Ls4hundred

So I just finished my freshman year at UNC, and had to leave my car at home. Apparently my sunroof leaked because the drains were clogged (still in the process of clearing them, but the car is in the garage so it can't get wet in the mean time), so my interior got wet. My interior had serious condensation problems, so my mom hung some bags of desiccant-type products in my car to soak up some of the water. Once my car was dry enough to drive, I tried to drive it and it wouldn't start (battery was too low to start). My dad determined that there is some kind of draw on the battery even when the car is off, so he told me to detach the negative battery terminal when I'm not driving. After we slow charged the battery, it worked fine for a little while, but tried to start it to take my girlfriend to the airport and it wouldn't even turn over (she got to the airport ok, I had to drive my mom's Highlander, seriously cramping my style ). Today I tried to jump it and it would click once or twice and then stop. My dad suggested that there may be dendritic shorts in the battery. So in the meanwhile, can you guys help me diagnose the problem? Is there anything else I can tell you to help?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

....buy a new battery, and stop loading up the alternator ( by driving w/o the battery).

Ls4hundred

What do you mean driving without the battery? I slow charged it so that it would start on it's own, which it did. However, it still died later. This will be something like the third battery I've bought this year...

Ls4hundred

My dad just told me he measured a constant 30mA draw on the battery with no key in the ignition, the doors closed, the hood up, and no lights on.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

my bad, misread it as disconnecting the battery while driving.

alarm system should draw around 30mA, which is pretty low.

steve2006

Make sure the trunk light goes off when it is closed ( have someone close you in there and then let you out)

williamb82

if its dieing that fast. battery is shot. alt might be hosed now too. id take it to an autozone and have it tested.

j three

What year is the car? My dad and I both have 99's and his got slightly flooded, and some water pooled on the passenger side of the car where the amp for the radio was and it got fried and was drawing power from the battery. We pulled the amp and the drawing problem went away, he also still has the same battery.

Ls4hundred

It is a 94. I will have my dad help me with the trunk thing (I don't trust my 16 year old brother not to leave me in there and make a youtube video out of it).

Ls4hundred

So my dad and I tested a bunch of stuff today. We pulled fuses until the current draw disappeared. For whatever reason, the draw is now about 50mA. We found that the 10A Dome fuse was the one that has the current drawn through it. My dad pulled connectors under the dash on driver and passenger side, one by one, to see if we could further narrow down the suspects. None of them eliminated the current draw. Just for kicks, my dad pulled the 10A Dome fuse and we looked to see what did and didn't work in the car, then we put it back to see what changed. When the fuse was pulled, the passenger side seat belt height adjuster worked, but the driver side did not (it did when the fuse was in place though). My dad and I are stumped. I feel like the current draw is due to the courtesy switches like in LexLS's tutorial, because I do have a slow battery drain and my alarm did go off randomly a few times after the interior got wet. We also just finished clearing my drain plugs today. Any more info I can give you guys? At the moment I am going to have to drive around with the 10A Dome fuse pulled, meaning no radio, power mirrors, dome light (obviously), door locks, etc.