94 battery drains down

Dec 17, 2003 9 Replies

Helping a buddy with his 94 SC2. He only uses it once a week and every time he gets in it the battery is dead. New battery and Saturn alternator in last 6 months.



I did the ole trick where you unhook the battery then reconnect it at night looking for a spark. There is a spark and when you reconnect it you hear a relay clicking near the fuse box by drivers headlight.



Should there be a spark when reconnecting? (everything is off and doors are closed)



Should you hear that clicking?


That doesn't tell you much, things will reinitialize when you first reconnect them, and they will draw a small power surge then. You'd need to connect a meter between the battery cable and battery to measure the current draw.

Yeah, a little spark is normal. The clicking is normal too. You need to check it with an ammeter.

My sister in law had a problem like that once with a Honda. It turned out that the glove box light would stay on all the time. Parked over the weekend in the winter and... no juice! I know this is remotely possible with yours, but check the trunk light and the glove box.

Good luck! Steve

Or, as I discovered this morning, the dome light. (Apparently the frozen-closed van door opened slightly during the night. Dead battery in the morning.)

Check trunk and eng> The backup light is another thing to check.

An interesting thing, I've left my interior light(s) on overnight on a few different occasions. It always fired right up in the morning

I don't know about other Saturns but my 95 SC2 doesn't have an engine bay light.

My Honda van has about six overhead lights -- probably pulls as much current as the headlights.

Yeah, I don't know which models might have them. My wife's SL1 doesn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are engine lights on some of the upper end models.

LOL......I guess you would have problems if you leave the dome lights on :)

Mine does NOT either (97SL2) - one would be handy for checking the oil...

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