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Cadillac Repair/over night battery drain

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Expert: - 9/20/2009


Question
I have a 2002 Deville and my car wont start in the morings without a jump. It runs allday after. I have repaced the battery and the computer. Can you suggest to me what to have done.The car has some components missing from the trunk wall at the back seat is this a factor and the fuse box under the seat gets really warm... hot.

Answer
Hello,

By nature, fuse boxes and anything getting constant current will get hot. Your problem seems to be a parasitic draw. You need to disconnect the positive cable. Insert a volt meter between the cable and the pos post on battery. Test light works too. Test light should be bright. Then you need to pull each constant power fuse one by one and replace as you go along until test light goes out. Once determined as to the circuit, place the fuse back in and start eliminating components one by one until test light goes out. Once you find the circuit of the draw, you need to find out what exactly is on that circuit and eliminate one by one.

Circuits you are not concerned about: Ignition power like the radio, windows, gauges, trunk release, power ant, etc.

A common problem for draw like this is a trunk light staying on all the time. A bad cigarette lighter and glove box light.

Please remember, there is more than one fuse box in this car and the owners manual will give their locations.

Good luck!

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Rob Painter

Expertise

Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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