Been dealing with this for 9 months. Have to drive the car 20 minutes every day or get nothing but starter clicks. I plan on buying a digital multimeter and pulling fuses one at a time. This problem started basically at the same time that the BRAKE, ABS, and TRAC lights all came on. They’ve been on ever since. The fact that I’ve been dealing with this for 9 months should give you some idea what a total disaster every aspect of my living hell life has become. So could the two problems be the same/related?

Decided to go back to both Autozone and Advance to have them check the battery and charging system. Both places told me the battery and alternator were fine, and no codes. But Advance told me that he couldn’t read any reserve capacity and also that there was some mystery electrical issue on the live data while the car was running (from the code reader). He said that he current jumped way up when pressing on the gas pedal and that that is not normal and that it should be steady and constant. But also couldn’t tell me what was wrong, where to look and no codes. Told me I had to go to the GMC dealer. So just fed up.

[image] DJ44: But also couldn’t tell me what was wrong, where to look and no codes. Told me I had to go to the GMC dealer. So just fed up. What were you expecting from an auto parts clerk? You need an auto technician to diagnose the vehicle’s problems.

[image] Nevada_545: What were you expecting from an auto parts clerk? You need an auto technician to diagnose the vehicle’s problems. I wouldn’t trust an auto parts clerk to fix a sandwich, much less a car.

[image] DJ44: But also couldn’t tell me what was wrong, where to look and no codes 2 things - 1. Corporate may not want their store clerks saying things that might not be correct just to avoid customer being upset because they were wrong. 2 . Stop messing around and have a real shop fix your vehicle.

I expect to stay within the parameters I have to work within and I expect not to easily find an auto technician who will help for free. I also expect the Maintenance and Repair forum on Cartalk.com to have suggestions other than “you need an auto technician”. Do you also spend time on medical questions forums and tell people they need a doctor? How about plumbing forums so you can tell people they need a plumber…

With little progress made during the last 6 weeks, I am not optimistic about your ability to remedy this problem.

[image] DJ44: I expect not to easily find an auto technician who will help for free Does that mean you expect to find one at all? Why would anyone work for free? I suggest you spend quite a bit of time on YouTube and find out what you need and how to properly do a parasitic draw test and locate all the wiring diagrams you’ll need. Post your results here and someone will advise you.

[image] lion9car: If your battery is 60 Ah and you draw 3 A, then the battery will be dead in about 20 hours. A 3 A draw on your battery with the car turned off, parked for a couple hours with doors locked, you’ve almost surely discovered the cause of your dead battery after 24 hours. While a 3 A draw seems a bad thing, it’s actually good in the sense it should be easier to find. 3 A at 12 volts means whichever fuse is supplying the 3A is probably significantly warmer than the others. Removing the fuses one by one will eventually sus out the culprit, but the tool below would make the process faster. [image] 12:1 Infrared Laser Thermometer Amazing deals on this 12:1 Infrared Laser Thermometer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices. Price: USD 14.78 Note that some circuits don’t use fuses, or not the normal types of fuses. Starter motor & alternator circuits for example. Either could cause a 3A draw, but of the two, an alternator fault seems more likely. Normally I’d think of a light bulb as the cause of a 3A draw. 3A * 12 volts = 36 watts, typical for incandescent tail light bulbs, marker lights, etc. but I presume you’ve verified there are no light bulbs on.

Since I can’t get the low-profile J-case fuses out without breaking them - is there a way to measure voltage drop in these fuses like in normal blade fuses? It is probably a module not going to sleep anyway so I don’t think the pulling fuses method would find the problem.

I’ve got some of those types of fuses in my Corolla. I’ve been able to pop the plastic top off to access the fuse element without much difficulty. I’ve never tried to measure the voltage drop across the fuse element though. One idea, a fuse w/3A going through it would create a significant magnetic field. You might could use a simple magnetic compass (like Boy Scouts use when hiking) to determine which fuse is carrying the current, the magnetic field should readily deflect the compass needle. If problem is a computer isn’t going to sleep like it should, it would be very helpful to a tech effecting a repair if you can isolate which particular module is staying on.

Battery dies every 24 hours

Maintenance/Repairs

Renegade April 2, 2023, 11:45pm 58

Unless you are like me and George those days are long gone.

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Battery dies every 24 hours

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