CRX ELECTRICAL- Odd batt drain - A little more info please.

Originally posted here...I can't find it to paste in. Bottom line:
batt drains seemingly at random til car is dead, dead, dead. Can
happen driving or overnight. New batt. Alt OK. Fuses OK. Test
light showed no parasitic draw with multiple tests over time.

So: I did it differently this time. I hooked the V/O meter up to
check for batt drain and sure enough you could watch it falling off
from 12.5v down to the high 10's low 11's...until I pulled the fuse
for the interior lighting circuit when it stabilized. Further
discovered that if the driver's door is closed (circuit supposedly
open) I get the voltage leak-off. If door is open everythink is OK.
Passenger door switch does not cause same behaviour. Chased wires and
saw that drivers door switch wire(just one) only runs to the passenger
door switch. That is to say that this wire appears to only have 2
points, A and B, and goes nowhere else in the car. This circuit only
seems to connect the two door switches. If true, how the hell does
this circuit operate? I thought I was so close. Help guys! Thanks.

Kevin

Meatman wrote:
> Originally posted here...I can't find it to paste in. Bottom line:
> batt drains seemingly at random til car is dead, dead, dead. Can
> happen driving or overnight. New batt. Alt OK. Fuses OK. Test
> light showed no parasitic draw with multiple tests over time.
>
> So: I did it differently this time. I hooked the V/O meter up to
> check for batt drain and sure enough you could watch it falling off
> from 12.5v down to the high 10's low 11's...until I pulled the fuse
> for the interior lighting circuit when it stabilized. Further
> discovered that if the driver's door is closed (circuit supposedly
> open) I get the voltage leak-off. If door is open everythink is OK.
> Passenger door switch does not cause same behaviour. Chased wires and
> saw that drivers door switch wire(just one) only runs to the passenger
> door switch. That is to say that this wire appears to only have 2
> points, A and B, and goes nowhere else in the car. This circuit only
> seems to connect the two door switches. If true, how the hell does
> this circuit operate? I thought I was so close. Help guys! Thanks.

be methodical and forget the light switches for the moment. get a 12V
bulb, and use it as a dummy fuse for each of the smaller fuses in both
fuse boxes. if it lights, whichever fuse you have shows which circuit
to trace. if it doesn't light, measure the voltage across it. if you
have voltage, you have current, and you need to check that circuit.
bear in mind that some circuits are "always on", notably the ecu,
stereo, etc.

having determined which circuit, look for obvious problems. stereo
installations are very common fault points. start at one end of a
circuit and follow through to the other. anywhere where factory wiring
has been cut or altered is a suspect.

or it could be something simple like a trunk light. the above circuit
testing will tell you.

going back to your door switches, it's common for the less-used switch
to corrode internally. unscrew, clean and reinstall with a little
silicone grease on it. the circuit works by having a live light feed
and grounding it to complete the circuit. but a switch that doesn't
make contact is not your problem. and you shouldn't be getting a "leak"
if the switch is working properly. if the door is open, the circuit
should make and the cabin light should come on.

Meatman wrote:
> Originally posted here...I can't find it to paste in. Bottom line:
> batt drains seemingly at random til car is dead, dead, dead. Can
> happen driving or overnight. New batt. Alt OK. Fuses OK. Test
> light showed no parasitic draw with multiple tests over time.
>
> So: I did it differently this time. I hooked the V/O meter up to
> check for batt drain and sure enough you could watch it falling off
> from 12.5v down to the high 10's low 11's...until I pulled the fuse
> for the interior lighting circuit when it stabilized. Further
> discovered that if the driver's door is closed (circuit supposedly
> open) I get the voltage leak-off. If door is open everythink is OK.
> Passenger door switch does not cause same behaviour. Chased wires and
> saw that drivers door switch wire(just one) only runs to the passenger
> door switch. That is to say that this wire appears to only have 2
> points, A and B, and goes nowhere else in the car. This circuit only
> seems to connect the two door switches. If true, how the hell does
> this circuit operate? I thought I was so close. Help guys! Thanks.
>
> Kevin
================

Honda ran the door switch / interior light through some models of the
stereo because the alarm was piggy-backed onto the stereo. Sounds like
your stereo may be a good place to start. To drain your battery from
12.5 to high 10's should have taken days, or you'd be producing HEAT
somewhere. You sure the battery is a good one? Check and clean the
ground for the battery's black wire. What's your year and mileage again?

'Curly'

To motsco and Beam:

> > Honda ran the door switch / interior light through some models of the
> stereo because the alarm was piggy-backed onto the stereo. Sounds like
> your stereo may be a good place to start. To drain your battery from
> 12.5 to high 10's should have taken days, or you'd be producing HEAT
> somewhere. You sure the battery is a good one? Check and clean the
> ground for the battery's black wire. What's your year and mileage again?

1988 CRX DX 240k. No alarm :-) Also there is no "internal part of
this switch. In one position wire connected to sliding tab touches
switch body that is grounded to frame. In the other position(open
circuit) the tab does not touch the switch body and therefore not the
frame either. No internal mechanism involved. I think I know which
circuit to trace already as you'll read below but something doesn't
jive---> Stumper is that the wire, the ONLY wire, from the door
switch(es) only seem to connect one another...a swear to god they
do...and to nothing else in the car. I've even got the carpet out.
Battery is new since I parked car due to this problem. It ran down,
of course, I charged it up over night and part of next day and the
charger never shut off showing the battery to be fully charged. THEN
after I removed the interior light fuse I put it back on charge on a
4A medium charge and it charged properly and the the charger
registered a full charge and shut off unlike when the fuse was in.
Interior lights illuminate properly and when they are supposed to
(door open/closed). All fuses have been pulled singly in testing and
this is the only one that is suspect. And like I said, even wierder,
is that the pass door switch does NOT seem to cause the same problem,
Clearly I've missed something or this is waaay simpler than it
appears. Thanks fellas.

Kevin