battery keeps draining plz help

[JJ08]

hi all so the other day i was going for my P's and i went to start the car and it was dead the only thing i done to it was wire the hand brake wire to the ground wire so my dvd player working while i drive (i know its illeagal) so i disconnected it, so 2 days ago i went to super cheap auto to buy a new battery and its all ready starting to go flat all my wires are ok so what can i do to fix it because i would not have a clue what it is any help would be much appreciated

[m1lky]

Something's staying live and draining it. Does your headdeck or amp turn off completely?

[SHEENY05]

Something's staying live and draining it. Does your headdeck or amp turn off completely?

If anything I would say the amp may be an issue

[showbags]

Check your boot light switch. That will slowly but surely kill tour battery over time

[PRAVX II S]

Check for leak with a multi meter this will tell you if there is any thing staying on while the car is off.
Also do you have a after-market alarm because when it goes faulty it can drain the battery.
Start disconnecting Acc and check the multi meter if amps go up or down.

[johnno010684]

Holden Handy Hints check some of these problems
have a similar problem with my vx, alternator is fine so is everything else havent had time to take it to auto elec yet it doesnt go flat if you leave it unlocked so i leave it in the shed, give this a try over a few nights.

[VTS5]

hi all so the other day i was going for my P's and i went to start the car and it was dead the only thing i done to it was wire the hand brake wire to the ground wire so my dvd player working while i drive (i know its illeagal) so i disconnected it, so 2 days ago i went to super cheap auto to buy a new battery and its all ready starting to go flat all my wires are ok so what can i do to fix it because i would not have a clue what it is any help would be much appreciated

Possible problem with body control module, an update is available from Holden dealers to rectify this problem...

[johnno010684]

^^ exactly right, do you know how much a new bcm would be?

[JJ08]

thanx for all the help might just take it to an auto electrician

[damoscommodore]

mate had the same problem
i thought it was my amp/subs but it wasnt
when you had the head unit wired double check they haven't wired it to your steering wheel controls
because i have a vt the controls are not on them but the wiring is all there for it to be set up(like every VT)
if you have a VT check on that ! i took it to kirkies customs fixed it within 5 mins for free

[JJ08]

damoscommodore how do you know which wires are for the steering wheel controls bacause i have had a brand new battery since last thursday and yesterday i needed a jump start and i dont want to keep disconnecting the battery every time im finished using it like i have been doing lately

[JJ08]

also the stereo was proffesionaly installed before i brought the car

[Clutchy]

Have you checked the alternater ? if its just killed a new battery in a week id say its a new problem not a old one from the stereo unless it from the wireing you done with the handbrake bypass.

[JJ08]

i disconected that before i got the new battery only other thing i can think of is a cheap amp i recently got off ebay

[johnno010684]

have you nutted out the problem yet mate??

[johnno010684]

i disconected that before i got the new battery only other thing i can think of is a cheap amp i recently got off ebay

only way an amp would drain your battery is if its not turning off, im guessing you have the remote wire connected??

[JJ08]

i have sort of figured it out my mate knows a auto electrician and he said the alternator charges the battery but something in there shorts it out and drains so i just gunna get a second hand one and try it out, yeah i have the remote wire connected to both amps.

[johnno010684]

i would take it to an auto elec BEFORE you start replacing stuff, i replaced alternator, battery and still getting drained! i live 2 hours from adelaide thats why i havent seen an auto elec yet

[db_notso]

okay..... to save y'all some trouble lets do same basic short finding work on amperage battery drain....


so you need a multimeter, a car (lol), a ten mm spanner, a fuse puller, two clamps

so open every door and boot (unplug boot light switch)
MANUALLY lock all the doors while open ( push the latch with a screwdriver so its locked)
loosen negative battery terminal
set your multimeter too AMPS eith leads in the AMP hole and COM (black)

......without disconnecting battery do next step.....

attach WITH CLAMP one multimeter cable to the wire side of the negative terminal

slightly lift the terminal and push the other multimeter lead onto the POST of the battery

without letting either lead come off its location lift the negative lead off the battery post and zip tie it or hold it out of the way

clamp the other lead to the POST

read multimeter screen this is how much power your car is using when off should be like .005mamps or less after about 5 minutes (depending on model of car)

so if its reading like 5amps thats a big drain.... then you unplug each circuit (starting with ones your suspicious of) one by one, each time checking multimeter to see if it drops to.00?mamps when it dropswhat ever you unplugged is the circuit thats draining the battery...


for e.g. i set it up,
i take a reading its 4amps (for e.g. only)
i unplug my amp wiring (earth wire)
it drops straight away too .001mamps (no drain

so i go down the road and buy another amp or shootmyself for wiring the signal wire to constant power

another e.g.
i unplug amp stereo intereior neons and it still read high ?amps
next i open fuse box inside car
remove the fuses one by one and checking reading
leaving BCM for last (it always has some drain like .00?mamps)
when i unplug cigarette lighter fuse the reading drops to low level
so i know there is a problem with the wiring of the lighter???


you guys get it?
an ammeter or a multimeter set to amps works in series (for you electrical guys) but if you break the circuit and a module is why its draining e.g. bcm wont go to sleep (turn off) then unplugging it removes power and it resets the little switch that was sticking so now no drain when i do the test, that is why you have to be so analie when setting up for test...

a good auto electrician (and holden for bad ve's with drains that wont go away) will do this test

its called a CURRENT DRAW TEST for those who want to know...