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2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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Feral_Wolve
New User
Jan 12, 2012, 6:47 PM
Post #1 of 5
(1831 views)
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2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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2000
Mitusbishi
Mirage
1.5
round 160k
Wonder if my subject was off the mark. So first off, i just bought a new battery on black friday. The other Morning the car wouldn't start and i had to jump it (had sat in it the previous night with the engine off reading for at least 30 mins). Several times i have sat in the car with the engine off reading or the like for around 20 minutes and it was slow to start the next time. I find if i do not sit in the car with the engine off using the lights and radio and such it seems to start pretty much fine the next go. Ive been to advanced auto and had them do there battery and alternator check which the readings apparently said were good (just said that is said the battery needed to be charged). Not sure if that proves its not the alternator or not. The roof dome light inside my car flickers and fades but has done so for a very long time, so probably useless information. Just trying to add anything i can think of. The belt to the alternator seems to be in fine condition and is spinning the alternator wheel. I honestly cant think of anything else at the moment that might be relevant. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction or give me some tests i can try to do to determine the problem.
As a side note. Ive decided i will most likely pursue a career as a auto mechanic. I borrowed the dummies guide to auto repair as a start lol. Since getting into school atm isnt really possibly (in time hopefully) i plan to at least try and possibly get my hands on some college course textbooks or something. IF you happen to have suggestions, i would be grateful.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jan 12, 2012, 7:24 PM
Post #2 of 5
(1808 views)
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Re: 2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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What you need to do is a parasitic draw test to figure out what device in the vehicle is drawing the battery down when the car is sitting.
To measure parasitic draw you have to connect an amp meter in series with the battery and electrical system. Using a battery disconnect is important on modern vehicles because disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it to hook up your amp meter will cause computer modules to wake up. When the modules are awake they are drawing current. After a period of time they go to sleep as long as power isn't interrupted. Using a disconnect will help keep power from being interrupted while you measure the amount of current being used.
You measure the amount of current being used to determine if it is an excessive amount to cause discharged battery. Usually the drain should be less than 25 mA (.025 A) on most vehicles. If you determine you have an excessive amount of current flowing when all the modules are asleep, you have to unplug each fuse one at a time while watching your meter's reading to determine which circuit is causing the excessive drain. Once you determine the circuit, you look on a wiring schematic to see what devices are in that circuit and disable each device one at a time, till you find the culprit.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Jan 12, 2012, 7:33 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jan 12, 2012, 8:27 PM
Post #3 of 5
(1787 views)
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Re: 2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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LOL......... I smell a test light coming....................... Don't do it RT..........LOL
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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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Feral_Wolve
New User
Jan 16, 2012, 3:48 PM
Post #4 of 5
(1746 views)
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Re: 2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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Sorry, work schedule doesn't allow me to get on often. Now I haven't preformed the test as i don't have an amp meter. If i do find the fuse or circuit in question does that mean that its just the fuse or i guess it could mean a further problem possibly with whichever item is drawing the power? Also, as im trying to learn and what not, you seem to accept that it isn't the alternator right out. Just wondering if this is because the test the advanced discount auto guy performed which said it wasn't, or for other reasons.
I was going to do another post on this topic but now i feel i kinda will just add this in here since its kinda related now. The dome light in the car as i think i previously mentioned has always been weird. Flickering and what not. Recently i went to class and when i came back out and got in my car my radio wasn't working properly anymore for no apparent reason. CD player and everything's fine just the radio stopped picking up signal well. Instead of clear sound i was getting a lot of static to all stations like it was having a hard time picking them up. This of course made 0 sense to me and ive pulled the head unit out n stuff (not knowing anything really about what i was doing) just to check the connections and things. Someone mentioned something about maybe a fuse to me. So i popped open the fuse box and realised that both the fuse for the radio and the fuse for my dome light are held together kinda by a third sort of bracket holding them in. I thought this was rather curious. None of the other fuses have this third appendage and the appendage in question also ....kinda hard to explain....its kinda like one of those plastic type screws that once in flairs out to make it hard to remove. Similar to that but it appears that with the right removing tool i could pop it out. All of the fuses in general i wasn't able to pull out with my fingers so i figure i need to stop by ADAP to get a plastic clip deal made for pulling em out. So basically now i wonder if since im having issues with both the dome light and radio and the fuses are attached with this bracket thing if all my troubles are coming from here including my battery being drained. What do ya think? or am i way out in left field somewhere?
Thanks for your help and time guys!
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jan 16, 2012, 4:31 PM
Post #5 of 5
(1742 views)
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Re: 2000 Mirage battery draining issue
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All the fuse does is help you isolate the circuit that has the problem. You still have to find out what is drawing current and resolve that.
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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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