Guest beauchase Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) We have had our 1990 Reatta for nearly three years now. Since we had it we have had an issue with the battery draining if it sits for more than a couple of days without being started. We don’t drive it a whole lot, couple times a year, so it’s no big deal to disconnect a battery terminal to avoid jump starting. We did swap the alternator a few years back hoping that perhaps the diode in the old alternator may have been draining the battery but that was not it. I’ve read about three ground points in the engine compartment that may need to be cleaned and perhaps removing the instrument cluster and cleaning, if I recall correctly, about 12 contact points. Haven’t tried any of these yet because we do only drive it a few times a year and it’s no big deal to disconnect a battery terminal to avoid jump starting. She starts just fine if you run her on a daily bases. Let her sit two or three days and she’s dead. We got her out last night to prepare for a road trip next week. Took her for a 20 mile spin, all is well, an oil change, tire rotation, alignment, wash and we are gone. We do this a few times a year. While putting the top back up we noticed that the trunk light was on with the trunk lid closed. Convertible Tonneau Cover was all that was open and the inside trunk light was on. Is this supposed to happen? Could this be my problem, a faulty trunk light switch? Has anyone had an issue like this and successfully remedied the issue? Thanks for any input provided.<O:p</O:p Edited June 1, 2012 by beauchase (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mc_Reatta Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Trunk light could certainly be the problem. Easiest thing to do is to remove the bulb from the trunk light, (Careful it will be hot if it's on all the time), and see if problem is fixed.There are lots of other things that can cause this condition though. Go here for a way to ferret out your problem.How To Measure Battery Drain - ReattaOwner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Richard D Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 My glove compartment light began to stay on, switch had popped out. However I noticed that it would turn off when key was off and door opened. It must be on a RAP circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dmaugus Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 There is a trunk light switch on both the trunk and tonneau cover. The trunk light will come on if the tonneau cover is open. Either switch could be faulty though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gotitright Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 The other possibility is the blower controle module kicking on - that will drain it real fast. Been there done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Couple of days sounds like a 200-500 ma drain. Spec is 50 ma, mine run closer to 20. Need to put an ammeter on the battery and see what it reads (use a jumper to keep from disconnecting the battery or it will go through a couple of minutes of clicking.)If over 50 ma, start pulling fuses and relays to find the guilty circuit.HVAC fan could be on but will usually drain a battery in a matter of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Couple of days sounds like a 200-500 ma drain. Spec is 50 ma, mine run closer to 20. Need to put an ammeter on the battery and see what it reads (use a jumper to keep from disconnecting the battery or it will go through a couple of minutes of clicking.)If over 50 ma, start pulling fuses and relays to find the guilty circuit.HVAC fan could be on but will usually drain a battery in a matter of hours.Please explain how to connect an ammeter without disconnecting the battery. You may have a better way of testing than I have in my tutorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Richard D Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 The only way I know of is to use a FET clamp on current transformer and a multimeter. Fluke makes one good from 1 ma. up to 400 amps DC, however it is expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Guess I never knew that, I just run a gator clip lead from the negative terminal to the ammeter and then to an engine bracket (I only buy dual terminal AGP batteries) and then pull the negative lead to the battery.If battery has only side terminals, just connect a 9v battery to the cigarette lighter while moving the leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beauchase Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Convertible Tonneau Cover was all that was open and the inside trunk light was on. Is this supposed to happen? Could this be my problem, a faulty trunk light switch? Has anyone had an issue like this and successfully remedied the issue? Thanks for any input provided.<O:p</O:pI sat my iPhone in the trunk with the video camera recording to see if the trunk light went off while both the Tonneau Cover and the Trunk Lid shut. The trunk light did turn off…. That would have been way too simple to replace one of those switches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Richard D Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Guess I never knew that, I just run a gator clip lead from the negative terminal to the ammeter and then to an engine bracket (I only buy dual terminal AGP batteries) and then pull the negative lead to the battery.If battery has only side terminals, just connect a 9v battery to the cigarette lighter while moving the leads.I just checked the Fluke site and the cost for just the DC clamp probe is now $384.00:eek: I like Padgett's method, unless you need to measure more than 20 amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Ortiz Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 did you ever fix the battery drain, I'm having the same problem on my 90 Reatta but mine drains within minutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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