Windyst1

I am a first time poster...Hello...I have an 06 TL with Navi that has a parasitic draw on the battery. Took the car to the dealer here in Valencia, they had the car for 3 days letting it sit overnight and testing the dead battery each time and they told me that their comprehensive testing pointed to my NEW battery installed from O'Reilys auto store 1 week prior was actually a bad battery and to take the battery back. O'Reilys was shocked that their new battery was bad, I showed them the paperwork from the dealer, they did their testing and yes, their battery WAS dead, so they installed another new battery. Well, it started up fine for a few days but then after sitting overnight and into the next afternoon a few days later the car was dead again. Btw..the dealer said the Bluetooth was working fine which I guess is sometimes the issue...
The car has 140,000 miles on it and Alternator, Starter components have checked out good.
Anyone know of a repair place that can help with this or if anyone that has experience that could help would be appreciated. Thanks

RDX-Rick

Parasitic draw is normal on all vehicles. It is required to maintain things like the radio memories, engine management memories, and even keep the GPS running for quicker access when you start driving. It only becomes a problem when it becomes excessive.

How did you determine excess draw is causing your problem?. The only correct way is to place an ammeter in series with one of your battery leads. After disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, the current will be higher than normal for several minutes while all the devices reboot and reinitialize. It is important to let things sit for at least 15 minutes before taking a reading. The reading should be less than 100 ma.

Another cause of your battery dying, is that the alternator may not be working properly. If this is the case, a newly installed battery might last 2-3 days before becoming so week that it can no longer start the engine. You can test for proper alternator operation by measuring the voltage across the battery terminals while the engine is running. It should read 13.8-14.6 volts.