my 91 saturn makes the battery go dead in 2 days even though i make sure nothing is on?

Question

the radio interior lights everything is off but the battery goes dead the alternator is still good

it has went through 3 new batteries keeps on using them up

Answer 1

Take it to your local saturn dealer. They will check the electricial system and run a draw test on it.

Answer 2

Try disconnecting your battery when you know its charged. If it still is dead after a couple of days, you have a bad battery. Buy a new one.
If it is still charged, your car is discharging the battery. If that is the case, you'll need a volt ohm meter that can read 12 volt DC amperes (Radio Shack sells them quite cheaply) and a lot of patience. Disconnect the "hot" cable (as opposed to the "ground" cable from the battery. Connect the meter between the "hot" side of the battery (probably the positive post) and the "hot" cable to the car so you can see how many amperes the car is pulling from the battery (it probably will not be more than one or two amps). DO NOT TRY TO START THE CAR WHEN THE METER IS CONNECTED IN THIS FASHION! DAMAGE TO THE METER OR THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE. Once you determine that the car is pulling the battery down, you have to check all of the electrical systems, one at a time, to determine which one is pulling any electricity. A good place to start is at the fuse panel. Removing the fuses one at a time will indicate if any of those systems are the problem. Remove and replace the fuses one at a time. Typical problems are electrical systems that you don't usually see such as a glove box light, a trunk light, an under the hood light, etc.. If this doesn't locate the problem, you had better get a mechanic to look at it.

Answer 3

Make sure battery is good and if so, then you have a "draw' somewhere.
Most cars have what is called a parasitic draw which is not that much voltage coming out of battery when car is sitting, the parasitic draw is usually for electronics memories..
A parasitc draw can take down a borderline battery.
The battery itself can be shorted even if its new. I have replaced batteries with a new one and the new battery would go dead overnight, something the old battery did not do..
Look for things like your glove box not closing fully and courtesy light in it staying on, trunk light staying on, if you have a light under hood see if its staying on, you have anything plugged into lighter socket?? I bet you have installed a aftermarket radio and amp. those are highly suspect.
Bad Diodes in your alternator can cause a draw and drain battery.
If its not one of these and you want to be able to see if battery has a draw in it, disconnect battery and hook a 12 volt test light between battery and cable, with everything tuned off the test light should not be lit, if it is then start pulling fuses out of fuse box till light turns off and that will tell you the circuit the short/draw is in.. remember to have someone hold the switch closed for the door interior light or it will show as a draw. If you pull all fuses and test light is still on remember to disconnect alternater and eliminate diodes as short, also other devices have diodes in them.. basically a diode is a one way electrical switch. I will let current go one way but not the other way.. some devices hooked directly to the battery circuit need these diodes..
good luck!

Answer 4

nicely, it is not unprecedented that a sparkling battery may be defective, so rule that out first. next situation is to be sure the alternator is charging the battery, which may be finished with a volt meter. With the engine working, you should be getting around 14 volts no rely if this is. If the battery and charging equipment verify out, then you definately ought to have a drain on the equipment someplace. Is your glove container or trunk easy staying on while closed? in step with probability an after industry stereo amp that continues to be on while the final prognosis is off? locate and do away with the drain on the equipment, and you'd be ok. one thank you to envision it to take off the constructive battery cable and clip a try easy between the cable and the battery. Does it easy? some thing is drawing if it does. Pull fuses one after the other until the easy is going off. this is the place the situation is, seek for a legend on the conceal of the fuse container which will inform you what that fuse controls, and locate regardless of is drawing the battery down.

Answer 5

If its a good battery the problem could be a bad alternator. A bad diode inside the alternator will drain the battery.
Many autoparts store will test the alternator and battery for free. A simple test for you is to disconnect the negative battery terminal when you park the car overnight . If the battery stays charged the alternator is bad.
Make sure the outside of the battery is clean . A dirty battery will self discharge.

Answer 6

u have a short somewhere that is draining down the battery or you have a bad battery. go to advance and have them check battery. if battery is good, then you have to find the short. this will require a meter to find out what circuits are still open when they should be closed. this happened to me. my radio was wired to work whether car was on or not and it had short. for now what you can do until u can find the problem or have soemone do it for you is to take the battery cable off for the night and put it back on when u need to drive. it is usually a 10mm wrench. good luck.

Answer 7

there can be a variety of solutions to your problem.
It may be a bad connection ( corrosion on the terminals). It can also be just a bad battery. If you don't have a maintenance-free battery, you can check the water level inside the caps on top of the battery(use distilled water). Worse case scenario is you have an unknown parasitic load and it is draining your battery over time.

Answer 8

take it some where and have a them do a draw test on it to see if its slowly pulling the battery down on it,i own a shop ,and i have seen some battery's just low on water that would do this ,be sure and check this also,good luck with it.

Answer 9

I think since you have an after market radio, you should unhook it since its probably pulling around 3 volts of constant power. This is what is causing the battery to drain.

Answer 10

Have you changed the battery? The old one might have a bad cell. Batteries with bad cells can charge, but don't hold charge for long...