new battery goes dead quickly

sentra93 · Mar 13th, 2004, 09:05 PM

I replaced my battery recently on my 93 sentra and its gone dead in less than two weeks. I hardly drive the car, and I checked if the alternator is sending 14Volts ( when engine is on ) when i replaced the battery. Is the battery getting drained by some electrical short ? or some electrical eqipment?
how can I diagnose this

hope i am posting on the right forum

thanks in advance

James · Mar 13th, 2004, 09:08 PM

check for blown fuses... if it can drain your battery it will blow a fuse.

sentra93 · Mar 21st, 2004, 03:32 PM

It looks like there's an electrical short. I've checked the fuses and they have not blown up.
There is a steady 130mA current drawn from the battery when start key is at OFF position and there is a 13v drop from -(ve) terminal of the battery and a disconnected (-ve) battery cable, indicating a full circuit from (+ve) and (-ve) battery cables.

Is there a common reason for this. how do you find this electrical short ?

RAMMAN! · Mar 22nd, 2004, 01:29 AM

Start by pulling fuses 1 at a time to see which one makes the draw go away. Then you will know where to look for the problem. A screwed up alternater or starter can draw on the battery too. If you pull every fuse and have no luck check them out next.

sentra93 · Mar 27th, 2004, 01:45 PM

with all the fuses pulled out there still is a 130mA draw. when I disconnect the alternator cables it drops to 87mA. but weird thing is having the alternator disconnected it goes back upto 130mA when I put back "indoor lamp" fuse.
I have to pull out the 25A Engine control fuse under the hood to get current to drop to zero.

Could this be more than an alternator problem?
Will I be able to repair the short in the alternator?

what is the normal drain on the battery when start switch is OFF.

Thanks for all those who replied.

sentra93 · Mar 27th, 2004, 01:54 PM

did I mension that alternator gives 14 Volts when the engine is running, and charges the battery but drains it when not running :-(

toolapcfan · Mar 27th, 2004, 06:20 PM

I doubt a 130ma draw would drain a battery though.

Sanyo · Mar 27th, 2004, 06:43 PM

You could always get a small solar panel somewhere on your car that wouldn't be noticable, like a real small one. You could prolly get 130mA outta one of em, have it like around ur plates or something, maybe even hanging off ur rear winshield.

recycled_toddler · Mar 27th, 2004, 08:55 PM

I'd bet alternator. I've seldom had starters do it, but plenty of alternators. If you got a car parts place that'll test for free, I'd have that done. And make sure you get to watch...NAPA has been good to me; Checker/Schuck's/Kragen tend to be less than honest. Their rebuilt stuff tends to be crap anyway, and their cross-reference books are usually wrong. Their 5% price incentive isn't worth the down-time and aggravation from their usual mistakes and defective parts.

Oh...and have your battery tested, too. I've had defective new batteries before...