Hot wire is draining my new battery?

Tiny
SHAUN MOON
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
  • 2.0L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 138,000 MILES
I went to the doctor Friday and serpentine belt broke. Put a new one on, then crank it up and came home. Problem solved, right? Wrong answer! It sits overnight and won't even make a click the next morning. So I go get a new battery cause it's time anyway. It fires up and I drove it around for 2 hours while shutting it off and cranking it 3 to 4 times. Next morning, new battery drained. I put my charger on it, while watching my voltmeter. At 11.74v, I snugged the hot wire and not a sound as I turned the key. The hot wire is draining my new battery. Has anyone ever come across this one. Help me!
Friday, February 7th, 2025 AT 11:52 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,137 POSTS
The question is what is a "hot wire", do you have a radio amp? Is there something in the power port? We need more information; maybe an image of the wire you are talking about? Here is a guide to help as well:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-dead-overnight

Please go over this guide and get back to us.
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Saturday, February 8th, 2025 AT 5:19 PM
Tiny
SHAUN MOON
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
My bad. Hot wire is just slang for the positive cable. So, it has a new fully charged battery. I can hook up ground wire fine. When I put on positive clamp, the car has zero power and nothing in the power port.
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Saturday, February 8th, 2025 AT 10:40 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,137 POSTS
You must have a bad connection in the power distribution, here is a guide to help test for where you are losing it, and I included the wiring diagrams for the system to help.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

Check out the images (below). Let us know how it goes.

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Sunday, February 9th, 2025 AT 9:38 AM
Tiny
SHAUN MOON
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Thanks for your time and knowledge. My mechanic actually made a service call to my house and figured it out in around 15 minutes. When I put the new battery in, the car went into lock down. I guess it thought someone was trying to steal it. Once he reset the theft device, it fired right up. It only cost me $35 so I caught a break as long as it cranks this morning.
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Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 AT 3:35 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,137 POSTS
Glad you could get it fixed, thanks for letting us know. Please use 2CarPros anytime we are here to help.
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Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 AT 9:41 AM

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