All:

I have to pose this question or I won't sleep tonight. Bought the car a week ago and drove it home with a new battery. Car was fine for a couple of days and now when I go to start the car, it is dead. I don't believe I've left anything on or engaged. Totally at a loss.

If I charge the battery back up and put it in, it fires right up. But by the time I get home from work and go try to start it, nothing.

Thanks in advance!

 

get an IR gun ,
open the CE panel,
wind down the windows so you can see the rear door edge lights ,
make sure these go out when the doors are closed.

With a fully charged battery drive the car for a few miles,
park it, shut it off ,
then close the doors, look for the lights to go off.

Wait 10 mins get the IR gun,
jump into the pass seat dont open the door.

Shoot the CE panel relays and fuses see what one is hotter than the rest.
Please report back what you find.
NOTE posting a picture of your CE panel would be a good thing to do for a better diagnosis

 

Solid copy. Thank you.

 

Common problem with these cars. Lots of posts here on it. Usu you can go 2 weeks before a no-start, but the continual up/down on the batt is not good. So yours is a problem. You may be able to get the drain down to 30 mA. Most of us use a batt maintainer. Common place to start is the dome light above mirror, and worn wires there; but of course most CE panels have been molested, then the fun begins.

 

Yep, does everything electrical work, i.e. interior lights, door jam lights? If not, those would be the first circuits to look at.

example: if you have an issue w/ interior lights, pull the fuse, don't supply power to things that don't function until you are ready to fix them.

Dave

 

MrMerlin:

Here are photos of the panel prior to pulling yesterday to clean:

Left side:

[/IMG]

Right side:



Just before removing:



Cleaning commencement:



Yeah, it's pretty gnarly. I used Dremel to clean-up. Purchased new glass tube fuses. Suggestions welcome.

 

Please use this guide to verify what your panel should look like.
From the pictures posted you have too many fuses installed.
NOTE their should be empty fuse slots they need to stay empty,
as installing fuses into these slots can back feed other circuits.

Verify you also have the correct part number relays in the correct locations .
NOTE its easy to misplace a relay location. take your time

NOTE any fuses that appear to have burn marks above them should have the rear side of the wires that go to and from the fuse pins cleaned,
spray some deoxit spray on all of the wire pins on the back of the CE panel

https://www.928gt.com/t-80fuse.aspx

 

Probably the easiest place to look is for things that have been added to the car. I see a few red wires looped over the CE panel in one picture, for instance. Aftermarket alarms, audio add-ons, vintage cell-phone wiring are all top candidates. Disconnect that stuff completely and see if the problem is helped.

Sleuthing electrical drains is a task that requires diligence and a plan. I put a meter in series with the battery ground, then isolate sections of the system to narrow down the possibilites. First sections to isolate are the ones where there's been obvious tampering.

 

Dr Bob those look like the door lock fuses and a black plug that is pulled (original Alarm plug?) - all likely stock

The Red jumper is an alarm disable.

To the OP - your new battery will die very soon if you keep fully discharging it - you have already damaged it... you must stop it discharging too deeply even if that means disconnecting it when not in use.

You need to figure out how to measure the leakage current - plenty of threads on that. If your interior lights don't work suspect that (door end lights on always?)
Once you can measure current - test the effect of each fuse on the total current... This will likely home you in.

Alan

 

don't forget the analog clock...

 

Thanks everyone. I will work through the issues as you have suggested and report back. Amazing diffrerence already in cleaning CE - hopefully it cures a couple of the gremlins I have.

 

MrMerlin's suggestion of using an IR gun to see what's heating up is a good one.

An alternative way is to put an ammeter on the battery to see how much current you are drawing with everything off. Then start pulling fuses one by one. When you see the current draw drop, you have found one place you are draining.
Keep in mind that there is probably more than one parasitic draw draining your battery. Just because you find one, that doesn't mean that's the only one.

 

The IR gun is excellent idea. I have had success with it. I also read voltage drop across fuses: with digital voltmeter touch one probe to each tip of one of your ceramic fuses. You would think there are zero volts right? That is correct unless current is flowing, then there will be a 20-40 milivolt voltage drop across the fuse, depending on fuse rating and current. If a fuse has a voltage drop then that circuit is carrying a load. If it should not be doing so, you may have narrowed down your problem. (I know, I didn't think this would work the first time I read about it too.)
Good luck,
Dave

 

I put the CE back in last night and I didn't mess anything additional up. I gained the headlight operation back. I have left the trickle charge on it for now until I can pick up an IR gun. I will get one next week and do as you suggested.

Thank you.

 

please see this thread


buy a can of the spray on stuff too,
its a 5oz can and can be used to blanket the CE panel

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-it-works.html