found battery drain.. kind of

ok well after unsuccessfully looking for the battery drain a week ago, i tried to find it again. to my surprise, i found it. there are actually 4 things i had to unplug to get the voltage across the neg. terminal and the neg. post on the battery to go to .6 V ( is that ok?). i had to disconnect the alternator and unplug the following fuses: DOME CTSV(might be CTSY, hard to read it), CIG-CLK, and ECM-BAT. if any of thses were connected by themself the drop would be there, but when i disconnect all 4 things, the drop is only around .6 V. it was a pain in the butt, becausei had all of the fuses disconnected, then i disconnected the alternator and the drop went away, so i said good, and reconnected all of the fuses, and the drop came back.. oh well. so is there anything weird going on that would make the drop only disappear when those things were disconnected? or do i just have to replace/check a lot of stuff. im guessing CIG-CLK deals with the cigarette lighter and the radio stuff for the clock?, im clueless on ECM-BAT, and was wondering if DOME CTSV(or CTSY) had something to do with the dome light on the ceiling of the interior? thanks for any help anyone can provide, im getting my license in 2 weeks, and i want to be able to drive this car the day i get it =).

Yes it's CTSY for "courtesy lamps" Those are the interior lights beside your dome light. Has anything like the radio, cigarette lighter, interior lighting , or electronic control module been replaced or removed recently? That might explain the battery drain if something like a wire was damaged in the process.

well, just recently i took out the old radio, and disconnected the cig. lighter because i dont smoke. i havent put in the new radio yet, as i just finished soldering the harness to it.

is there anything weird going on that would make it drain when all four of those are connected or am i just going to have to replace the alternator and tear apart the interior looking for the short. also what should i do about the ecm-batt, what exactly is it and where is it located. thanks <3

The best way to measure current drain is to use DC Amps on your meter and connect it in series with the battery lead. This will tell you which one is taking the most current.

is there anything weird going on that would make it drain when all four of those are connected or am i just going to have to replace the alternator and tear apart the interior looking for the short. also what should i do about the ecm-batt, what exactly is it and where is it located. thanks <3
Shorts melt wires or blow fuses. SHorts don't cause battery drains.


.6 amps is still a high draw should be below .3 amps. What is your draw with everything hooked up? Looks like something is stuck on causeing your draw.

well with everything hooked up, including the alternator and the 3 fuses i mentioned, the draw is like 12.6 V, the whole voltage of the battery. so how do i find the battery drain in the circuits associated with the fuses (cig-clk,ecm-bat,and dome ctsy). the cig. lighter isnt hooked up, and the radio is disconnected.. the dome light works, i dont know about the ecm. should i try to get a wiring diagram for those circuits and just figure it out by checking each thing? thanks

well with everything hooked up, including the alternator and the 3 fuses i mentioned, the draw is like 12.6 V, the whole voltage of the battery. so how do i find the battery drain in the circuits associated with the fuses (cig-clk,ecm-bat,and dome ctsy). the cig. lighter isnt hooked up, and the radio is disconnected.. the dome light works, i dont know about the ecm. should i try to get a wiring diagram for those circuits and just figure it out by checking each thing? thanks

I must of been half brain dead but a volts reading will not give you a good reading for a draw you needs an amps reading for a draw test. All circuits in a car will read 12 volts which is battery voltage. You want under .3 milliamps for a decent draw anything above will kill a battery.

If your meter has an amps scale disconnect the negative battery lead, hook up the meter than put one lead on the battery and the other on the cable. Now removing fuses should show you a change in readings.

oh, hehe, i thought draw was measured in amps, i must have gotten confused when you said .6 amps is a high draw, i just saw .6 is a high draw, and thought you meant the voltage. ok i will check the amperage tomorrow, and let you know what i find. and i though if you had a drop in voltage across the neg. wire and the neg. terminal it was draining the battery anyway? thanks

well im really at a loss of why the drain will go away when only all 4 things are disconnected, and if any one of them is connected the voltage drop goes to 12.6. probably wont do any good but im going to have the alternator tested, see what comes up. didnt get around to checking the amp draw today, just too busy. anyone else out there that can provide me with some insight? thanks

How is the antena for the radio?does it work or should I say did it work when the radio was connected?

well im really at a loss of why the drain will go away when only all 4 things are disconnected, and if any one of them is connected the voltage drop goes to 12.6. probably wont do any good but im going to have the alternator tested, see what comes up. didnt get around to checking the amp draw today, just too busy. anyone else out there that can provide me with some insight? thanks

Its normal to have a draw in a car. Your radio needs power to keep its memory, your PCM also does the same. By pulling every fuse you are removing power from the good draw as well as the bad draw.