New battery died.

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Old 05-14-2011 | 01:53 AM
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tl206's Avatar
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New battery died.

Alright so I attempt to try to figure out what's killing my battery. Using a multimeter I connected it in series between the battery ground and the ground wire itself. Here is a picture of what it was reading:



Does this reading mean it's drawing 120 mA? I believe I read on here that the normal draw with the ignition off is 30-50 mA.

This reading is taken with every fuse in the "under hood" fusebox and "under dash" fusebox being pulled except for the 7.5 amp "Backup" fuse. In other words, only the 7.5 amp "Backup" fuse is in. When I pull the "backup" fuse out the current draw is 0 (zero).

If the reading of the multimeter is indeed 120 mA, where is the draw coming from if I pulled out every fuse? What is connected to the backup fuse? Also the car has no aftermarket electronics. The previous owner had an alarm prior and have uninstalled it before my girlfriend bought the car. I don't know where to look for the current draw.
Old 05-14-2011 | 02:05 AM
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Will Y.'s Avatar
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It sounds like the HFL (Hands Free Link) unit in the console with the sunroof button is not shutting down properly, but continuing to draw power. IIRC, that 7.5A fuse closes the circuit for the HFL.
Try popping the HFL out or pulling its fuse-- after all the other fuses are put back-- and then measuring the draw.

G/L.
Old 05-14-2011 | 02:47 AM
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Forgot to mention, I also disconnected the HFL unit behind the overhead dome lights. Same draw with it plugged in as it is with it unplugged. Thanks for the response though. I've done quite a bit of research on battery dying and now I hit a wall again... Please let me know if you have any other ideas. And please verify if I'm reading the multimeter correctly. I'm going to get a reading from a more reliable multimeter tomorrow to ensure accuracy. THANKS!

After putting on the fuse back in, with the multimeter in the same setting as the picture, the current reads 0.34

Does that mean it's drawing 340 mA?! no wonder the battery is dying right?

Last edited by tl206; 05-14-2011 at 02:49 AM.
Old 05-14-2011 | 07:34 AM
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Shouldn't your red probe be connected to the V,Ohm,mA socket?
Old 05-14-2011 | 10:29 AM
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Unfortunately, I don't get a reading with the red probe in the V,Ohm,mA setting (see below). It make sense that I'm not getting a reading if I'm drawing more than 200 mA since the max setting for that probe set to that terminal is 200 mA. So I seem to just confirmed that I'm definitely drawing more than 200 mA. What's draining it...?


Last edited by tl206; 05-14-2011 at 10:35 AM.
Old 05-14-2011 | 11:14 AM
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I'm looking at the fusebox layout under the dash and trying to figure out what is connected to the 7.5 "backup" fuse and where I should check next. I want to turn to you guys for any suggestions since I'm not too knowledgable about some of the electrical components within the car and what's easiest to check. Here is the underdash fusebox layout that shows what the "back up" fuse is connected to:

Old 05-14-2011 | 11:18 AM
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I should also mention that the current being drawn is eliminated by taking out the 7.5 amp fuses of the "interior lights" and the "back up" fuses (fuse #6 and #7 in the picture). Just by taking out these two fuse, the current draw goes to nearly 0.

Her other problems are: side mirrors not working, heated seats not working, and memory seats not working. Do you think these are linked to the battery drain somehow?

Last edited by tl206; 05-14-2011 at 11:21 AM.
Old 05-30-2011 | 01:02 AM
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Quick update: It was HFL unit. I thought I had unplugged it before, but looks like I only unplugged the homelink system and mistaken it for the HFL (Bluetooth) unit.

Can you tell me if a faulty HFL unit will make the side mirror not functional? I am not able to adjust the side mirrors.
Old 05-30-2011 | 07:33 AM
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Thanks for coming back to the Forum with the fix, helps all of us.
Too many people don't & leave everybody wondering what the final fix was.
Old 05-30-2011 | 09:13 PM
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no problem Johnny. Yeah that's what these forums are for. Working together to solve a problem and logging these solutions so that people later on can solve the same problems.

Now I need someone with working mirrors to unplug their HFL unit to tell me if with the HFL unplugged, can they still adjust their mirrors...
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