something is draining my battery

[stevetwors]

I just had my battery replaced by the acura dealership along with some other repair a couple months ago so its still very new.

car just got out of the body shop recently and it looks like they forgot to attach something. see attached pictures. it used to be sitting on the lower lip of the air intake of the front bumper, so i tucked it inside deeper, its just kind of chillin in there for right now. 3 days of driving like this since getting it from the body shop, i notice my battery getting weaker and weaker. now its too weak to turn the motor over.

is this part related to crash detection for the airbag? does having it not bolted down cause the battery to drain? i was thinking the little screws on the casing are touching the metal body of the car causing a connection and consumes power.

this is my first guess because this battery is new and the problem didn't happen until after getting it from the body shop.

 

[Briank]

Check the trunk light.

 

[LJSB]

I just had my battery replaced by the acura dealership along with some other repair a couple months ago so its still very new.

car just got out of the body shop recently and it looks like they forgot to attach something. see attached pictures. it used to be sitting on the lower lip of the air intake of the front bumper, so i tucked it inside deeper, its just kind of chillin in there for right now. 3 days of driving like this since getting it from the body shop, i notice my battery getting weaker and weaker. now its too weak to turn the motor over.

is this part related to crash detection for the airbag? does having it not bolted down cause the battery to drain? i was thinking the little screws on the casing are touching the metal body of the car causing a connection and consumes power.

this is my first guess because this battery is new and the problem didn't happen until after getting it from the body shop.

It's not for the air bag (SRS) system. It's the front sensor for a remote radar detector and this one is from a Beltronic's unit. I find them on cars sometimes and they often hook to nothing as a prior owner pulled the main unit and left the sensor behind.

Check both your battery terminals particularly the negative. Try to twist it. It could be loose from the shop forgetting to tighten it.
It may need to be loosened and slid down on the post so it tightens up properly. The post is tapered going wider to-wards the bottom.

I've seen negative battery leads on Honda's and NSX's that need to be changed because they were put on the terminal incorrectly and got stretched out.

I think will solve your problem. Try these first but if it does not I have
a couple other questions.

How old is your battery and what was your vehicle in repair for. What were they repairing?

 

[stevetwors]

It's not for the air bag (SRS) system. It's the front sensor for a remote radar detector and this one is from a Beltronic's unit. I find them on cars sometimes and they often hook to nothing as a prior owner pulled the main unit and left the sensor behind.

Check both your battery terminals particularly the negative. Try to twist it. It could be loose from the shop forgetting to tighten it.
It may need to be loosened and slid down on the post so it tightens up properly. The post is tapered going wider to-wards the bottom.

I've seen negative battery leads on Honda's and NSX's that need to be changed because they were put on the terminal incorrectly and got stretched out.

I think will solve your problem. Try these first but if it does not I have
a couple other questions.

How old is your battery and what was your vehicle in repair for. What were they repairing?

thanks for the suggestions so far. here's pictures of what the body shop fixed (was a hit and run):

http://www.photodump.com/Guest/04857a8d9307815e.JPG.html
http://www.photodump.com/Guest/1d96dc38acf01c5c.JPG.html
http://www.photodump.com/Guest/febb911512cb29d0.JPG.html

the battery is new. it was replaced with oem battery at acura dealer just 1 month prior to this accident. now ever since getting the car back from the body shop the battery has been draining.

the terminals look brand new and are so tight i cant even move them and have no corrosion at all.

thanks for the tip about it being a beltronics unit. so now im starting to think the accident caused a wire somewhere to rip a little and is exposed to the metal body negative ground.

at this point i think im just going to take it back to the shop.

 

[LJSB]

Duh, I missed the first line of your opening post about the battery.

It could be a trunk light like Biran suggested. Could be a few things.

I doubt you have a short to ground from a bare wire and your not blowing fuses.

Let the shop figure it out. It really should not be too hard.

If you want to trouble shoot it, are handy, and have a digital volt meter, give me a PM and I'll tell you how.

It shouldn't take too much.

 

[stevetwors]

Duh, I missed the first line of your opening post about the battery.

It could be a trunk light like Biran suggested. Could be a few things.

I doubt you have a short to ground from a bare wire and your not blowing fuses.

Let the shop figure it out. It really should not be too hard.

If you want to trouble shoot it, are handy, and have a digital volt meter, give me a PM and I'll tell you how.

It shouldn't take too much.

ok its definitely not the trunk light, because this morning i tried to jumpstart the car.

i know i got a good connection on the jumper cables because i could see tiny sparks when connecting.

the car just struggles to turn over. it got worse with each try until now it doesnt have enough juice to even turn over at all.

im starting to think they fucked up the starter when doing the repairs. the starter is on the driver side right? they had to replace the cross member and other stuff down there so maybe the starter had to get disconnected and reconnected for the repairs and they messed that part up?

 

[ffffanman]

If your car was insured and the insurance company paid for it, then tell them your problem and take it to Acura and let them figure it out for you.
Let the insurance company deal with the bill and what not if possible.
Its not your fault.
Stop guessing at it and get her done. lol
Just some thoughts.
Trev

 

[LJSB]

ok its definitely not the trunk light, because this morning i tried to jumpstart the car.

i know i got a good connection on the jumper cables because i could see tiny sparks when connecting.

the car just struggles to turn over. it got worse with each try until now it doesnt have enough juice to even turn over at all.

im starting to think they fucked up the starter when doing the repairs. the starter is on the driver side right? they had to replace the cross member and other stuff down there so maybe the starter had to get disconnected and reconnected for the repairs and they messed that part up?

If you don't have sufficient power the car won't turnover. The sparks you see mean nothing. You are not properly diagnosing the problem. I agree that you should stop fooling with it but suggest you contact the shop that did the work and find out how they want to handle this problem.
My advice is to deal with them before you bring in another repairer and turn this into a "whodunnit" and a denial of additonal claim(s).
If the collision shop wants it to go to a dealer then have them call your Insurance Company and have them explain why and get the adjuster to agree to that tact.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

I am wondering if they have not secured the ground strap(s) back to the engine and trans properly. Power is useless without a good Ground. There is a strap for the engine and in this case, more importantly a ground strap from that side of the car to the trans.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[ffffanman]

Stop it Larry, we are already sending him to someone else to figure it out!!! lol
I remember last engine in/out, Acura did not attach that Trany ground strap back on for me, and I hear that grounding this aluminum rig is so so important!
Nice thought Larry.
The ground strap Larry talks about attaches very close to where the lifting lugs on the top of the trany are.
Trev

 

[stevetwors]

the car got picked up this morning. turns out the starter is just worn out (142,000 miles).

with all due respect, i did diagnose the problem correctly because i was right, it was the starter. :tongue:

shop called my insurance and tried to get them to cover it by telling them the starter is in the area of where the repairs were done. but when asked if it ever made contact with anything from the collision the shop said no, and when told of the high mileage, the insurance said absolutely not, its a wear and tear item. so that was nice of the shop to try that.

the shop will take care of it for me for cheap. $124 for a starter, $120 for labor, $80 for the tow.

 

[ffffanman]

So your battery was not getting weaker and weaker....
You through in some red herrings for us......
You beat us this time, but next quiz, we will be sharper......lol
Enjoy the car this weekend.
I hope to get mine back on the road before snow accumulates.
Trev

 

[LJSB]

with all due respect, i did diagnose the problem correctly because i was right, it was the starter.

Surrrrrre you did. :biggrin:

first diagnosis:

is this part related to crash detection for the airbag? does having it not bolted down cause the battery to drain? i was thinking the little screws on the casing are touching the metal body of the car causing a connection and consumes power

Second diagnosis:

thanks for the tip about it being a beltronics unit. so now im starting to think the accident caused a wire somewhere to rip a little and is exposed to the metal body negative ground.

"With all due respect", the shop diagnosed the problem and proved one of your guesses correct.:tongue:

Gald you're back in the seat again.

142,000 miles. Are these great cars or what?

 

[stevetwors]

Surrrrrre you did. :biggrin:


"With all due respect", the shop diagnosed the problem and proved one of your guesses correct.:tongue:

Gald you're back in the seat again.

142,000 miles. Are these great cars or what?

i mean, umm, yea, thats what i meant.

great cars, yes, but ive had bad luck with this one. first the ignition switch goes bad, then 2 coil packs go bad, then the battery got an internal short, and now the starter. all this within 1,000 miles.

 

[NSXBill2]

Check the trunk light.

I don't mind asking dumb questions....

How do I check the trunk light? When I first saw this I thought there would be a switch on it, but there isn't. When the trunk is open, it's on! Where do I go from here. My battery seems to drain a bit much also.

 

[Briank]

Two ways; clime in the trunk and close it the other is open it and check if its warm.

 

[NSXBill2]

Is it a common problem for the light to stay on? If it is staying on, what is the remedy?

 

[LJSB]

Is it a common problem for the light to stay on? If it is staying on, what is the remedy?

I suppose it could happen but I have not experienced it.
PLEASE don't put someone in the trunk and close it to see if the light goes out. Never do that. Brian was kidding, I'm sure.

No offense but, if you really don't know how to troubleshoot a electrical problem, I would take it to a competent mechanic and have him/her do it correctly before you create another problem and/or problems.