46,000 on a 2007 Fit, I had to put in a knife switch, $28 to manually disconnect the battery at work and at home. battery goes dead after 2-3 days. I bought a new battery, it still has a short, I can see a spark on the switch at night when I close it.


this car has been a POS since I got it, rear wiper motor screams, the paint comes off if you look at it, driver door key quit, wears tires off Really quick!. it's an automatic, 18-20 mpg. trans leaks oil, acorns have beat the hell out of the roof, has dents all over it,.. nothing is covered by warrantee.


I cant sell it to get my Elio this year, so have to get a bigger, more expensive loan.


the short makes it a parts car...cant sell it, any ideas about where the short might be.?

 

The fact you see a spark doesn't itself imply a short—there are filter capacitors for the ECU and radio and whatnot that get charged on the initial connection, causing a very brief current surge.

I think the best way to start to track down the errant current leak is to connect an ammeter in line with the battery and then start pulling fuses until the excessive leakage current disappears. Once the initial current surge passes, the leakage would be expected to be a few milliamps, I think. It won't be absolutely zero due to things that need to stay on, like the clock chip in the radio or the receiver for the keyless entry system if you have that.

If you have an aftermarket alarm, that would be one big suspect.

Do you know the history of your car?

 

That's not what made it a parts car.

You sure it isn't just a weak battery? How old is it?

An ammeter would prove or disprove if there is actually a drain on the system when the car is off. I'd expect about 30ma draw on that is fine.
Drain= car problem,
no drain=battery problem.



See if the cargo light in the rear stays on.


See if the AC compressor clutch is stuck on.
If it is, then locate the clutch relay and tap on it (or pull it out) and see if the compressor clutch releases.

 

This was a very helpful post!
I got a voltmeter and it seems to show that I dont have a Drain problem.
Do you know a good test for a battery?
After charging the battery shows 12.57 volts but just clicks when I try to start.

 

Take your car to an Advance Auto or Autozone and they can load test it for free and tell you if it's bad.