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In Reply to: NO! Here's what you do: posted by James Muskopf on December 04, 2001 at 14:39:25:
Don't use an ammeter, use a volt meter! The alternator output should be around 13.8VDC. Measure this at the battery with the engine at idle, headlights and blower fan on.
Most likely the alternator is fine. It is probably a stuck heating element, like the door lock or windshield-washer-nozzle heater. Either will pull enough to kill a battery overnight. The control unit turns the door lock heater on when you pull the handle up, but sometimes they go bad and don't turn off. Same for the washer nozzles, but I don't know what makes them turn on/stay on.
Use an ammeter in series with the battery ONLY while the engine is not running. If you mess up with the engine running you can fry some expensive stuff. While the engine is off, pull fuses to see when the current draw drops to less than 250mA. Then find out which fuse did it and what it corresponds to.
If you have or have access to an inductive ammeter (you just clip it over the battery wire), this makes the whole job a snap. A good shop will have one and probably only take about 30 mins to diagnose.
If you need more help, don't hesitate to write.
JamesM
james_535@yahoo.com
stick an amp meter on the alternator and make sure it's pushing a charge. could be the connection between the amp and the battery as well, check that.
OOPS! sorry about the double post
Anyway, I recently parked my car for three nights without starting it after a hard drive to LA and back (from SF) The battery is very much dead - not a flicker from any dash light, no clicks, no nothing. I had no previous electrical troubles. Checked the battery, it's dead. No lights were left on, car was locked. Has this happened to anyone? I got a new battery last night but I would like to know how this happened before I kill another one. TIA,
Ted
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