Parasitic Drain- Help
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 59
Parasitic Drain- Help
I hope someone out there can help me find where Im not looking. 95 se 5-speed. IF i drive the car everyday it starts just fine. If it sits even one day the battery is completely dead. I have hooked up an ampmeter in series and pulled fuses, links, relays one at a time only to find nothing. Am I overlooking something. The problem started after I had my alternator replaced with a nissan alternator from the dealership. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
How old is the battery? An old battery might hold a charge for a day, but not for a few days. You can take your battery to an Advance Auto or Autozone and they can put it on their tester to see if its still good.
he isn't have a starting problem. something is draining his battery that is all.
did you verify that the battery does indeed have 12.5 ish volts. I dont think a gel cell can go bad. i've seen battery normal ones brand new have bad cells.
what wiring have you done to the car. best way to do now is perform a parasic draw test. wire up a amp meter in series with the battery post and cable and then disconnect it making the meter be your connection from battery to cable and then lock your car withing 1-5 mins the car should be in sleep mode and you should have just a very very small milli-amp draw if its not start pulling fuses.
common issues like trunk or glove box switch being bad and leaving the light on all the time should be the problem if your wiring is completely stock. if you have EU or something then more then likely something is touching something
did you verify that the battery does indeed have 12.5 ish volts. I dont think a gel cell can go bad. i've seen battery normal ones brand new have bad cells.
what wiring have you done to the car. best way to do now is perform a parasic draw test. wire up a amp meter in series with the battery post and cable and then disconnect it making the meter be your connection from battery to cable and then lock your car withing 1-5 mins the car should be in sleep mode and you should have just a very very small milli-amp draw if its not start pulling fuses.
common issues like trunk or glove box switch being bad and leaving the light on all the time should be the problem if your wiring is completely stock. if you have EU or something then more then likely something is touching something
I brought it to my macanic and he found nothing wrong. No idea what to do next.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=390213
Thread Starter
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 59
OK finally had the time to connect the Amp meter... here are my findings. Removed all fuses with out change except for the Alt sensor its a 7.5 amp fuse- the amp meter read 29mamps ith this fuse removed it read 3mamps. Any advise?
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 35
Weird. When you start it on days that you have been drivinging it is it slow to turn over?
Check your wires, maybe the ones between the alternator and the battery are bad. Apparenty the problem isn't with the alternator or the battery. It shouldn't be draining in a few days.
Is there anyway that there could be a relay malfunction causing something to stay on even when the key isn't in the ignition? Not very savy with electronics. Hope this helps but probablly not.
Check your wires, maybe the ones between the alternator and the battery are bad. Apparenty the problem isn't with the alternator or the battery. It shouldn't be draining in a few days.
Is there anyway that there could be a relay malfunction causing something to stay on even when the key isn't in the ignition? Not very savy with electronics. Hope this helps but probablly not.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 59
I finally took it to nissan here in Denver and was told it was a bad alternator causing the massive drain... Had them replace it since they offered a one year warranty for parts and labor. As soon as I got it back I let it sit for three days and it started right up. However after about 6 weeks the drain was back and after one full day of sitting the battery is completely dead. I am planning on taking it back sometime this week again. Are you having the same issues?
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