Ghost/parasitic drain in a 2008 PT Cruiser. Had 2 drain tests done; brand new battery (5 months old from reputable high quality source) after getting 2 duds from a chain brand (they were verified duds from the company); yesterday car battery died except radio, lights, horn all worked. Went to battery location and they did a lot of testing and alternator, starter, battery are all perfect. Checked “codes” in the system and found nothing except a low air in one tire. I do have a broken Cruise Control and also the cover protecting the remote seating positions at the driver’s side. Sometimes those relays that are no longer covered/protected get “stuck” and I have to fiddle with the. (plastic cover keeps breaking at at $115 a piece I stopped buying) So my question is can either of those 2 areas cause my ghost/phantom drain? If so, what can we do?
Yes, possibly. First task however is to find how much current is draining, & which circuit is causing it. Typical everything-off current on current-model cars is less than 70 mA. On my older Corolla, 3 mA. Figuring out which circuit it is, sort of a guessing-game magic trick. Start w/the circuits you think it might be, remove fuses while checking the drain current. If one fuse in particular stops the majority of the drain, you know the circuit that’s causing it. At that point consult wiring diagram for the car to figure out by the process of elimination which particular device is the culprit.
Common battery drain causes: Driver’s door switch, alternator, damaged wire insulation where it goes from door to car body (door hinge area), brake lights.
Another method to ID which circuit is causing it, measure the temperature of the fuses. The fuse w/the most current will be the warmest. Posters here have reportedly used non-contact infra-red temp monitoring gadgets for that purpose.