tmerriman

Had a dead battery about a week ago, so I replaced the battery because it was 4 years old and at the same time had the alternator checked to make sure it was in good shape (which it was). Two days later, the new battery was dead. If I jump it off, everything works and the alternator charges the battery.

I disconnected the ground from the battery and hooked up an ammeter between the ground cable and ground post and read a current draw of about 0.6A. After pulling fuses I narrowed down the draw to two circuits. Fuse #15 in the power distribution box is worth about 0.5A, and fuse #3 in the passenger compartment fuse panel is worth about 0.1A. If both are out, the ammeter reads between 0.005A and 0.010A, which I think is reasonable.

Fuse #15 is labeled in the book as Memory(PCM/DEATC/Cluster), Courtesy lamps. I checked to see if all the lamps were off, which they were. So far, I have been unable to find any issues with any of the other components, although when the car would not start due to the battery being low, the gauges would dance around in the lower part of their range for a few seconds and then shut off.

Fuse #3 is labeled as Radio / DVD / Amplifier. I do have an aftermarket radio, so I disconnected it and the 0.1A draw is still present. The car came equipped with the factory subwoofer, but I have not removed the panel to check and see it that is causing the draw since I want to find the large draw first.

I have been removing the fuses at night and the battery stays good, so I feel confident that the problem lies in one of these circuits. When the car is running, everything works and I have not had any blown fuses.

What I am looking for is info about what these two circuits power and if there are any common failures before I got tearing into the dash to check the currents in individual wires. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!