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2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Kamaki48
Novice
Dec 5, 2020, 10:55 PM
Post #1 of 14
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2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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I own a 2003 Cadillac CTS with a V-6 3.2 engine and automatic trans.
I'm just now experiencing battery problems. The battery voltage will drain down to 8 volts overnight. So, I charge the battery in the morning for approximately 45 minutes. The voltage goes up to approximately 12.70 volts. The engine now starts up and while the engine is running it goes up to 13.75 volts. I notice that the negative battery cable gets hot while the engine is running. The positive battery cable gets warm. Now, if I leave the battery cables hooked up with the engine off overnight, the voltage drops down to 8 volts. Can't figure out what is going on. Something is draining the battery over night. The engine mileage is approximately 109 thousand miles. Any suggestions? Thank you, Tommy.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 6, 2020, 2:04 AM
Post #2 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Are you saying your battery goes low overnight with it unhooked from the car? That and it will not have power enough to crank engine until you charge it again?
It's possible battery is self destructing inside itself but not sure if just a new one is the end answer yet. BTW, charge new batteries before installing them just because you don't know if anyone did from just being filled is NOT fully charged.
Since you feel the cable(s) being warm this may be destroying batteries and careful with another it doesn't kill that one too.
Why? Lead/acid batteries can't tolerate this very low state of charge and being charged up it wrecks them just needing to be charged all the time.
I'm not so sure what came first a problem with the car or now one caused by charging it too much alternator must be working overtime and hate that one kills the other back and forth so would check for a parasitic drain with a known battery so this ends this problem.
It's a locked thread there how to test for them here, same section we are in up top, >> http://autoforums.carjunky.com/...THE_BATTERY_P186624/ <<
Do that test then if nothing found toss battery it can't hold without the car but as said rule the car out from causing it. An alternator can short inside from finishing your charge once never mind this many times bet you can feel it (if you can get near it safely when running) get too hot to touch and shouldn't. Nor should cables I think that why for now.
More! Don't use fast battery charging by charger 45 minutes it must have a high amp charge setting that alone is killing this battery IMO don't exceed the 10 amp setting if it has one rather low charge rate for lots longer and use chargers with "automatic" shut off hate to say you may have ruined that too?
Tom
(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Dec 6, 2020, 2:11 AM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 6, 2020, 5:01 AM
Post #3 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Yes, you may need to do a parasitic draw test but before you even get that far you need to have to battery tested. The battery very well could be junk and not capable of holding the charge.
All cars has some degree of parasitic drain. A car like the Caddy loaded with electrical accessories could draw more than some other cars. Either way it should not exceed 75ma but you first have to know if you are dealing with a bad battery. Just reading the voltage tells you nothing about the batteries health.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Kamaki48
Novice
Dec 6, 2020, 11:07 AM
Post #4 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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No, the battery goes dead overnight with the terminals hooked up.
I'm going to take the battery to have it tested. Is there a way to test the alternator to see if it is shorted out? Thank you, Tommy.
(This post was edited by Kamaki48 on Dec 6, 2020, 11:09 AM)
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Kamaki48
Novice
Dec 6, 2020, 11:11 AM
Post #5 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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I'll do that parasitic test and see what I can find. Thank you, Tommy.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 6, 2020, 11:15 AM
Post #6 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Test the battery first and then do the draw test. If you have a shorted alternator it will show up in the draw test.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Kamaki48
Novice
Dec 6, 2020, 2:07 PM
Post #8 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Hi Tom, when I do the parasitic test, does it matter which terminal I disconnect? I'm assuming that I'm suppose to disconnect the negative battery cable and place one of the lamp socket wire ends to the negative battery cable and the other end to the negative battery terminal. Now, making sure that the battery is fully charged, if there is a draw the lamp will light up. At this point I'm suppose to wait approximately 45 minutes to allow any memory items to drain down. So, if the lamp remains on after that 45 minute time frame, that would mean that something else is draining the battery. So now, at this time I pull one fuse at a time to see if the lamp shuts off with what ever fuse I pull. At that point this would indicate that the problem if any would be related to that particular circuit. Does this sound right? Thank you.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 6, 2020, 3:12 PM
Post #9 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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No, you do not use a lamp. You must use an ammeter capable of reading miliamps.
All cars have some degree of draw so it has to be measured accurately.
Follow these instructions
You will need a digital ammeter and a jumper wire with clips on the ends to do this.
First rig any door switches so you can have a door open without triggering the interior lights and unplug the hood light. Remove one battery cable and attach the meter in series between the battery cable and battery post. Take the jumper wire and also attach it the same way. Leave the jumper wire on for at least 30 to 40 minutes to expire all the automatic timers. Now remove the jumper wire and read the meter. Anything over 50ma is too much draw. The way you locate this is to start removing fuses one at a time until the meter drops to normal level. This will be the circuit with something staying on. Determine what components are part of that circuit and check them individually until the problem is isolated.
Note that the act of pulling fuses will often restart some timers so you may have to wait for them to expire if that happens
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 7, 2020, 12:30 PM
Post #11 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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It has to be one that can read down into milliamps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 10, 2020, 2:30 PM
Post #12 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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We don't allow e-mail addresses to be posted and we don't communicate through e-mail.
This is an open forum and all responses are kept here for everyone to read.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Kamaki48
Novice
Dec 10, 2020, 7:20 PM
Post #13 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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Sorry, I could not post large messages on the forum. It won't happen again. Thank you, Tommy.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Dec 10, 2020, 7:24 PM
Post #14 of 14
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Re: 2003 Cadillac CTS Overnight Battery Drain
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You can post as large a message as you want. No guarantees anyone will read it if it's too long.
Keep the images small.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Dec 10, 2020, 7:27 PM)
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