All kinds of battery problems
05-03-2022, 12:58 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
All kinds of battery problems
Hey everyone!
Recently got into my passenger side door panel to fix an issue with my window ribbon track. Disconnected a few wires, accidentally ripped a light blue one clean off, I think it went to the lock or that little box by the lock. The next day the car was dead, no battery problems at all before. Went to my AutoZone and they said the battery wasnt even rechargeable. Got a new battery and put it in there and it ran fine. Next day it was dead again. Got it recharged but this time I reconnected the wires I had disconnected, aside from obv the one that I ripped. Took about 3-4 days and it's dead again, I always make sure my radio is off, lights are off, interior lights are off, hood lights are disconnected so not worried about them. Idk where I'm draining from, does anyone have an idea?
Recently got into my passenger side door panel to fix an issue with my window ribbon track. Disconnected a few wires, accidentally ripped a light blue one clean off, I think it went to the lock or that little box by the lock. The next day the car was dead, no battery problems at all before. Went to my AutoZone and they said the battery wasnt even rechargeable. Got a new battery and put it in there and it ran fine. Next day it was dead again. Got it recharged but this time I reconnected the wires I had disconnected, aside from obv the one that I ripped. Took about 3-4 days and it's dead again, I always make sure my radio is off, lights are off, interior lights are off, hood lights are disconnected so not worried about them. Idk where I'm draining from, does anyone have an idea?
05-03-2022, 01:13 PM
#2
Drifting
May be time to start pulling fuses to things and if you have a good multimeter use it to measure any current flow across each set of fuse terminals. Do it one at a time. If you notice a draw on something that should be off, it may be your culprit (it won't take a bunch, even a single bulb on can do it). DON'T do this on high output circuits (starter, fuel pump etc...), but check the accessories, lights etc..., the smaller amp fuses (make sure the multimeter can support that fuse's amperage).
Since this wasn't happening before you messed with the door...it's possible the door ajar switch is not working properly now? If it's super marginal maybe it could switch between closed/open due to moisture/heat/cold etc...? It would make sense to try and exercise that switch a bunch, maybe some contact cleaner sprayed into it and try to adjust it if you can. Either that or the wires to the switch are shorting after being disturbed.... It may be turning on the interior lights with your back turned.
Maybe other option is the electric lock is stuck trying to open or close (always powered as if you were trying to unlock or lock) due to a short... that would certainly drain the battery pretty fast. Does your door lock/unlock properly with the toggle switch?
Other thing to check is the arm rest/center console light...(could slightly crack it open and see if the light is on)
Since this wasn't happening before you messed with the door...it's possible the door ajar switch is not working properly now? If it's super marginal maybe it could switch between closed/open due to moisture/heat/cold etc...? It would make sense to try and exercise that switch a bunch, maybe some contact cleaner sprayed into it and try to adjust it if you can. Either that or the wires to the switch are shorting after being disturbed.... It may be turning on the interior lights with your back turned.
Maybe other option is the electric lock is stuck trying to open or close (always powered as if you were trying to unlock or lock) due to a short... that would certainly drain the battery pretty fast. Does your door lock/unlock properly with the toggle switch?
Other thing to check is the arm rest/center console light...(could slightly crack it open and see if the light is on)
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B Free (12-09-2023)
05-03-2022, 03:43 PM
#3
Intermediate
Thread Starter
May be time to start pulling fuses to things and if you have a good multimeter use it to measure any current flow across each set of fuse terminals. Do it one at a time. If you notice a draw on something that should be off, it may be your culprit (it won't take a bunch, even a single bulb on can do it). DON'T do this on high output circuits (starter, fuel pump etc...), but check the accessories, lights etc..., the smaller amp fuses (make sure the multimeter can support that fuse's amperage).
Since this wasn't happening before you messed with the door...it's possible the door ajar switch is not working properly now? If it's super marginal maybe it could switch between closed/open due to moisture/heat/cold etc...? It would make sense to try and exercise that switch a bunch, maybe some contact cleaner sprayed into it and try to adjust it if you can. Either that or the wires to the switch are shorting after being disturbed.... It may be turning on the interior lights with your back turned.
Maybe other option is the electric lock is stuck trying to open or close (always powered as if you were trying to unlock or lock) due to a short... that would certainly drain the battery pretty fast. Does your door lock/unlock properly with the toggle switch?
Other thing to check is the arm rest/center console light...(could slightly crack it open and see if the light is on)
Since this wasn't happening before you messed with the door...it's possible the door ajar switch is not working properly now? If it's super marginal maybe it could switch between closed/open due to moisture/heat/cold etc...? It would make sense to try and exercise that switch a bunch, maybe some contact cleaner sprayed into it and try to adjust it if you can. Either that or the wires to the switch are shorting after being disturbed.... It may be turning on the interior lights with your back turned.
Maybe other option is the electric lock is stuck trying to open or close (always powered as if you were trying to unlock or lock) due to a short... that would certainly drain the battery pretty fast. Does your door lock/unlock properly with the toggle switch?
Other thing to check is the arm rest/center console light...(could slightly crack it open and see if the light is on)
Also not sure what the door ajar switch is, could you describe it, or know where it's located so I could check?
Lastly my lock/locking function was working like it would move but I didn't test if it actually locked or not so I will have to check that and the console thing after work. If I ever figure out that something is shorting what is the fix? Thanks again!
05-03-2022, 04:56 PM
#4
Drifting
No problem! First car purchase is a C4? Nice! Get ready to drink from the firehose!
What year? Mileage? How long have you owned it?
First things first...get a FSM (Factory Service Manual, both red books for YOUR year) for your car...a *real* one (can be gotten as a PDF). There is an entire troubleshooting procedure for this in the FSM ("Parasitic Current Drain Procedure") that involves measuring the current draw directly at the battery with the car off and ammeter inline with the negative cable...and pulling fuses until the offender is found (there will always be SOME current flowing but there is a limit specified in the Standby Current Loads chart in the FSM). This would be the fastest/best approach if you cannot find something obvious.
"When you say check fuses you are talking about the area by the passenger door right?" - yes
"And you want me to pull them out and check the things I pull out?" - no, the the things you pull out (the fuses) wouldn't affect drain (in fact they would stop it once removed)
"Or the hole they were in?" - Yes, when you pull a fuse, you will see it has two metal "blades". Those "blades" insert into two metal receptacles. One of the receptacles is "hot" (i.e. 12 Volt power, source) the other is not...the not side goes to whatever accessory that is for (such as the headlights).
Think of the fuse as just a wire that connects the two receptacles to allow power to flow to whatever that fuse is meant to protect/control. The fuse is there in case there is too much draw on that circuit, in that case the filament you can see inside the plastic portion "burns out" to disconnect the wire automatically...this prevents melting and fires. When you pull the fuse out of the receptacle it will also disconnect that circuit so no power flows.
You can test current flow with a good multimeter/ammeter directly on each circuit OR use the FSM procedure mentioned above. If you are testing directly at each circuit you would configure the multimeter for measuring current. Then you would pull ONE fuse (again make sure that the multimeter can support the amperage of that fuse) and you would touch one probe and hold it on one of the receptacles and then touch the other end to the other receptacle (do not allow the metal part of the probes to touch!). This will allow power to flow. If that circuit should NOT be drawing power and it IS drawing power (i.e. it shows current flowing/amp reading), it would show you what circuit is to blame.
If you are too uncomfortable with above...you can try another approach...by pulling fuses until the battery stops getting drained (maybe start with the radio related ones)... Or pull all unnecessary fuses and add back until you have a problem (take pics first). This is slower (days), and you may kill your new battery if you keep draining it.
Do you have anything plugged into the cigarette adapter (unplug it!)? Is the radio original or aftermarket?
"Also not sure what the door ajar switch is, could you describe it, or know where it's located so I could check?" - This is located on the inside edge of the door in the door jamb. It is a small plastic plunger, and you can see that it would "depress" when the door is shut. You can manually push it in with your finger so should be easy to identify. FWIW - a "flaky" switch might cause a problem but a permanently stuck switch shouldn't because the CCM (body control module) on 90+ C4s would shut the lights off anyway after a timer (not sure on older ones, and don't know what you have).
"Lastly my lock/locking function was working like it would move but I didn't test if it actually locked or not so I will have to check that and the console thing after work. If I ever figure out that something is shorting what is the fix? " - You said "was"...is it working now at all? You would be looking for a wire connected to something it shouldn't... you would then correct that wiring...
What year? Mileage? How long have you owned it?
First things first...get a FSM (Factory Service Manual, both red books for YOUR year) for your car...a *real* one (can be gotten as a PDF). There is an entire troubleshooting procedure for this in the FSM ("Parasitic Current Drain Procedure") that involves measuring the current draw directly at the battery with the car off and ammeter inline with the negative cable...and pulling fuses until the offender is found (there will always be SOME current flowing but there is a limit specified in the Standby Current Loads chart in the FSM). This would be the fastest/best approach if you cannot find something obvious.
"When you say check fuses you are talking about the area by the passenger door right?" - yes
"And you want me to pull them out and check the things I pull out?" - no, the the things you pull out (the fuses) wouldn't affect drain (in fact they would stop it once removed)
"Or the hole they were in?" - Yes, when you pull a fuse, you will see it has two metal "blades". Those "blades" insert into two metal receptacles. One of the receptacles is "hot" (i.e. 12 Volt power, source) the other is not...the not side goes to whatever accessory that is for (such as the headlights).
Think of the fuse as just a wire that connects the two receptacles to allow power to flow to whatever that fuse is meant to protect/control. The fuse is there in case there is too much draw on that circuit, in that case the filament you can see inside the plastic portion "burns out" to disconnect the wire automatically...this prevents melting and fires. When you pull the fuse out of the receptacle it will also disconnect that circuit so no power flows.
You can test current flow with a good multimeter/ammeter directly on each circuit OR use the FSM procedure mentioned above. If you are testing directly at each circuit you would configure the multimeter for measuring current. Then you would pull ONE fuse (again make sure that the multimeter can support the amperage of that fuse) and you would touch one probe and hold it on one of the receptacles and then touch the other end to the other receptacle (do not allow the metal part of the probes to touch!). This will allow power to flow. If that circuit should NOT be drawing power and it IS drawing power (i.e. it shows current flowing/amp reading), it would show you what circuit is to blame.
If you are too uncomfortable with above...you can try another approach...by pulling fuses until the battery stops getting drained (maybe start with the radio related ones)... Or pull all unnecessary fuses and add back until you have a problem (take pics first). This is slower (days), and you may kill your new battery if you keep draining it.
Do you have anything plugged into the cigarette adapter (unplug it!)? Is the radio original or aftermarket?
"Also not sure what the door ajar switch is, could you describe it, or know where it's located so I could check?" - This is located on the inside edge of the door in the door jamb. It is a small plastic plunger, and you can see that it would "depress" when the door is shut. You can manually push it in with your finger so should be easy to identify. FWIW - a "flaky" switch might cause a problem but a permanently stuck switch shouldn't because the CCM (body control module) on 90+ C4s would shut the lights off anyway after a timer (not sure on older ones, and don't know what you have).
"Lastly my lock/locking function was working like it would move but I didn't test if it actually locked or not so I will have to check that and the console thing after work. If I ever figure out that something is shorting what is the fix? " - You said "was"...is it working now at all? You would be looking for a wire connected to something it shouldn't... you would then correct that wiring...
05-03-2022, 06:05 PM
#5
Intermediate
Thread Starter
No problem! First car purchase is a C4? Nice! Get ready to drink from the firehose!
What year? Mileage? How long have you owned it?
First things first...get a FSM (Factory Service Manual, both red books for YOUR year) for your car...a *real* one (can be gotten as a PDF). There is an entire troubleshooting procedure for this in the FSM ("Parasitic Current Drain Procedure") that involves measuring the current draw directly at the battery with the car off and ammeter inline with the negative cable...and pulling fuses until the offender is found (there will always be SOME current flowing but there is a limit specified in the Standby Current Loads chart in the FSM). This would be the fastest/best approach if you cannot find something obvious.
"When you say check fuses you are talking about the area by the passenger door right?" - yes
"And you want me to pull them out and check the things I pull out?" - no, the the things you pull out (the fuses) wouldn't affect drain (in fact they would stop it once removed)
"Or the hole they were in?" - Yes, when you pull a fuse, you will see it has two metal "blades". Those "blades" insert into two metal receptacles. One of the receptacles is "hot" (i.e. 12 Volt power, source) the other is not...the not side goes to whatever accessory that is for (such as the headlights).
Think of the fuse as just a wire that connects the two receptacles to allow power to flow to whatever that fuse is meant to protect/control. The fuse is there in case there is too much draw on that circuit, in that case the filament you can see inside the plastic portion "burns out" to disconnect the wire automatically...this prevents melting and fires. When you pull the fuse out of the receptacle it will also disconnect that circuit so no power flows.
You can test current flow with a good multimeter/ammeter directly on each circuit OR use the FSM procedure mentioned above. If you are testing directly at each circuit you would configure the multimeter for measuring current. Then you would pull ONE fuse (again make sure that the multimeter can support the amperage of that fuse) and you would touch one probe and hold it on one of the receptacles and then touch the other end to the other receptacle (do not allow the metal part of the probes to touch!). This will allow power to flow. If that circuit should NOT be drawing power and it IS drawing power (i.e. it shows current flowing/amp reading), it would show you what circuit is to blame.
If you are too uncomfortable with above...you can try another approach...by pulling fuses until the battery stops getting drained (maybe start with the radio related ones)... Or pull all unnecessary fuses and add back until you have a problem (take pics first). This is slower (days), and you may kill your new battery if you keep draining it.
Do you have anything plugged into the cigarette adapter (unplug it!)? Is the radio original or aftermarket?
"Also not sure what the door ajar switch is, could you describe it, or know where it's located so I could check?" - This is located on the inside edge of the door in the door jamb. It is a small plastic plunger, and you can see that it would "depress" when the door is shut. You can manually push it in with your finger so should be easy to identify. FWIW - a "flaky" switch might cause a problem but a permanently stuck switch shouldn't because the CCM (body control module) on 90+ C4s would shut the lights off anyway after a timer (not sure on older ones, and don't know what you have).
"Lastly my lock/locking function was working like it would move but I didn't test if it actually locked or not so I will have to check that and the console thing after work. If I ever figure out that something is shorting what is the fix? " - You said "was"...is it working now at all? You would be looking for a wire connected to something it shouldn't... you would then correct that wiring...
What year? Mileage? How long have you owned it?
First things first...get a FSM (Factory Service Manual, both red books for YOUR year) for your car...a *real* one (can be gotten as a PDF). There is an entire troubleshooting procedure for this in the FSM ("Parasitic Current Drain Procedure") that involves measuring the current draw directly at the battery with the car off and ammeter inline with the negative cable...and pulling fuses until the offender is found (there will always be SOME current flowing but there is a limit specified in the Standby Current Loads chart in the FSM). This would be the fastest/best approach if you cannot find something obvious.
"When you say check fuses you are talking about the area by the passenger door right?" - yes
"And you want me to pull them out and check the things I pull out?" - no, the the things you pull out (the fuses) wouldn't affect drain (in fact they would stop it once removed)
"Or the hole they were in?" - Yes, when you pull a fuse, you will see it has two metal "blades". Those "blades" insert into two metal receptacles. One of the receptacles is "hot" (i.e. 12 Volt power, source) the other is not...the not side goes to whatever accessory that is for (such as the headlights).
Think of the fuse as just a wire that connects the two receptacles to allow power to flow to whatever that fuse is meant to protect/control. The fuse is there in case there is too much draw on that circuit, in that case the filament you can see inside the plastic portion "burns out" to disconnect the wire automatically...this prevents melting and fires. When you pull the fuse out of the receptacle it will also disconnect that circuit so no power flows.
You can test current flow with a good multimeter/ammeter directly on each circuit OR use the FSM procedure mentioned above. If you are testing directly at each circuit you would configure the multimeter for measuring current. Then you would pull ONE fuse (again make sure that the multimeter can support the amperage of that fuse) and you would touch one probe and hold it on one of the receptacles and then touch the other end to the other receptacle (do not allow the metal part of the probes to touch!). This will allow power to flow. If that circuit should NOT be drawing power and it IS drawing power (i.e. it shows current flowing/amp reading), it would show you what circuit is to blame.
If you are too uncomfortable with above...you can try another approach...by pulling fuses until the battery stops getting drained (maybe start with the radio related ones)... Or pull all unnecessary fuses and add back until you have a problem (take pics first). This is slower (days), and you may kill your new battery if you keep draining it.
Do you have anything plugged into the cigarette adapter (unplug it!)? Is the radio original or aftermarket?
"Also not sure what the door ajar switch is, could you describe it, or know where it's located so I could check?" - This is located on the inside edge of the door in the door jamb. It is a small plastic plunger, and you can see that it would "depress" when the door is shut. You can manually push it in with your finger so should be easy to identify. FWIW - a "flaky" switch might cause a problem but a permanently stuck switch shouldn't because the CCM (body control module) on 90+ C4s would shut the lights off anyway after a timer (not sure on older ones, and don't know what you have).
"Lastly my lock/locking function was working like it would move but I didn't test if it actually locked or not so I will have to check that and the console thing after work. If I ever figure out that something is shorting what is the fix? " - You said "was"...is it working now at all? You would be looking for a wire connected to something it shouldn't... you would then correct that wiring...
Ok I got off work and it actually fired up, it was a little slow but its running currently. I immediately tested the locks. When I click lock on my driver side, it locks fully but the passenger one the lock only moves ab half way and definitely does not lock. When I press unlock, nothing happens. The passenger door buttons don't do anything. What I did notice is that at some point with me ******* around my dash lit up. My battery is coming up at 9.6-10.9 on the dash and there is a little red bar to the left of it, I'm used to 12.4 when it was healthy.
The door ajar thing feels fine and nothing shows up on the information panel about it so I think that should be fine. The radio is original and I use an fm transmitter in the cigarette lighter for music but I always unplug it when I turn off the car.
I was gifted a FSM by someone on these forums actually so I do have that in PDF form.
The wire that ripped off did lead directly to the passenger side lock but I'm unsure how to reconnect it, it tore at a point that I can't really work with, I don't know how to articulate this but there is an area where like 8 wires can disconnect using a plug thing, it tore off from inside there. Would something like that be in the FSM or something I could look up that would have a solution? Do I need to buy a new wire connection thing? Thanks
Edit: not sure if it's worth noting or not but I used my wipers and the voltage dropped to 8.9 for a little bit before jumping up to 13.5 unlock still does nothing though
Edit Edit: turned it off to see what would happen, turned key, dash came up very normal, but no crank, no sounds nothing just dead, voltage on dash reads 11.5
Last edited by Jernsoul77; 05-03-2022 at 06:17 PM.
05-03-2022, 06:27 PM
#6
Drifting
Before going any further…
It sounds more like you have a charging issue (alternator) vs battery drain. You need to ensure that the battery is receiving 14+ Volts while running. If it’s running and only 12 or less you likely have a problem.
Also make sure your battery connections are clean and tight.
It sounds more like you have a charging issue (alternator) vs battery drain. You need to ensure that the battery is receiving 14+ Volts while running. If it’s running and only 12 or less you likely have a problem.
Also make sure your battery connections are clean and tight.
Last edited by pedricd; 05-03-2022 at 06:33 PM.
05-03-2022, 07:53 PM
#7
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Before going any further…
It sounds more like you have a charging issue (alternator) vs battery drain. You need to ensure that the battery is receiving 14+ Volts while running. If it’s running and only 12 or less you likely have a problem.
Also make sure your battery connections are clean and tight.
It sounds more like you have a charging issue (alternator) vs battery drain. You need to ensure that the battery is receiving 14+ Volts while running. If it’s running and only 12 or less you likely have a problem.
Also make sure your battery connections are clean and tight.
05-04-2022, 05:30 PM
#9
Intermediate
Thread Starter
I took it to autozone to test the alternator. They told me that the battery was bad again and want me to use my warranty to get another one, my plan right now is to get that other one and see if it's running 14+ then go from there, I will update this message.
Edit: put new battery in and now my dash doesn't work again, it lights up but everything is full like my mph say 288 my rev meter is maxed out everything is full and it doesn't become normal when I turn the car over. I asked him to test the battery while the car was running but he said he wouldn't and I have some other kind of electrical problem, going to see if one of my buddies will lend me their multimeter tomorrow. ( I have pulled out the radio fuse, and the one that has the inner door lights and locks just to see if they are the bleed candidates )
Edit: put new battery in and now my dash doesn't work again, it lights up but everything is full like my mph say 288 my rev meter is maxed out everything is full and it doesn't become normal when I turn the car over. I asked him to test the battery while the car was running but he said he wouldn't and I have some other kind of electrical problem, going to see if one of my buddies will lend me their multimeter tomorrow. ( I have pulled out the radio fuse, and the one that has the inner door lights and locks just to see if they are the bleed candidates )
Last edited by Jernsoul77; 05-04-2022 at 06:03 PM.
05-15-2022, 06:25 PM
#10
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Alright its been a little bit. My battery keep bleeding even after removing some of the fuses to see if they were the culprit. Decided to go to AutoZone and get them to test my system with a new battery they gave me. They agreed and sure enough found that my alternator was not putting out. I got a new alternator and replaced the connections with new ones, there is also a new battery in there now. Its only been going for about a day but its running how its supposed to aside from the dash which is still technological nonsense every time I turn the car on. Thanks for all the help everyone! 
05-15-2022, 08:46 PM
#11
Drifting
Glad to hear you got the charging issue sorted!
I cannot speak to your dash issues. I would check grounds, look for loose connections in the dash etc… then perhaps reach out to batee about it if you find nothing obvious.
Someone else might have better advice, and there might some good troubleshooting outlined in the FSM.
I cannot speak to your dash issues. I would check grounds, look for loose connections in the dash etc… then perhaps reach out to batee about it if you find nothing obvious.
Someone else might have better advice, and there might some good troubleshooting outlined in the FSM.