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View Full Version : Long term battery drain problem fixed



dlr1989
12-30-2008, 11:06 AM
My 1989 LXi sedan has had a battery drain problem for nearly 15 years. I was never able to find and fix it. If the car was driven at least weekly then no problem. But if the car had to sit for any more than a couple of weeks, dead battery. I had measured current, pulled fues and all of the normal diagnostic tricks. The last time this happened, about a month ago, I realized that as soon as I hooked up a jump start battery and turned it on the cooling fan(s) came on. Ah! says I. There are two identical relays in the under hood fuse box. One of those relays is for the cooling fans and the other for the power windows (I think). I swapped the two relays. The car sat in the garage for almost 4 weeks. Yesterday I decided that I was going to clean out the garage so that the new accord (09 EXL V6 w/Navi, sedan) would fit and therefore had to move the 89. The 89 started just as if I had parked it a couple of days ago. I had suspected the cooling fans for a long time simply because they are something that can run with the car off but had been unable to prove they were at fault.

At this time it looks like a simple to fix relay problem has been at the root of my battery drain problem.

lostforawhile
12-30-2008, 11:58 AM
sounds like a random drain maby the relay was going bad.