91 Civic DX...nothing fancy, daily commuter. New battery, good alternator. Something is draining the battery every night. Any ideas where to start ?

Thanks for any input.


Mark

 

Check and make sure the Alternator really is good. Another thing to do is take the battery to Advance Auto Parts and they will test it for you and charge it overnight if you like. It could be the battery. Something else could be the radio. I remember my radio on my 94 Accord sometimes drained my battery and then it stopped sucking battery but it did suck my battery for a few days.

Try those and let us know.

 

Double check that alternator.. Take it to checkers and they'll do it for you. You could have a bad wire maybe rubbed open or somthing...

 

if you have a multimeter check for power draws on all the fuses. just remove the fuse and probe both sides and if one is drawing power then theres your problem.... easiest way to temporarily fix is when you find the fuse simply pull that fuse out overnight or even wire up a switch to it.
sometimes its a sticking relay that might not be releasing....

 

First be sure the battery is being charged when the car runs. This is easily done by measuring the voltage at the battery with the engine idling but everything else switched off. It should be 14 volts or more.

Make sure that the wipers, etc. do NOT work with the key off. You could have a bad key switch that doesn't fully power down the car. Automatics have an electric interlock system between the key and the shift lever. Also it could be the light in the trunk doesn't go out when you close it. If the stereo is an aftermarket system with separate amplifiers, make sure that the amplifiers turn off when the car is off.