each new battery drained, our solution Options

[firefly]

Our 1998 Celica GT ran beautifully for a year or two after we bought it, then suddenly the battery began dying at odd times, sometimes after a few weeks or a month; sometimes overnight; other times after having been driven and parked for as little as 20 minutes! After three successive new batteries, repeated measurements of each battery's functionality (always just fine, thanks), and intense tests and examinations by several mechanics, the battery gremlin continued to drain each new battery at random times, and no one seemed able to find the gremlin's hiding place. In the end, a mechanic suggested that we try purchasing a $35 battery maintainer and plug it into the Celica's battery each night. We did this, and it has solved the problem without too much fuss; I just have to unplug the maintainer and shut the hood before driving the car each day. I still wonder what causes this maddening issue, but I'm grateful I can enjoy my car again.

[Box]

I'm assuming you have, but has the alternator been checked? If so, something is drawing power when the car is off. You can take an ampmeter and hook it up, then go through pulling fuses until the draw drops. That or there could be a short somewhere. Have you done anything with the sound system, or anything else electrical at the time when it all started?

[6strngs]

Sounds like you treated the symptom, not the issue You definitely have something that is drawing power from the battery with the car off, which as Box mentioned can be caused by a power wire shorting to ground. I'm sure you have but you could check the battery cable connections where the ground bolts to the chassis and the positive goes to the fuse box. This also could be caused by a worn ignition switch if you are able to remove the keys without it being fully in the "lock" position.

[firefly]

Many thanks for the suggestions--The alternator shows no signs of any problems; a mechanic tested every area of the car to try to pinpoint where the battery drain occurs but nothing showed up. I will look into whether the ignition switch might be loose. We only made one change to the car after purchasing it. The mechanism that raises and lowers the convertible top quit working, so we had a new one installed. But if there is a problem with it, wouldn't that have shown up during testing for the battery draw?

[6strngs]

Many thanks for the suggestions--The alternator shows no signs of any problems; a mechanic tested every area of the car to try to pinpoint where the battery drain occurs but nothing showed up. I will look into whether the ignition switch might be loose. We only made one change to the car after purchasing it. The mechanism that raises and lowers the convertible top quit working, so we had a new one installed. But if there is a problem with it, wouldn't that have shown up during testing for the battery draw?

Yes, unless the problem is intermittent, which is what it sounds like. It's possible that it was not shorting at the time that the diagnostic check was done, in fact, in my experience as a mechanic it always seemed that whenever you WANT the car to display issues is the only time it'll act perfectly normal

The convertible top mechanism sounds like it could be a culprit however depending on how they fixed it, a part like that would probably be expensive and hard to come by for a car like this so it's possible they may have wired in a universal motor, which is no big deal as long as they wired it correctly. Did you start having issues around the same time or shortly after the repair was done?

[firefly]

Many thanks for the suggestions--The alternator shows no signs of any problems; a mechanic tested every area of the car to try to pinpoint where the battery drain occurs but nothing showed up. I will look into whether the ignition switch might be loose. We only made one change to the car after purchasing it. The mechanism that raises and lowers the convertible top quit working, so we had a new one installed. But if there is a problem with it, wouldn't that have shown up during testing for the battery draw?

Yes, unless the problem is intermittent, which is what it sounds like. It's possible that it was not shorting at the time that the diagnostic check was done, in fact, in my experience as a mechanic it always seemed that whenever you WANT the car to display issues is the only time it'll act perfectly normal

The convertible top mechanism sounds like it could be a culprit however depending on how they fixed it, a part like that would probably be expensive and hard to come by for a car like this so it's possible they may have wired in a universal motor, which is no big deal as long as they wired it correctly. Did you start having issues around the same time or shortly after the repair was done?

[playr158]

alternator or a short somewhere......you just used a bandaid.

[Special_Edy]

Do a parasitic battery drain test.

With the ignition off, remove the negative battery cable and connect a multimeter's probes to the negative terminal of the battery and the negative cable/clamp. Now set the multimeter to measure milliamps in DC. There should be maybe 10 milliamps with everything on the car shut off, if you have significantly more you need to pull the fuses one by one until you find the fuse that causes the drain to drop to normal levels. Make sure not to power the car on or turn on the interior dome light while performing this test, the multimeter can usually only handle 1-10amps before the internal fuse blows to prevent damage.

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Sep 17, 2013 - 11:35 AM

[firefly]

Do a parasitic battery drain test.

With the ignition off, remove the negative battery cable and connect a multimeter's probes to the negative terminal of the battery and the negative cable/clamp. Now set the multimeter to measure milliamps in DC. There should be maybe 10 milliamps with everything on the car shut off, if you have significantly more you need to pull the fuses one by one until you find the fuse that causes the drain to drop to normal levels. Make sure not to power the car on or turn on the interior dome light while performing this test, the multimeter can usually only handle 1-10amps before the internal fuse blows to prevent damage.

Thanks for sharing the tip. A mechanic kept the car for several days and did test it with the multimeter.