|
|
1988 Acura Legend Battery drain for many years
|
|
|
| |
|
|
CosmicCostello
New User
Sep 12, 2011, 1:19 PM
Post #1 of 2
(2098 views)
|
|
1988 Acura Legend Battery drain for many years
|
Sign In
|
|
1988
Honda Acura
Legend LS
161 hp (120 kW) 2.7 L C27A engine [I think, I'm just getting the engine info from Wikipedia!]
115,000 Miles
My uncle owned this car before I did which he bought new. I inherited it about 7 years ago. The car apparently has had this battery drain problem since either the very beginning or very early on. He took it to multiple mechanics and dealers (as have I) and no one is able to tell anyone why this car is killing batteries the way it does.
Basically what happens is a new battery gets slowly drained until one day the car won't start and nothing has any power. Then I use a trickle-charger overnight and the car then runs for awhile, then it dies again and the cycle repeats at ever-shortening intervals until one day the battery won't take a charge at all and I buy a new one.
I did not use specific time increments above because over time the intervals have changed. When I first got the car the brand new battery (5 year battery, I think) in it lasted almost 2 years before this started happening then limped along over the next year with the dying thing happening at a span of a few months, then weeks, then days, then dead. The behavior remains consistent, but the time frames have been reduced over the last 7 years until last year a new battery (probably a 2-3 year battery) lasted 1 year then limped along for another 6-9 months. The latest battery I bought (in March, 2011) died 5 months later, I charged it once, it ran for a week, then it died and it won't take a charge at all. It has never killed a battery this fast before. The only thing that changed in the electrical system with this new battery is that I had the factory stereo removed and replaced with a JVC.
There has been an electric whine through the speaker system since I got the car and at least one of the speakers only worked intermittently (mostly not, but sometimes it would kick on if I hit a bump the right way). This was a constant hum that did not get louder so I just turned the volume up and drowned it out. The CD player never worked for me. Then the cassette died, then the radio stopped receiving hardly any stations, then any stations at all. Unfortunately, I am unable to say if this hum was present even if the radio was off. I just don't remember, but I think at first the hum was always there, even if the radio was off. In the last six months the electric hum started going up in pitch and volume when I accelerated, i.e. the more I was doing with the car the louder and sharper the whine got. I'd been listening to an mp3 player via headphones for some time by this point, but it finally was so annoying I had someone remove the OEM stereo system and put in a JVC. The distortion and whine were still there, but for sure they at least did stop when I turned the radio off. But it still sounds like I'm sitting in the core of an electric plant if I turn the radio on.
Years ago I attacked each fuse using a voltmeter and was unable to find a circuit system that was causing a draw. My uncle had had a radar detector spliced into some fuse or another (he had the wire stripped bare at the fuse box and inserted on the tooth of a fuse and plugged into the fuse box. Removing this was the first thing I did. That seemed to slow down the rate of decay and at first I thought I'd solved the problem. I was wrong! Next I disconnected the interior trunk light and again I thought I'd had it, but did not. I don't have lights on my gear shift console so I assume I also disconnected some interior light fuse. I've a memory of doing so and again thinking I'd gotten it. Clearly I had not.
My last ditch effort was thinking that maybe the Bose speakers were somehow drawing power to the amplifier behind the rear seat, but on inspection it does not seem there is an amplifier behind the seat. They look to be on the individual speakers, as per one website I found. There were two units plugged in behind the back seat, one of which I think is the security system and the other had connections that went into the rear speakers and presumably the front ones. Car would not start with the security system box unplugged (if that is what it is, neither is labeled, really). However, with the other unit removed, the car started and music still came through the speakers. Not sure how this is possible if the second unit I removed was the Bose amplifier I've heard about but can not find a picture of anywhere (for my year car).
So I have no idea what is killing batteries, but if I can't even get 1 year out of a battery it is time to give up on this vehicle. I'd prefer not to since I can't really afford to buy a new car right now.
Any ideas?
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Sep 12, 2011, 2:00 PM
Post #2 of 2
(2094 views)
|
|
Re: 1988 Acura Legend Battery drain for many years
|
Sign In
|
|
There is a procedure for finding a battery draw like that.
You will need a digital ammeter and a jumper wire with clips on the ends to do this.
First rig any door switches so you can have a door open without triggering the interior lights and unplug the hood light. Remove one battery cable and attach the meter in series between the battery cable and battery post. Take the jumper wire and also attach it the same way. Leave the jumper wire on for at least 10 minutes to expire all the automatic timers. Now remove the jumper wire and read the meter. Anything over 50ma is too much draw. The way you locate this is to start removing fuses one at a time until the meter drops to normal level. This will be the circuit with something staying on. Determine what components are part of that circuit and check them individually until the problem is isolated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
| | |
|
Auto Repair Home
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 