Battery dies over night..hlp pls

[Jpooks_S13]

First off i did a search and couldnt find the answer..

but anyway here is my problem.

I drive to work and everything seems fine on my drive there.I'll park my car and after working 8 hours i hop in to go home,but the car wont start. i got a jump start from a coworker and drove home. when i come to a stop my rpms drop to about 600 and my car stalls.i push start it but any time i let off the gas the car wants to die. whenever come to a stop i have to put it in neutral and brake with my left foot,hold the gas pedal down with my right foot to keep my rpm up and keep my car running.when i get home ill leave the car untill it cools down.Vegas is mighty hot 116 degrees its not fun to be out in.

I dont think its the alternator because Ill put my battery on the charger,
charge it for a couple hours, then reconnect it to see if it will crank.sure enough it starts right up.I turn the car off after letting it run for no more than 2 minutes.Soon after I went bed wake up the next morning expecting to jump right in and fire it up,but no go. it totally drained over night right after giving it a charge..i have no idea about what it is.i am a complete dummy when it comes to wires.I also just got my current battery about a month ago so its new.


sorry if its long and confusing to read any help will be appreciated :)

[aznpoopy]

parasitic drain

you got an exposed wire somewhere contacting metal, completing a circuit and draining your battery when the car is off

google it
fixing it involves using multimeter and pulling fuses till you isolate which circuit its on
then you trace the circuit visually until you find a short

good luck

[Jpooks_S13]

Maybe its from my stereo system?I had a friend install it and everynow and then i hear car noise coming through the speaker,it make a high pitched noise and seems to rev with my engine.When i called to ask him why it did that he said it was a bad ground somwhere.would a ground in my system cause my drain?

[bigOdom1]

when did this start? was it after installing something electrical? if so start looking there.

[aznpoopy]

yes a 'ground' is exactly what i'm talking about.

[Jpooks_S13]

It did it once before after running the A/C all day driving,but that was before i replaced my battery.It has happened more often with the stereo being installed.The only thing thatconfuses me there is when i first had the stereo in it didnt seem to drain.my draining seemed to have started this past week.

[Jpooks_S13]

just went and checked it out..noticed the thick power cable going to to the amp with the fuse in the line had exposed areas and might have been hitting my fender..which i think may be causing the funny noise?i dont know for sure as i am not the smartest with car audio/wireing in general..could that have maybe been the problem?

p.s.i used electrical tape to cover up any bare wire i found

[bigOdom1]

should have used heat shrink

[Jpooks_S13]

just used what i had on hand :( but im going to let the car sit for a while and try to start it and see if maybe i fixed it..or maybe im wishful thinking.

[Jpooks_S13]

ok i did some searching on the net and found this

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

I go out to the garage and find my test light and did what it said..checked all my interior fuses and nothing happened...next i open up the fuse box under the hood and start pulling fuses in order until i get to the ALT fuse pulled it and the light went out..so i guess i have a bad ground in my alternator somwhere?or do i need to just replace the whole thing?

[jrmiller84]

Make sure your alternator is connected properly (no random wires touching it or anything and verify everythings tight) and if not, pull it and take it to a parts store to get tested. They will tell you if it's running below it's normal operating power output level.

I had the same problem when I swapped my SR. One of the alternator wires wasn't connected properly and it arced, killing the alternator. The stereo you installed may have put a strain on it causing it to pop if it was old, never know.

[breakindrifts]

So I still don't see how you ruled out it not being your alternator. If you havn't messed with your electronics or added a system or something I'm willing to bet money it's your alternator and not a parasitic drain.
Go get it tested at a local parts store, or just start your car and disconnect one of the terminals for the battery, if the car dies your alternator is gone.

[Jpooks_S13]

Im pretty sure its a drain because it drains right after reciving a charge and sitting for a couple hours not being driven at all just started for a minute to make sure it would crank..ive done the alternator tests at autozone and in my driveway both checked out ok...i can see what you mean if i charged it and went driving but thats not the case...i tested it by pulling fuses untill my test light turned off..i have a bad ground thats completeing a circut draining it..i just get to play with wires tomorrow :(

[jskateborders]

Maybe its from my stereo system?I had a friend install it and everynow and then i hear car noise coming through the speaker,it make a high pitched noise and seems to rev with my engine.When i called to ask him why it did that he said it was a bad ground somwhere.would a ground in my system cause my drain?
thats exactly what i was going to say. seeing as its unlikely and hopefully (for your sake) not stock wiring exposed, check any aftermarket wiring you did. stereo would be a start. If you have an alarm system or foglights or anything else aftermarket check those

[Jpooks_S13]

i wish it were as easy as my stereo...but i think i have the area pinpointed not i just need to find waht all is on the circut that goes through the ALT fuse..i dont think it will be thattt hard..i hope lol

[Jpooks_S13]

ok so ive narrowed it down a bit but still am confused...so when i pull out the smaller wire thing attached to my possitive battery terminal it makes the light go out..so basically..i just need a wireing diagram if anyone has one pls

[sal240sx]

Go to 240edge. You can find the wiring diagram there.

[fliprayzin240sx]

ok so ive narrowed it down a bit but still am confused...so when i pull out the smaller wire thing attached to my possitive battery terminal it makes the light go out..so basically..i just need a wireing diagram if anyone has one pls

Wait...why possitive? Didnt wiki said negative?

[nissan_driver24]

did you ever check to see if ur alternator was charging? start with the basics first. anything over 13.7volts while the engine is running is good for me. if the alternator is good then check to see if there's any shorts using an amp meter.

[Jpooks_S13]

after taking apart my fuse box the black thing that clicks in to the positive cable is actually directly connected to the ALT fuse...so really i didnt do anything for myself there lol...but the wireing diagram helped alot got it narrowed down to and accessory relay and my ALT...my dad thinks my alt is internaly shorted..this process of elimination gets irritating :(...eh but the diagram helped much TY