Vehicle drawing power when off-- Any suggestions?

[jgeorg]

Hi Folks, I searched but couldn't find any relevant info. My 4Runner has an HID set of lights, which the shop just installed about 1 month ago. Problem is, every time the vehicle sits for about 2 days, the battery is dead. I've taken it to the shop 3 times, and he still can't figure it out. He put in a new battery and checked the alternator, saying both we're good. I read something last week about something with the lights is "negative" so if anyone has any info that may help us fix this issue it would be much appreciated.

 

[downpour11]

What do you have hooked up to the battery? Are all those lights on your bumper hooked up to constant power from the battery? Or are you talking about HID's as in your regular headlights?

 

[jgeorg]

What do you have hooked up to the battery? Are all those lights on your bumper hooked up to constant power from the battery? Or are you talking about HID's as in your regular headlights?

HID's are my regular headlights. I believe all the lights are connected to the battery. I just dropped it off because the shop owner wanted to look so I honestly am not 100% sure. But like I said, to the best of my knowledge it is all hooked up to the battery.

 

[A.Wilson013]

So the mechanic installed the lights? Ask him how they're wired. If they're wired with power straight from the battery, and to a switch, that may be your issue.

How do you turn the lights on and off? A stand alone switch?

Is there a reason to suspect the lights? Did the issue start after them...?

 

[downpour11]

So the mechanic installed the lights? Ask him how they're wired. If they're wired with power straight from the battery, and to a switch, that may be your issue.

How do you turn the lights on and off? A stand alone switch?

Is there a reason to suspect the lights? Did the issue start after them...?

That's what I find weird. The mechanic installed the lights and now the battery is dying and he can't figure out why? He had to have hooked up something that's running constant power. OP - if your mechanic rigged up the offroad lights recently and the truck started dying I'm guessing that could be your culprit.

 

[jgeorg]

So the mechanic installed the lights? Ask him how they're wired. If they're wired with power straight from the battery, and to a switch, that may be your issue.

How do you turn the lights on and off? A stand alone switch?

Is there a reason to suspect the lights? Did the issue start after them...?

The mechanic installed the lights. I'll ask him first thing tomorrow morning. The problem started right after he changed the lights out. What would be proper as opposed to having it directly to a switch?

 

[downpour11]

The mechanic installed the lights. I'll ask him first thing tomorrow morning. The problem started right after he changed the lights out. What would be proper as opposed to having it directly to a switch?

Are you able to turn on your headlights or the off road lights when your car is off? Key not in the ignition

 

[A.Wilson013]

The mechanic installed the lights. I'll ask him first thing tomorrow morning. The problem started right after he changed the lights out. What would be proper as opposed to having it directly to a switch?

Something similar to this...

 

[USCG_ET09]

i had a similar issue. Then felt retarded when i found it was a blown fuse to the alternator in my fusebox....Unlikely but it takes a second to check haha

 

[BrianSD_42]

I have suffered a slow drain with my 4Runner for years.

I think it is a combination of mediocre battery, charging system with over 200k miles on it, and car alarm doing a drain.

The best solution I have found to date:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SP-200-Solar-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B004ZC3TFC

Do you know the battery was really at least 95% charged when it died after "2 days" ?

Suggestion: charge the battery to 100% using a quality charger.

Let it sit 2 days ...

Connect it to the charger ... what is the % charged?

After another 2 days ... now what is the % charged?

It is possible that the battery just bad or the 4Runner's charging system has an issue.

 

[fourwd1]

OP, you have too high a parasitic drain on your battery.
Parasitic drain is form things that are still drawing current when, the ignition and all accessories are Off.
Typically things like clocks, stereos, alarms, ECM's. Newer cars have more electronics than ever that draw current when off. Yours is excessive, and it's unlikely due to your new lights.


Start by measuring the current drain with the engine and all accessories Off.
Make sure the doors are closed so the interior lights are off. If you have a hood light disconnect it.

Disconnect the battery Positive cable and connect a DC ammeter (or DVM set to measure DC Amps), in series with the battery positive (+) cable.

Normal drain is maybe 50 milliAmps (.050 Amps) or so. If it's higher start pulling fuses until it drops to isolate it to a circuit, then find out what all is connected to that circuit. Remember there are 3 or more fuse panels.

It may be worth disconnecting the fuse for your new lights first, just to make sure it's not them.

 

[jgeorg]

Thanks for all the replies!! This site is great. All fuses have been checked, and all are good. I am going to try what [MENTION=1857]fourwd1[/MENTION] suggested, and if that doesn't work ill try [MENTION=65101]brianemc2_42[/MENTION] 's suggestion. I would do it the other way around, but I'm slightly doubtful because it has done the same thing with two batteries, and on the latter it has had at least 1.5 hours of driving to charge it. By the way, the lights cannot turn on or off without the key in the ignition.

 

[TheDurk]

OP, you have too high a parasitic drain on your battery.
Parasitic drain is form things that are still drawing current when, the ignition and all accessories are Off.
Typically things like clocks, stereos, alarms, ECM's. Newer cars have more electronics than ever that draw current when off. Yours is excessive, and it's unlikely due to your new lights.


Start by measuring the current drain with the engine and all accessories Off.
Make sure the doors are closed so the interior lights are off. If you have a hood light disconnect it.

Disconnect the battery Positive cable and connect a DC ammeter (or DVM set to measure DC Amps), in series with the battery positive (+) cable.

Normal drain is maybe 50 milliAmps (.050 Amps) or so. If it's higher start pulling fuses until it drops to isolate it to a circuit, then find out what all is connected to that circuit. Remember there are 3 or more fuse panels.

It may be worth disconnecting the fuse for your new lights first, just to make sure it's not them.

^^Saved me writing more or less the same thing. Another trick I would suggest is listen very carefully while you attach battery ground terminal to the battery while the key is off. You can do this with your hand as long as you are sure you are on the ground (negative) side. Pay special attention to any relays associated with these non-factory lights. If you hear ANYTHING click, try and track down where it is coming from. No relay, factory or aftermarket, should be energized with the key off and just the relay coil drawing power will run the battery down even though the equipment it is attached to is not energized.

Sometimes a dufus will put the load directly on the switch and power the relay coil full-time from the battery. If the load doesn't blow the fuse supplying the switch, the lights will work as they should, but the relay coil will stay energized 24/7. This happened to me because Hella sold me fog lights with a harness that had the wrong wire colors in the wrong holes in the relay plug. An easy mistake to make--just swap two connections--but very tough to track down. It was the clicks from the relay when connecting the battery that gave it away.

Note also that disconnecting the fuse for the lights should NOT make the relay click, that fuse should be on the contact side, not the coil side.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I would do it the other way around, but I'm slightly doubtful because it has done the same thing with two batteries, and on the latter it has had at least 1.5 hours of driving to charge it. By the way, the lights cannot turn on or off without the key in the ignition.

What I was trying to say is that you don't really know if the battery is actually charging up all the way despite 1.5 hrs driving or a 100 hrs.

The only way to know the battery is actually fully charged is to connect it to a proper charger that gives you a somewhat accurate charge %. The one I have cost $45 on Amazon and tells me 99% charged with a digital display.

It is perfectly possible that the battery is not charging properly because it is bad or the "charging system" (vague but it is multiple components) might not be working properly. This may keep the battery in a semi-charged state where it never charges fully.

 

[TheDurk]

What I was trying to say is that you don't really know if the battery is actually charging up all the way despite 1.5 hrs driving or a 100 hrs.

The only way to know the battery is actually fully charged is to connect it to a proper charger that gives you a somewhat accurate charge %. The one I have cost $45 on Amazon and tells me 99% charged with a digital display.

It is perfectly possible that the battery is not charging properly because it is bad or the "charging system" (vague but it is multiple components) might not be working properly. This may keep the battery in a semi-charged state where it never charges fully.

You (that is, the OP) can also nail down the drain vs. battery/charging system issue by just leaving the battery ground off for two days. If it starts strong after that, you have a parasitic drain for sure. For the record, I have keyless entry but I don't have an alarm, and I left my truck parked for five weeks during a recent trip to Brazil. She started right up in 25°F when I got back. Original 1999 alt, 2-yr. old Costco battery.