I took my car to a certified mechanic, he.

MZAGEL

MEMBER
1996 NISSAN 300ZX
75,000 MILES

I took my car to a certified mechanic, he replaced the clutch plate, water pump system, etc. Totaling $800, now every since then, my car just goes dead, I can drive to work, park it & when I get back into it by the evening it's completely dead, 1st I thought it was the battery, replaced it. Then the altanator, did the check on it, it's not the altanator, it only acts up in front of my offce. It just won't start. Somedays it will, some days it won't. There is a short where, I don';t know. Please help, since the mechanic again has it, to look at, he says, he did a diagnostic plug in, no results, he had other's look at it, nothing baffled by it, now it is there again, Please help me! What's up with my car?
what else needs to be done? Please, please help.

1 Reply

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

You need to test for a parasitic draw on the battery.

There is a procedure for finding a battery draw like that.

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 10 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.