Electrical drain Options

[Tom73]

Another newbe question here. Just got the car Sunday. Put in a new battery last night. Everything seemed all right and all electrics worked just fine. Went out this evening and battery is dead.

So apparently I have a major battery drain. Is there any quirks in a 914 that would cause a drain in any specific location/fitting/outlet/etc? What is the best way to track down the drain? Any special tricks you all use?

tom...

[scruz914]

First question is what was the condition of the new battery? New batteries can sit on a shelf a while and loose some power. It is obvious that you do have a drain with everything off but the condition of the battery may have been low enough for that drain to wipe the battery out.

I am trying to think of what could drain a battery overnight without causing other problems. To drain a battery overnight must be a considerable load.

There are several approaches to trouble shooting an unwanted load. No matter which you will need a volt/ohm meter. I am thinking that you may want to pull all of the fuses and check the current (amps) with no fuses (should be zero, I think) and then add one fuse at a time. You will have to disconnect either the ground or positive battery connection (for this kind of test I don't think it matters) and connect your meter between the battery post and the clamp in the current (amp) mode.

As you add fuses you should see some kind of increase in current that will point you to the source of your problem. That is if you don't see a current reading with no fuses. If that is the case then it means you have a drain before the fuse panel.

Debugging that will require the patience of Sherlock Holmes, and a knowledge of the wiring diagram for your car. I'll leave that kind of investigation if you do not find the problem down stream of the fuse panel.

Good luck!

-Jeff