Battery keeps draining

[Cjlemons]

Anyone know what could be causing this just replaced the old battery about 2 weeks ago and went to start my car and it was dead. I just had a pioneer touch screen installed a few weeks before the old battery went bad. Anyone have any ideas??

 

[JeremyH]

Alternator.

 

[Wicked One]

Mine has done that since day 1 when it was brand new.

4 batteries later still the same thing. 2 alternators and I get this wonderful answer form the "tech" guys at ford. "it is a Mustang, it has to be driven 3-4 times a week or the battery will die, just the way it is."

Assholes. I have tried the "turn off radio" bit, did an amp draw test, nothing. Mine still craps out after 3-4 days of not driving.

Good luck.

 

[06vistabluegt]

I use a float charger.

 

[psumustang]

I had a problem with this after I installed an after market radio...the problem was their was a wire for the bluetooth adapter connected to a lead that was active all the time which in time drained the battery....once I rewired that it was good to go..however I did end up getting a new battery before that thinking my battery was bad....I suggest getting a wire tester and testing a bunch of wires when the car is off...

 

[redfirepearlgt]

Any chance all of you have the 6 gauge package? I only have the 4 gage setup factory. The car has a Mach 1000 stereo and it sat for 3 plus months in the garage on a 5 year old battery and started right up last week. I live in a cold zone as well. I have heard of this on other forums but no feedback from them. Jerseyautoparts may be on to something there if an aftermarket system was installed. As well is amps are not properly configured they can stay on when the car is shut off causing this as well. The only other thing I have heard of is that the trunk light may have a tendency to stay on though the trunk is securely latched. I disconnected my trunk light when I heard this. Just a thought. The drain on that bulb isn't enough to do this in days (2-3) but may well be enough if this is occurring on a 3-4 week basis between starts. Good luck.

 

[NRG-GT]

mines stock electronics had 5 batteries and on my 3rd alternator just keep gettin free replacements now always happens when it gets cold idk y either

 

[kevinatfms]

ive never heard any "ford tech" that would say that. have your car load tested, you have an amp draw. take it to another dealer and tell them you have a draw and you wanna get it figured out.

 

[Cjlemons]

I figured out what it was finally it was the amps from the shaker1000 subwoofers they would just slowly drain out the battery after i had my new pioneer headunit installed.

 

[Riptide]

ive never heard any "ford tech" that would say that.

Then you haven't read the TSB on the issue. Not sure if that counts as a "ford tech" or not.

Basically, Ford says drive the car once a month or it's not their fault if the car kills your battery.

My 06 has this problem and there is zero rhyme or reason to it. It's sat for 3 months and started right up. I've gone out after 3 days and it's been deader than a doornail. Jump the car and it's fine - for a while.

 

[white05gt]

ive never heard any "ford tech" that would say that. have your car load tested, you have an amp draw. take it to another dealer and tell them you have a draw and you wanna get it figured out.

That sounds exactly like the techs at the dealership I bought most of my vehicles from. I told the salesman I won't ever buy from them again until something changes.

I left my car parked for 7 months the last time and it started up no probblem. I must have got lucky after reading everyone elses problems.

 

[bradleyem]

I know that there were issues with the skipper 500/1000 head units where they would not turn off on their own properly with the "delayed off" feature. You had to actually turn the HU off using the knob or they would leave the amps powered, and that would kill the battery.

When the Pioneer HU was installed, how were the amps wired? The blue/white trigger input of the amps should be connected to the blue amp trigger output of the head unit through a 5 volt voltage regulator. The OEM amps use a 5 volt trigger signal, so if you don't use the voltage regulator, then the amps can make a "pop" noise when they turn on and off. It might also cause problems with the amps preventing them from turning off properly. Here is a write up on how to wire up a Pioneer HU to the stock Shaker amps. Any other HU should be the same as well.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/736028-pioneer-avic-d3-installation-write-up.html

(It looks like the other forum is down right now....lol)

Also if you have the factory alarm system, it can drain the battery as well.....

I have never been able to leave my car sit for more than a couple of days without jumping it, and I have a new battery as well. It just hasn't annoyed me enough to get my meter out and start trying to track down the draw......

 

[Cjlemons]

I didn't pay attention when he wired them up but I'm gonna go back and he's gonna rewire it, so well see how that goes. But they do make an annoying sound when I turn the radio on.

 

[s8v4o]

You can easily check the load of the drain yourself. If you have a basic digital Volt and Ohm meter that can read AMPs you're in business. Just take off the positive battery cable. Take one lead from the meter and put it on the positive battery post and take the other lead and touch it to the disconnected battery cable end, then check and see how many amps is pulling. It's quick and easy way to see what kind of load it's pulling while just sitting there. Good luck.

EDIT - NEVER touch one lead to the positive battery terminal and then the other lead to the negative. You will most likely fry your meter because it was never designed to read that much load (AMPS)