Hi, haven't posted in a while but I'm having some trouble with a 2003 Turbo. Long story short, my battery recently died and I had to pull the passenger fender liner to access that hood release cable (good times) in order to swap out for a new battery. I put in a brand new AGM battery and haven't had any problems since. Even if I didn't drive the car for a few days, it would start right up.

Yesterday I drove into work in the morning and had to stay overnight and work today (Navy). So this afternoon I went to get in my car and go home and there wasn't enough charge to start the car, fortunately there was enough to pop the hood! Someone from work jumped me and I drove around for about 40-50 minutes before going home. Once I got home, I was going to leave it running a bit longer with the garage door open while I looked something up online about this issue. Out of habit, I shut the car off as I was getting out and took the key out.

Realizing my mistake, I started the car and it fired right up. Let it run for a bit and looked up some threads/info. Seems draining of batteries happens to some and a lot of times it is due to aftermarket electronics. And looking around under the dash, I found these two items and took pics.

Under driver side, it doesn't look OEM to me.
https://i.imgur.com/6AnQspG.jpg

Under passenger side this cable was tucked under the center console. It is the same black cable from the first pic, just runs through the middle.
https://i.imgur.com/vS6bUsj.jpg

Other info:
-It was pretty cold where I was parked (Everett, WA) ~20-30 degrees F
-I have the stock head unit, but also have the factory 5 disc changer
-Bose speakers but I believe they was also from the factory

Any idea what this thing is? Think it is probably the culprit? If so, looks like I'll have to pull apart the dash to find where it's wired in.

Last but not least, I put the car on a trickle charger tonight and as soon as it was hooked up, the amber light illuminated (indicating the batter is low on charge).

Thanks.


Edit: upon further investigation, tracing those blue and white wires the hook up with these plugs to the red wire and the copper cable (a ground I'm guessing?).
https://i.imgur.com/bheE9yv.jpg

Can't see where the copper one goes but here is the red one:
https://i.imgur.com/M4pc43B.jpg

So I'm guessing I can pull the red cable from the fuse box and then just disconnect the ground? Nothing was plugged into the receptacle since I've owned the car.

 

Has the ignition switch ever been replaced? Have you tested to see what the current draw is with the car shut off? If it worked fine and then suddenly isn't why suspect something that's not recently installed first off?

I had issues with battery drain, my key was also sometimes tough to remove and sticky to turn occasionally. Long story short, all traced to the ignition switch! No issues since replacing it although for long periods I still use a minder but I've no issues holding a charge two weeks or so... It's *possible* this is your issue too, it's quite common!

 

That is definitely a possibility. I went ahead and disconnected it to give it a go. Tender light is still amber.

I doubt the ignition was ever changed. If I have to take a cab or get a ride to and from work tomorrow, I'm going to start looking into getting a shop to take a look. Didn't see anything else strange hooked up to the car anywhere. The reason I focused on that is due to several threads I found with the same issue and people talked about aftermarket electronics. Nothing SHOULD be drawing power from the receptacle in my car since I never plugged anything into it but I'm just starting to look into it.

Edit: Sorry to sound like an idiot but how do I test to see what the current draw is with the car shut off? Multimeter to the battery disconnected vs multimeter to the batter hooked up? Have not tried that but the battery is maybe 2 months old at most.

 

First off, you don't have to remove fender liner to access hood release. If you can not access your bonnet or engine compartment due to a dead battery, There is a battery jump point located in the driver's side foot well. Pull plastic cover directly to the left of brake pedal. There are clear instructions in your owners manual.
If your battery is only two months old, I would return it under warranty and start with a fresh battery. Cant tell you how many times I have bought a new deadbeat battery. Check the obvious power and ground connections. As previously mentioned the ignition can be a likely culprit.

 

battery life on these is a dubious proposition at best. the parasitic drain from it simply being parked, is enough to function "perfectly" one day and then be dead the next. no rhyme or reason, whatsoever so no "additional" aftermarket drain is required to replicate your experience. happens to us all, at one point or another.

all tricklers will be "amber" upon connection - and a full "green" doesnt indicate a "full charge" either.. -

attempting to "re-charge" from one will usually be enough to get you going again, but it will NOT last. replace with an appropriate model h7 stat and trickle charge with random regularity!

 

Took the car off the charger this morning and it fired right up. Got to work around 7am, left around 5pm and was nervous when I went to start it up. Luckily it fired right up. Drove to the store to get some groceries, started up again, then drove home and put it back on the charger for tomorrow.

I definitely tried the positive connection in the driver side footwell. It wasn't working, as soon as I connected the ground to the part of the inside of the door frame, the alarm would go off constantly and would not turn off with key button or cycling the lock with the key in the door. To trick the door into thinking it was closed, I manually "shut" the door by sticking something into the door where the latch is and moving it to the shut position. Called a dealership, read threads, etc. So finally I gave up and did the manual option.

Might give the battery trade in a shot, if I still have issues, I will look into more troubleshooting. The battery worked great for the two months.


No rhyme or reason indeed. Nothing really changed other than it has been a bit colder this week, in the 30s mostly. There's an H7 AGM in the car at the moment, though it's a Duralast, which wasn't the battery I tried to get but that is a whole different story related to trying to get the car hood open using the fuse panel pull out tab. Possibly the worst battery story I know of, unless someone has died in the process.

edit..Thanks, I did not know that they default to the amber upon connection, hadn't used it yet. Figured it just wasn't charged given the context of the situation.

 

The jump point in the fuse box has never worked for me, do note it's just supposed to be used to open a hatch not actually jump the car. Instead I use a lighter plug with lugs I can hook yo jumper cables to open a hatch - done this about 4 times including when a ground came off the battery!

To measure draw disconnect a battery lead and use the amp reading on the meter with the meter in series - don't draw too much juice from accessories or you'll hose the meter. Check the draw, pull fuses to find a circuit that lowers it in order to troubleshoot. Can't tell you what's "normal" but ecu and alarm will draw some normally.

Battery in my car with a swapped switch has been reliable but cold and extended sitting gets the tender for sure.

 

speaking of "tricks" another many of us dead battery victims have had the prescience to *mod* ( well, AFTER an experience such as you've described ) is to re-route the emergency catch wire release and re-route it so it just lays flush in between the headlamp, tucked away invisibly between the rubber headlamp *seal* and the bumper.

then all you need is a needlenose ( that i keep in the CABIN! lol ) to draw it into daylight and a tug on it and voila, open frunk! power or no power. helluva lot easier even than jumping at the terminals, though that works too.

 

Sorry Spiderman ! Didn't mean to complicate things with the in cabin jump point method. It had worked fine for me the couple times I had to use it. These cars will kill batteries every time if left sitting without tender. Certainly a problem if it is happening within a week. Of course cold weather does amplify things on an already crippled battery. Sometimes batteries never recover from a heavy dead draw. Change out that Battery and start fresh. Use tender when sitting for extended periods. If problem continues, do as Blkmgk suggested by checking draw points. Remember, the Tender is NOT a charger. Don't worry about tender getting hot in amber mode. This is normal and it will cool down when it switches to green. No problem leaving that tender hooked to cig lighter for long periods of time either. I sometimes leave mine on for 3-4 months or more at a time. Never had a problem in 14 years. Of course if I am lazy and let my car sit without the Tender, I am always certain I will return to a dead battery. Happens every time.

 

Also, after hooking that tender overnight, give that Battery a check for swelling or leakage. Stick your hand down there. If you have a dead cell it will swell like a tick.

 

Got in my car last night turned on the accessory to roll the passenger window down a little, rolled it down, pluggged battery tender into the cigarette lighter. Woke up this morning and noticed the light on the tender was still red. Got in my car and it was completely dead, no dash lights, nothin. Hope that little jump point allows me to open my hood later today.

 

Did you change that Battery yet ?

 

Sorry. Last reply for for Spiderman. Seeing what the source and outcome of his problem was.

 

Well, I thought (hoped) I had it resolved after disconnecting that device, and it seemed like it was over and done with. Have had no issues starting up even after not driving it for over 24 hours (without a trickle charger hooked up), until this morning. Waiting for someone from work to pick me up before heading on in.

So no, I have not replaced my battery yet. This afternoon I plan to try and swap it out at the store I bought it at, after that the troubleshooting BLKMGK mentioned, and I think ttx50's idea sound great, really don't want to deal with that operation again. Think I'm going to get one of those disconnect switches as well but if I can't figure this thing out, it's time to find a good shop around this area and get it looked at.

 

I'll never understand why it's "ok" for this car to have enough of a parasitic draw to kill a battery in a few days and the car must be locked to prevent this. It seems like a problem and should not be considered normal but it is.. Weird.