hey all
ive got my eb2 fairmont wagon that the battery keeps going flat overnight when i jump start it its fine drives ok voltage is 14.2v consistent with lights and stuff on etc but when i park it overnight it goes flat definately a drain somewhere but where do i start have no idea oh and the battery is 2 days old

thankx guys

I assume you have made sure nothing obvious is being left on, now...

Do you have a multimeter? If you have a battery drain, this is the tool you need to find it. You put it on the "read amps" setting, making sure the meters leads are in the amp terminals, and you connect it in between the pos lead, and pos terminal on the battery. The multimeter will then read how many amps is being drawn, and you then simply pull out 1 fuse at a time until it reads zero, and that is where your drain will be coming from.

Sounds like something is turned on that shouldn't be. You said the battery is only 2 days old so I'll rule out a collapsed cell. Have you checked you boot light and interior lights with all closed and locked? Get someone in the boot with the boot lid closed. What about a stuffed brake light switch? If they are all ok, get a multimeter and connect the multimeter leads for measuring current (amps or milliamps). Disconnect one battery terminal and put your multimeter in series with 1 of your battery leads. Should read something in the milliamp range (20-40mA or so). This is because your ecu's keep alive memory and your clock etc will draw some current when key is off. Your problem is that something else is on and drawing more than just 20-40mA. Another possibility is a faulty alternator diode pack. This could provide another current path with the key off. If you find a high current draw (50mA or more), just pull fuses until you find the one that causes the current too drop to a normal level. The culprit will be in that circuit.

cool thankx yea i checked the lights and its a wagon so i can see through the windows ha ha but thanks heaps i will do the amp check tomorrow and see how i go

the other thing is i have one of those battery terminals with the voltmeter in it can they go funky and stuff things up with battery drain

Not sure what you mean by battery terminal with a voltmeter in it. A voltmeter would normally measure in parallel (across the battery terminals) where an ammeter would be is series with one battery terminal (low ohms shunt with ammeter in parallel with the shunt resistor). I guess anything connected too the battery is a potential problem. Use the ammeter setting on a multimeter as suggested and remove one device or circuit (fuse) at a time. You'll eventually find the culprit. Connect ammeter in series with one of your battery cables and the battery terminal itself.

 

 

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