My 1995 Maxima is draining the battery. Driving it charges the battery somewhat but after parking for a few hours or overnight the battery is very weak. So far I tried this:
- Brand new battery: same behavior within a week.
- Starter is OK, about 1/2 the time it starts right away, other times it takes longer.
- Measured 110 milliamp draw between the negative terminal and its cable with car turned off, keys out [in my pocket]. The book says it should be ~50 milliamps max.
- Measured 350 milliamp draw between the positive terminal and its cable with car turned off. I know it seems to defy physics but I measured this repeatedly with the same voltmeter.
- Pulled out each fuse in turn. One of them dropped the draw from 110 to
- The rest made no difference at all.
- Had the car at a reputable shop for a week. They worked on it ~ 8/9 hours, checked plenty of things, could not find the problem. They truly are professional, charged me for only 2 hours and put in much more + asked their friends' opinion.
- Even when the battery is weak starting the car, all other electrical things work fine: lights, power windows, radio, etc.
- Battery voltage = 12.5V with key off. Starting the car shows ~14V to
14.5V i.e. the alternator seems to be doing its job.I hope someone had the same symptom and can share the root cause(s) with me. At the very least, offer ideas who are the primary suspect systems? It seems to be some circuit that's not going through a fuse and stays connected even when the key is out. Any advice is thoroughly appreciated.
Regards GS