Electrical drain while the car is running

BRITTANY GURLEY

MEMBER
2000 HONDA ACCORD
3.0L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
289,000 MILES

I noticed that my voltage was spastic going higher and lower while driving. I have a good battery, a brand new starter and have just replaced the alternator yesterday. However there is still a drain on my battery. Last night the voltage dropped to around seven and the car did not want to shift or drive. I also lost power to my radio and then the car shut off. I left it in a parking lot over night and went back to get it today and it started right up but the voltage was dropping as I was driving. The lights on the dash are as follows: door ajar (with no doors open), battery, SRS (airbag), and parking brake. These lights do go off for a second when I start to drive but then come back on after a second. Please help.

Something I read on a forum said it could be the electronic load detector but Honda dealer said I would have to buy a new fuse box for under the hood. However I watched a couple YouTube videos that showed how to change the part in the fuse box. How likely is it to be this issue?

1 Reply

DANNY L

MECHANIC
5,648 POSTS

Hello, I'm Danny.

The first thing I would do before replacing any more parts is to perform a CAN scan. It will check all the systems on your car including the lights you mentioned that are now coming on the dash. Here is a tutorial showing what is involved with a CAN scan:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/can-scan-controller-area-network-easy

Once you have this performed get back to us with any code information that was stored in your vehicle's computer and we can then properly diagnose what could be causing the drain. Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.