I have a 1990 Nissan Maxima with a new battery. I was told the starter would need to be replaced at some point. The car has been fine til a week ago - dead. no sound when I turn the key, no lights nada. Then jump started and was fine drove all around did errands on several days. Then left it sitting without turning on and next time went to use it dead. NO I didnt leave the lights or the wipers or the door or the trunk on or open - the connectors to the battery are good the liquids are good. So what is draining the battery?
Did you have the charging system load tested when you put the new battery in?
If you did and that’s good, one way to find a parasitic drain is by connecting a multimeter, measuring the current flow, and removing fuses to the various circuits starting with the accessory stuff until the current flow drops to a normal level. That’ll isolate the circuit for further troubleshooting.
If that yields no results, be aware that on a car this age you may have a chafed or eroded wire that’s intermittantly creating a high resistance short to ground (that would not necessarily blow a fuse). Since the harnesses to the doors are repeatedly flexed throughout the car’s life and the lock circuits are alway energized even when the car is off, that may be the first place to look. You may have to pop the door panels and manually play with the harnesses to get the anomolous current draw you’re searching for, the osurce of the drained battery.
This youtube video shows how to connect a test light between the positive battery terminal and the disconnected positive battery cable. If the test light lights, pull fuses until the light goes out. THAT will be the circuit which is draining the battery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElidrpGkPYI