A no crank situation could occur if the starter solenoid is too hot, this is common with older starters. In my car, it had to be pretty darned hot, although this could happen several ways - 95F outside, or having just gone up a long hill at full boost and then idling for a few minutes, or sitting in stop and go traffic, etc.. I had a similar situation where a boost from a giant truck battery didn't let the starter turn over, even though the voltage was plenty high enough.

As to what is draining the battery, the trunk/brake lights are good places to start, I've had the brake light problem on my car. Another item could be the engine cooling fan, if it's turn off circuit is malfunctioning and letting it run too long.

There are a few ways to troubleshoot. Get a multimeter or VOM and insert it between the battery negative post and the negative wire (ie in series), while the car is off. The reading should be fairly low, I think less than 0.1 amps. If you get a really high reading, say an amp or something, which is what you would need to drain the battery that low overnight, watch the meter while somebody starts one by one pulling fuses out of the fuse box. When the reading drops to almost nothing, you have found your faulty circuit.

One thing you could do, which would require no troubleshooting whatsoever, is get one of those battery disconnect switches that goes inline with one of your main battery wires (I forget if it's the ground or main power - may not matter). Some you just yank out easily when you park the car, some you leave in and they will automatically disconnect the battery if the voltage drops to a level below which you cannot start the car.


Aaron Gilbert
1987 9000T 281k miles

posted by 64.40.5...

• Battery drain overnite. I tought it was a bad battery, Daren, Thu, 26 Sep 2002 20:26:52
  • If all the above advise fails, check out the alternator, EricG, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 22:21:32
  • Re: Battery drain overnite. I tought it was a bad battery, rhale, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 19:36:16
  • sounds like bad battery cable connections, nifty, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 08:49:43
    • Revised previous reference, nifty, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 08:56:25
  • How's the temperature?, Aaron Gilbert, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 01:48:24 <-- Viewing This Message
    • Alarm may be another possibility – was in my case. >, Bill Davies, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 04:30:21
      • Probably true for Trionic, yes., Aaron Gilbert, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 12:21:51
  • Re: Battery drain overnite. I tought it was a bad batt, darcyt, Fri, 27 Sep 2002 01:25:48
  • Re: Battery drain overnite. I tought it was a bad batt, BobS, Thu, 26 Sep 2002 21:21:27

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