RKD

I bought my 2002 SC430 original year it first came off the line in 2001. It only has 30,000 km because I leave it in storage because it has no tolerance for even 24 hours of sitting without me coming back and the battery being dead.
I decided to try again this week - brand new battery, fully charged at dealer - take car home, sits 22 hours and head out to use it last night - DEAD BATTERY, not even a click on my brand new fully charged battery.
What or who can help me resolve this issue? Who would be able to figure this out for me? It was my dream car when I bought it at the Toronto Car Show 16 years ago; am getting older and would love to be able to enjoy this car. It was my career savings and thought I had the perfect car for retirement. Please help this old gal!!! dale@regalpointelk.com

BCT

So obviously something is draining the battery, get a multi-meter and start testing where it is draining the battery. Google it if you do not know how to or take it to a trusted garage. I assume you already make sure you do not have any lights on, doors are closed, connection to the battery are good and tight etc.

Prasha

Go back to the dealer....

mrblister

You have been living with this for 15 years. The sc430 is famous for parasitic battery drain but yours sounds like its massive . Trunk lights on when trunk closed something is really draining your system A dealer should be easily able to figure this out.

Coleroad

Do a search on YouTube for "how to find a parasitic draw". There's plenty of good videos from reputable posters on this subject.

Harold57

Key question: how long has it been doing this? It sounds to me like something has gone wrong and shorted out. Make sure that there are no open doors, dome lights or trunk ajar that would keep a light on (or a switch in one of those places that keep the lights on). Make sure that your headlights are turned off or go off after you leave the car. After that either search for a short or take it to a dealer or good mechanic who can find the electrical problem. This is not normal and you don't have to live with it like this. The charge on the battery should last 2 to 4 weeks without starting without a problem. (If you decide to search for the short yourself, you might try pulling fuses to the major systems one at a time and seeing when the high current draw goes away. That will help you narrow down the problem.

GmanSC

Or it's just simply a bad new battery. It has happened to me few months ago. I bought a new Interstate battery from Costco and it went dead in few days. I recharged it, next day it went dead again. Took it back and exchanged for another one, the problem went away. Other members had the same problem.

mandyfig

Agree on a bad battery. The chances are it will be slim. The bad battery found is probably an outlier. Or you might be the unlucky one who has found the one bad unit among hundreds or thousands. It happens.

DshngDaryl

It sounds like your best bet would be an automotive electrician. That is a mechanic that specializes in Car Electronics.

I did a google search and there are a few in ontario

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Any corner auto shop or mechanic should be able to diagnosis your parasitic draw (which is a common demon in all SC430's), and tell you what circuit it causing it. Many people in the past have indicated that the "AUTO" headlight function is the culprit but there's been no confirmation of this, IIRC. Secondly, I found that after changing all my interior bulbs to LED's that the door puddle light would stay barely illuminated, which to me meant that could be another cause of parasitic drain. The original halogen bulb would not illuminate until it received the 12v it needed to illuminate, but the LED would be illuminated stepwise so putting only 0.5v would make it illuminate only slightly, which was what I noticed occurred and thus formulated my theory. Additionally, since I changed all my interior and exterior lights to LED, I rarely have a dead battery. Maybe once after leaving the car sit for two weeks in the last few years. In any case, as I said, any mechanic should be able to find your draw and the circuit, but cost is the issue. I'd say an hour of shop time.

mandyfig

I may have prevented or minimized the parasitic draw since I have changed my bulbs to LEDs. Thanks for this information.

I do have my SC on trickle charger, once a week as well.

Teal Sc400

Have u check the alternator?