What is causing the battery to drain on my 1988 Firebird?

Question

I have a 1988 Pontiac Firebird that when not started for 5 or 6 days the battery is drained. The battery is good. What can cause it and how do I find the problem?

Answer 1

get a test light with a 5 wat bulb disconect the neg terminal on the batt hook between neg post and neg terminal if light is on start un pluging start with alternator thain fuses

if light is not on replace the battery

Answer 2

Ok, so if you drove in to an Advance Auto or AutoZone store and had them test the battery and charging system on the car (they do it in the parking lot at some locations), then you could get one more confirmation that you, in fact, have a good battery and alternator. In that case, I would next test the "parasitic current draw" from the battery. When you've parked your car for the night, there shouldn't be more than 1/4 ampere (250 milliamperes) of current being drawn from the battery as it sleeps in your garage. It's easy for you to check and see how much current is actually being drained from your battery when the car's parked by connecting a Digital Multi-Meter (DMM, $15 Sears) in series between a battery post and the cable you've disconnected from it. Make sure to first set the DMM to the 10 Amp scale. Don't worry about wire polarity, because you'll simply read either plus or minus Amps readings as you swap the wire leads. The main thing is to see if your reading more than 0.25 Amps (1/4 Amp or 250 milliamps). If you read something like One Amp or more, you've got a problem with something being on in the car that's drawing current when everything should be shut off. For example, is there a light on in the trunk that you can't see is on? Did you wire up your own alarm etc and not know it's drawing excessive current (amps)? Is the glove compartment lamp on? Is the hood lamp on? etc. Eventually, you can remove one fuse at a time from the fuse box to see if that stops the excessive current flow and locate the circuit causing the problem. Remember, you need to drive the car a couple times a week to keep the battery charged up too.

Answer 3

The battery cable ends may be loose or corroded, and that may give the impression that it is dead. How old is the battery? was it truly charged in the first place? is there enough water in it? That car should have pop up headlights, I once had a car where the headlight motor was trying to close the lights but they did not go all the way down enough to stop the motor from cycling every 2 mins, and that drained my battery 3 times before I heard the motor cycle for 1 second every 2 mins. Do a starter draw test, and it can even be your ignition switch. The other posts are good to so try them as well. Good Luck!

Answer 4

There is a slow drain on the battery, get a test light and checck power to all accessories when in storage it is a good idea to put it on a trickle charger, or store the battery out of the car.

Answer 5

Some things like radio settings and other small current can drain it, if your not gonna drive it much, best thing to do is keep it on a charger or unplug the battery, this issue happens with all cars that sit.

Answer 6

Firstly you must avoid playing the stereo or the a/c when your car is no on. Playing the stereo without the ignition on uses up a lot of battery.
You say your battery has drained, you'll have to replace it.