My son, who is now away at college, has an 89 Olds Cutlass Ciera. About 2
years ago I replaced the battery with a new Sears Die Hard Gold battery. As
the Olds now just sits idle and not in use for about 45 days now the battery
has gone completely dead. I've had to re-charge it with a battery
recharger.

I'm not sure why the battery is completely losing its charge (no lights go
on at all when the doors are opened nor will any dash lights go on when
turning the ignition key).

Is there some way of determining what is draining the power. I tend to
think that the battery is not bad.
Any thoughts on what might be the problem and/or what I can do?

Thanks,
Walter

"Walter Cohen" <w_cohen@hotmail.com> wrote:

Walter,

That car has at least 2 parasitic drains on the battery - the engine
computer (keeps variable data such as fuel trim values stored) and the
radio (keeps radio presets stored and permits internal clock to keep
time). If the car has other options like remote keyless entry those
systems also have a small drain on the battery so that they are alive
and ready to function.

I'd recommend that if you are leaving the car unused for a long
period of time that you disconnect the battery. On the other hand, if
the car has not been properly prepared for long-term storage (fresh
oil, gas tank drained or gas treated with Stabil, fresh coolant and
car raised so tires don't develop flat spots) the car should be
started and driven at least 2 times a month - drive the car far enough
for the engine and transaxle to come to nornal operating temperature.

I don't know what part of the country you live in, but with winter
fast approaching, if you live in a cold climate (by that I mean an
area where the winter temps are consistently below freezing) my
recommendation above is even more important.

Regards,
Bill Bowen
Sacramento, CA

On the older GM's the wire mesh strap from the engine to the firewall
goes bad or it's connections get dirty. It is usually from the bell
housing up to the body. This forces all the body's power through the
small black wire coming off the battery. When it happens, the
insulation usually starts melting on the small wire.

This causes the battery to only ever half or less charge up so it up and
dies when it sits. As fast as a couple days even.

If the battery cable clamps are corroded that can cause the same thing.

Other than that you can get 1/4 or 1/2 amp chargers you can leave
plugged in or even disconnect the battery.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/p...l?id=2115147590
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Walter Cohen wrote:

Disconnect one battery cable and splice in a test lite. With all
doors closed, key out of ign. the bulb should not lite up. If it
does, this indicates a batt drain. You can isolate which circuit by
pulling fuses one at a time until the test lite goes out. Pulling
fuses implies the driver door is open and you will have to keep the
courtesy switches pushed in.

Pete

cselby@mts.net wrote:

What about electric clock, keyless remote receiver, under-hood light,
other items that draw some current with key off and doors closed ??

On Sun, 08 Oct 2006 19:20:48 GMT, Reed <reedh@rmi.net> wrote:


With the key out of the ignition, clock and radio presets draw less
than 12 volts and will not lite up a test lite. Keyless remote
devices only activate and draw current with the remote signal. EMC
(computer) has a power supply directly from the battery and also does
not draw 12 volts when the key is out. Under hood lite should be
disconnected when doing a draw test - missed that one - not all cars
have one.

Perhaps an obvious area to look is the battery, cable connections and
ground straps. The batt may be fairly new, but that tells you
nothing. Batteries do fail prematurely.

I lay my summer car up for the winter and unless I forget to turn
something off, It will restart in the spring as all cars should. One
day I'll have a stuck relay or wiring fault and will have the same
draining problem.

Pete