you got some options ...

 

pull fuses out one by one

place your multimeter to amps 5 amp or 10 amp and check across the terminals of each fuse .

or simply pull a fuse and wait a few days to see the the bettery dies.

 

start at the clock /radio fuse

 

its probably the radio. its usually that there are not many other things that stay on.

 

 

I dont know if I messed up my MM or what but when I hook up on to the negative cable and the other to the negative post I dont get any reading when the Amps is selected ( MM model # GE 2524 ). Is there any easy way to test to see if the Amps is working. The Volts and such work.

 

I took back my battery that I bought a few months ago because of the same issue and got a replacement today. Duralast Gold

Wait, how are you hooking up the multimeter?

depending on the multi meter you have to do different things ..

some you have to put the red leed into another socket.

 

but beware !!!! when you connect any terminals to the battery the first time there is always a spark . meaning fairly high amperage. this is because there is some induction or capicitor some where. this spark is usually fairly high amperage and this will blow the fuse inisde the multi meter!

 

what you need to do is have the amp meter connected one leed to post of the battery and other leed to the corresponding clamp ( red on red ) and have bridge or booster cable conecting the post to the clamp first to have everything powered up. and then remove the large bridge so the amperage can be measured.

Yea I put the red one into the amp hole. I followed the directions from this site.

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

 

 

Is this incorrect? Is there something simple around the house I can test to see if the amps is working on the MM? I just bought the MM yesterday for this reason, ive never used one before.

use the amp meeter to power a head light bulb. that will tell you its working.

if the light doesn't work it probably measn the internal fuse is burned.

use the amp meeter to power a head light bulb. that will tell you its working.

if the light doesn't work it probably measn the internal fuse is burned.

 

Okay, the amps on the MM took a crap. I mustve messed something up doing tests. I took it back and got a new one. I also bout some test lead wires with alligator clips on the end. Can you make a diagram or explain how im supposed to be doing these tests? I dont want to fry another MM.

How old is the battery ? They don't last forever.

see pic ..

 

you can use a jumper cable ( this is just to make things less hard to do by your self.

and ?

how old is the battery ? They don't last forever.

 

+1

It is imperative to realize that opening doors while performing this test will cause improper readings, as I have not performed this test on a subaru, I cannot advise as to how to disable interior lighting (other than to pull the bulbs):

Before going to all this trouble, I strongly suggest getting the battery tested. If it is OE it is at least 5 years old, and over due for replacement, if that checks out then:

 

1. Disconnect the Negative Battery terminal

2. connect the multimeter between the negative battery terminal and the negative battery post, Wait for 5 minutes for system to stabilize.

3. check reading on multimeter

4. if the reading greater than .150 A or 150 mA you have a parasitic load.

5. Start disconnecting fuses (with your situation start with the radio fuse) until the value drops below .150 A or 150 mA

6. Check and see what is on that particular circuit,

In your case probably start with disconnecting the radio. if you need help PM me I can help with wiring diagrams and trouble shooting tips.

 

Good Hunting

1 easy way to test battery .. disconnect it when you let it sit and if it still goes dead .. its no good !

Sorry I didnt get back right away. We had a visitor named Irene stop by for alittle. Didnt have power.

 

I have a brand new battery now. The one that had died was only in for about 5 months.

 

I just checked the drain and I got .16. So according to shopteacher I have a small one. Do you think that small of a difference is whats killing it? Guess its time to start pulling fuses. When I first put it on it spikes up around .75 but then goes down to the .16 I mentioned earlier. Is this normal?

 

Thanks for the help so far guys. I really appreciate it.

Just got done testing a bunch of them. Not all, I will do the rest tomorrow morning. After I removed them each one by one, all of them stayed right at .15/.16 back and forth. If I removed the "backup" one under the hood it dropped to .14. That was the only one that I could unplug that changed anything. Should I be expecting to see a .10 or something?

Or you can hit up an Advance Auto Parts or similar store and have your charging system tested for free. I know Advance uses a tester that checks drain at the end.

The spiking is normal. What happens to the value if you pull the radio fuse?

I know this sounds too simple...but...I had this same problem since my '06 was new....replaced the battery a while ago with a better quality one and .........................."End of problems"

The spiking is normal. What happens to the value if you pull the radio fuse?

 

It goes down to .16. Same as the rest.

 

 

I had the system checked before and they said all was normal. Then I bought the new battery and it was good for awhile but now it started the other day, so I figured it was draining from somewhere.

 

 

So if all the fuses are in and im getting .16. Does that mean theres not a drain?

.16 amp isn't very much ..

.16 amp isn't very much ..

 

 

any ideas as to y it keeps dying then?

And ground?

I once had a truck starter that was partially connected due to corrosio, battery was strong enough when new to over come it but a few days setting and the battery would be so dis-charged that it would not take a charge. Someone mentioned Advance testing. While they do offer a battery drain test and charging test it does not test or pin point a drain problem.