Battery not holding charge

[dejavo0]

I'm having trouble with my battery not holding a charge on my 2000 Boxster. I changed the battery a few days ago, so it probably isnt a battery problem. Do you guys think that my alternator may have gone bad?

[dejavo0]

aHhhh I just checked the charge, its 12 volts with the car off and 14 volts with the car running. So its not the alternator. I think its some drain in the car when I leave the car off. I'm going to double check tonight to make sure no lights are on

[Loren]

The microswitch in the front trunk is know to cause this sort of problem. Be sure and check it or take the bulb out to test.

[dejavo0]

The microswitch in the front trunk is know to cause this sort of problem. Be sure and check it or take the bulb out to test.

Thanks Loren, I'll take the light bulb out of the front trunk. My battery just went down to 11 volts and my car isn't starting.

[Loren]

You've got mail...

[dejavo0]

Hi Loren

I've tried pulling out the bulbs and my battery is still getting drained when leaving it parked. I took a measure of the amperage and its way over 150 milli amps. Could you give me some suggestions on what I should try next? I think I'm going to start pulling out fuses one at a time and see when the amps drop, I think think there's a short somewhere

Thanks

Edited June 1, 2004 by dejavo0

[Tool Pants]

I was going to say you may just have a bad battery even if it is new. I'm on my third battery in 27 months. I would drive all day or have it on the charger all day, and next morning I was lucky if the cluster lights would go on. They were all from AutoZone and made by Johnson Controls which has a good reputation. We were at a tech session last year and they had a new in the box Porsche Moll battery that tested bad. Take it to a place like AutoZone after it has been charged so they can do a load test.

Peter says the draw should be no more than 40 milliamps. Not the electrical guy so I do not know how long it takes to drain a battery with a 150 milliamp load. You might check the seat back motor. http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_question.a...9-284D52B42EDE}

[dejavo0]

ok after pulling out the fuses one by one, I narrowed it down to 2 items, each of these cause my amperage to go over 150 mA. The radio and the instrument cluster. i guess I can leave the radio off for the time being, but I dont know about the instrument cluster. should I just take it to the shop to have them figure out the rest? without any of these 2 fuses in, i'm getting a reading of 40 mA

Edited June 1, 2004 by dejavo0

[Tool Pants]

I cannot figure out your electrical over the internet. Next.........

[dejavo0]

I cannot figure out your electrical over the internet.  Next.........

yeah I understand...ok but more news...i think i really found the cause now. Its the radio. with just the dash plugged in, the amp usage just pulsates, but never above 4 milli amps. The stereo, even when off, makes the amp usage over 150 milliamps. I'll just leave that fuse unplugged for now. Since i'm going to get an aftermarket stereo, I'll just live without music while driving.

Thanks for all your help :cheers:

Edited June 2, 2004 by dejavo0