Battery draining overnight

[tanstaafl]

Hi,
I've got a 1986 Honda accord, and recently my battery has been going dead on me overnight.
to troubleshoot the problem i unhooked a battery lead then left the car overnight. I hooked it back up in the morning and it started up fine.
So It looks to me like there's probably an electrical short somewhere draining it.

There's a couple possibilities the way i see it.

In the last week or so the break lamp warning light has been on.. I figured that was nothing since the break lights were still working. Now i'm not so sure its not on because of a short..

The other possibility is the new sub/amp I had installed. I'm thinking of unhooking the wire to the amp while still leaving the battery hooked up overnight to see if the amp is the cause..
does that reasoning seem sound to everyone?

Also does anyone have any suggestions to narrow down the problem?

I'm a real noob when it comes to mechanics or electronics, so please, be easy on me :-)


Thanks

[HondaBoy]

my brake lamp light is on also. dunno why, but its been on for years and they work fine. as for your battery drain problem, very possibly could be how your amp is hooked up. i dont know how you did it, but i sometimes see people hook up the remote wire to something that doesnt tern it off when the car is off. so maybe theres something there, or the amp could somehow have a short in it. that is possible. so you're on the right track. i'd disconnect it over night, and just see what happens. if the battery is still draining, i dunno. but i'm sure we can help you out, so post what happens after doing so. oh and welcome to 3geez. you should stay here, you'll probably find it quite helpful and interesting.

[tanstaafl]

Hi HondaBoy, thanks for the prompt reply.

The Installation wasn't done my me, but a friend with a fair amount of experience. I already made sure the amp was turning off with the car, and it seems to be.
I'm still going to disconnect the amp entirely (there's a fuse running off the wire from my battery i can just pop out) and test it overnight, but i cant do it tonight because i need a reliable battery tomorrow morning. Ill try to test tomorrow though and will definitely post the results.

Oh just remembered, another thing I had noticed was when hooking and unhooking the battery i heard sort of click or buzz or something from something electric activating near the battery.. like maybe the radiator fan motor... I'm guessing that's just normal but thought i should mention anything :-)

[keruhas184]

^ Nice nick you got there. TMIHM is a damn good book.