89 Reatta mystery "battery drain"

[Reattatude]

Ah, the joys of Reatta ownership!

Seems like all my threads these days have to do with this "mystery" or that.

Do all these car have "electrical demons"? My mechanic is afraid to go into the wiring on a Reatta.

Well, Halloween is approaching...Wet carpet Gremlins are about, and who knows what else...

If the car isn't started every week or so, it has to be charged and it is a brand new battery (not cheap either)

Haven't noticed anything "on" like the other car so where is the juice going to? Not all that serious, just a pain

in the goola and it cant be very good for my battery getting all discharged - I think I will charge up and then

disconnect a cable - more pain!

[Barney Eaton]

Maybe electrical "gremlin" is just mechanic code for "I don't know what I am doing"

I am sure you own service manuals for your cars and with the Reatta onboard diagnostics, you can track down virtually any problem without getting your hands dirty.

[Ronnie]

You can test your Reatta to see if it has normal battery drain by using the tutorial: How To Measure Battery Drain.

Something that is worth checking:

I had an intermittent battery drain problem that had been a mystery for months. As strange as it may seem the problem was a worn ignition key. The key being badly warn allowed me to remove the key when the lock was in the ACC. position.

Apparently sometimes I would turn the key to ACC. when I turned the ignition off and removed the key without knowing that I had left it in ACC. The battery was going down faster, in just a few days, in the ACC. position. Looking at the FSM schematics I see that the radio and cassette are powered when the lock is in ACC. I'm not sure what else.

I stumbled on the problem when one day I was sitting on the passenger side cleaning the dash. When I bumped the RADIO button the CRT lit up. I knew that wasn't supposed to happen and got me to wondering why it did. That lead me to finding the ignition lock in the ACC. position without the key in the lock.

My wife had a "like new" key to the car that I had duplicated. The new key will not come out if I turn to the ACC. position (which I still do sometimes because the lock is so easy to turn).

Problem solved.

I think this information migth be worth adding to the ROJ tutorials.

[Reattatude]

Admittedly, he is a transmission man - ex Mr. Goodwrench certified auto mechanic very good in his element.

Maybe electrical "gremlin" is just mechanic code for "I don't know what I am doing"

I am sure you own service manuals for your cars and with the Reatta onboard diagnostics, you can track down virtually any problem without getting your hands dirty.

[Reattatude]

To check the battery drain properly you need to start with a fully charged battery. I dont, so thats step one...

Ok, so if the voltage drops more than 50ma then it could be a short?

I have a Fluke here somewheres. Its raining again so probably wont tackle this today.

You can test your Reatta to see if it has normal battery drain by using the tutorial: How To Measure Battery Drain.

Something that is worth checking:

I had an intermittent battery drain problem that had been a mystery for months. As strange as it may seem the problem was a worn ignition key. The key being badly warn allowed me to remove the key when the lock was in the ACC. position.

Apparently sometimes I would turn the key to ACC. when I turned the ignition off and removed the key without knowing that I had left it in ACC. The battery was going down faster, in just a few days, in the ACC. position. Looking at the FSM schematics I see that the radio and cassette are powered when the lock is in ACC. I'm not sure what else.

I stumbled on the problem when one day I was sitting on the passenger side cleaning the dash. When I bumped the RADIO button the CRT lit up. I knew that wasn't supposed to happen and got me to wondering why it did. That lead me to finding the ignition lock in the ACC. position without the key in the lock.

My wife had a "like new" key to the car that I had duplicated. The new key will not come out if I turn to the ACC. position (which I still do sometimes because the lock is so easy to turn).

Problem solved.

I think this information migth be worth adding to the ROJ tutorials.

[Ronnie]

As Padget stated at the end of the tutorial: "GM spec is less than 50 ma - 88 which has no RKE will be the lowest, 17-20 ma in my experience. - Anything over 200 ma will drain the battery in a day or two."

[padgett]

I just have little (or not so little for the RV) float chargers on everything that is not driven at least weekly. Under $5 on sale from HF.

[Guest Corvanti]

i also have a HF float charger for the same usage:). http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=float+charger

you should use this with a fully charged battery!

EDIT: there's a HF coupon available making the price $5.99...

[Guest gotitright]

Could the blower control module be kicking on and draining it? @ 2 hours after I get home and shut it off, the fan for the AC would kick on and run until the battery was dead. Happened to both my Reatta and my Riviera.

[padgett]

OK U$dollars have lost some value.

[harry yarnell]

HVAC controller is a common failure component that will drain a battery in short order.

[handmedownreatta]

HVAC controller is a common failure component that will drain a battery in short order.

when i got my reatta,i was told the battery was dieing in days.i had to replace the hvac module anyway because the fan ran all the time unless unplugged.after i changed it i never had a dead battery[except when i left the lights on].

[Ronnie]

The blower control modules are available in the Reatta Store at a good price and with free shipping.

[padgett]

Blower modules are like oil pressure senders, I always keep a couple on hand and replace when I use one.

[Reattatude]

I just have little (or not so little for the RV) float chargers on everything that is not driven at least weekly. Under $5 on sale from HF.

So you just connect the float charger and leave it on? That could be the ticket for me as we dont take the Reatta out that much (in winter)

[Guest Corvanti]

So you just connect the float charger and leave it on? That could be the ticket for me as we dont take the Reatta out that much (in winter)

yep! again, be sure you start with a fully charged battery.

i'd still find the cause of the battery drain, but this gives you some "lee-way" when to do so.

[padgett]

Float chargers are only good for about 500ma. If there is a significant drain it will shut down. Mine run warm to the touch on an Optima but keep it charged for months.