Hi,
My 1992 Q45 battery drain (had recharged twice) soon after I replaced the passenger side front power window regulator that went bad. Now the power window works fine, but the battery continue to drain. Is this related? What do i have to do to rule it in/out to fix this? Thanks.
Battery drain after replaced power window regulator
Re: Battery drain after replaced power window regulator (nhuanlieu)
Here is a quote from an old post I did regarding amperage draws under various conditions on my '94 Q45. It should give you a good idea of where your car should be if it was not draining the battery. If you have more than about .05-.07 amps draw from your battery with everything off after a couple of minutes there is something draining the battery so start pulling fuses for various circuits to narrow it down. I give several examples in my testing on what to disconnect and it's effect. This assumes you know how to test the amperage at your battery and have the appropriate equipment. I'm not responsible for damages to your vehicle!
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OK, I have some baseline numbers from my '94 that's currently great in the electrical department. I pulled the negative terminal and installed my Fluke ammeter inline. Leads in the 10 amp terminals on the meter. You could use the positive as well, would make no difference. I just used the negative as it doesn't have all the other wires connected to it. Negative meter lead to B- and the meter positive lead to the negative battery cable. If you get these backwards you will just read negative amps, no big deal.
Upon connection the dome turned on and stayed on due to my aftermarket alarm until I armed and disarmed it. Then it turned off. Also, there are apparently some systems that operate for a couple minutes upon connection of power as the amps take about 1-2 minutes to stabilize at the low level.
Initial connection w/alarm disarmed, dome light on -> 3 amps, settled to 2.6 amps
Aftermarket alarm armed, dome light off -> .24 amps then settled to .066 amps after approx. 1 minute.
Alarm disarmed, dome light off -> .063 amps after 1 minute
Start pulling large fuses in under hood fuse compartment, unless noted I reinstalled the fuses prior to pulling the next fuse/relay"IGN SW" 30A fuse -> .056 amps"ENG CONT" 25A fuse -> no change"INJ" 25A fuse -> no change"COND FAN" 30A fuse -> no change"MAIN" 75A fuse -> .043 amps"MAIN" and "IGN SW" -> .035 amps*When "MAIN" reinstalled amps were at .5 amps 2 minutes then settled back to .063 indicating that a circuit was operating for a couple minutes upon power up, ECU?"Power window" fuse -> no change"Anti Skid" fuse -> no change"Blower Motor" -> no change
Small underhood fuses"Eng Cont" 10A fuse -> no change"Fog Lamp" 15A fuse -> no change"Room Lamp" 10A fuse -> no change (unless the dome light was on already)"Tail Lamp" 10A fuse -> no change"ALT (S)" 10A fuse -> no change"Hazard" 10A fuse -> no change"Horn" 15A fuse -> no change"Headlamp LH" fuse -> no change"Headlamp RH" fuse -> no change
Relays underhood in junction box (same box as above)"Anti Theft" -> no change"Cond Fan" -> no change"Cruise Cont" -> no change"Inhibit" -> no change"A/C" -> no change
MiscellaneousTrunk open w/trunk lamp on -> .4 amps (amps fluctuating +/-)Room lamp fuse out, door open -> .233 amps (might be alarm LED drawing)Room lamp fuse out, door open, park lights on -> 6.2 ampsHeadlights on -> Exceeded 10 amps, couldn't get accurate reading
This should give you a good start on tracing the amp draw. I didn't pull the two really large fuses next to the fuse/relay box (100A+) or the two black/white wires plugged in at the B+ terminal.
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OK, I have some baseline numbers from my '94 that's currently great in the electrical department. I pulled the negative terminal and installed my Fluke ammeter inline. Leads in the 10 amp terminals on the meter. You could use the positive as well, would make no difference. I just used the negative as it doesn't have all the other wires connected to it. Negative meter lead to B- and the meter positive lead to the negative battery cable. If you get these backwards you will just read negative amps, no big deal.
Upon connection the dome turned on and stayed on due to my aftermarket alarm until I armed and disarmed it. Then it turned off. Also, there are apparently some systems that operate for a couple minutes upon connection of power as the amps take about 1-2 minutes to stabilize at the low level.
Initial connection w/alarm disarmed, dome light on -> 3 amps, settled to 2.6 amps
Aftermarket alarm armed, dome light off -> .24 amps then settled to .066 amps after approx. 1 minute.
Alarm disarmed, dome light off -> .063 amps after 1 minute
Start pulling large fuses in under hood fuse compartment, unless noted I reinstalled the fuses prior to pulling the next fuse/relay"IGN SW" 30A fuse -> .056 amps"ENG CONT" 25A fuse -> no change"INJ" 25A fuse -> no change"COND FAN" 30A fuse -> no change"MAIN" 75A fuse -> .043 amps"MAIN" and "IGN SW" -> .035 amps*When "MAIN" reinstalled amps were at .5 amps 2 minutes then settled back to .063 indicating that a circuit was operating for a couple minutes upon power up, ECU?"Power window" fuse -> no change"Anti Skid" fuse -> no change"Blower Motor" -> no change
Small underhood fuses"Eng Cont" 10A fuse -> no change"Fog Lamp" 15A fuse -> no change"Room Lamp" 10A fuse -> no change (unless the dome light was on already)"Tail Lamp" 10A fuse -> no change"ALT (S)" 10A fuse -> no change"Hazard" 10A fuse -> no change"Horn" 15A fuse -> no change"Headlamp LH" fuse -> no change"Headlamp RH" fuse -> no change
Relays underhood in junction box (same box as above)"Anti Theft" -> no change"Cond Fan" -> no change"Cruise Cont" -> no change"Inhibit" -> no change"A/C" -> no change
MiscellaneousTrunk open w/trunk lamp on -> .4 amps (amps fluctuating +/-)Room lamp fuse out, door open -> .233 amps (might be alarm LED drawing)Room lamp fuse out, door open, park lights on -> 6.2 ampsHeadlights on -> Exceeded 10 amps, couldn't get accurate reading
This should give you a good start on tracing the amp draw. I didn't pull the two really large fuses next to the fuse/relay box (100A+) or the two black/white wires plugged in at the B+ terminal.
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RAP
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Re: Battery drain after replaced power window regulator (qsiguy)
qsiguy,
Noted your mention of "Fluke meters" and I'm interested in buying what you have. I did a google of Fluke meters and of course there are so many offered that it's confusing. Which meter/Model name or number are you using in the test discussed above?
Thanks Jack
Noted your mention of "Fluke meters" and I'm interested in buying what you have. I did a google of Fluke meters and of course there are so many offered that it's confusing. Which meter/Model name or number are you using in the test discussed above?
Thanks Jack
I used a Fluke 112 for this test. Most decent multimeters will have the ability to test amperage in-line up to 10A. Anything over that and you typically need to use a clamp on style of ammeter that measures the current through the magnetic field in the wire so you don't have to wire up in series with the circuit.
As long as you don't try to start the car you can wire up the in-line ammeter right to the battery on the positive or the negative post. That way you read exactly what amperage is being drawn from the battery. Polarity doesn't matter, you will just see a negative value if they are backwards.
As long as you don't try to start the car you can wire up the in-line ammeter right to the battery on the positive or the negative post. That way you read exactly what amperage is being drawn from the battery. Polarity doesn't matter, you will just see a negative value if they are backwards.