850 GLT 1997 Whining noise and dead battery

fbpsb82 · Post by **fbpsb82** » 08 Feb 2010, 11:52

Went out to my car the other day and it was dead. Checked voltage and it was .04. Jumped it and drove around for an hour. Turned the car off, checked voltage (12.4), went inside for a couple hours, came back out, and it was back at .04.

Jumped it again, went driving again, came home, checked the voltage, again 12.4. But then I heard a whining noise coming from under the battery, and I saw the voltage on the voltmeter drop to 11, then slow work its way back up to 12.35. Fifteen seconds later it did it again, and only got back up to 12.3. It repeats this cycle until the battery is dead.

It sounds like something is trying to spin up up by the battery and radiator, and sucking voltage, even when the car is off and the key is out of the ignition. Any ideas?

PaulSimonon · Post by **PaulSimonon** » 08 Feb 2010, 12:35

Sounds to me like you might have a draw problem.

If you have a multimeter, try checking for a parasitic draw. Disconnect the negative battery cable, and connect the DVOM in series with the circuit, making sure to be using the 10A fused input. + on the cable, - on the terminal. Wait approximately 15 minutes so the computer systems have time to "sleep", and check the amperage. Anything over appx. 40 mA is unacceptable, and means that something is staying on. At this point, you're going to want to pull fuses until the amperage drops. Once it drops you'll have an idea of where the problem is, and I'm sure the fine folks on here will be able to assist you from there.

fbpsb82 · Post by **fbpsb82** » 08 Feb 2010, 13:42

I also thought I could just wait for the whining sound every 15 seconds, and then pulling a different fuse each time until it shut off. Would that work?

Post by **kcodyjr** » 08 Feb 2010, 14:08

Suppose it would, but since it's coming every 15 seconds, my first move would be to go looking for the source of the sound. Under the battery tray sounds like where the air pump should be, though I can't imagine why it's running when the car is off.

fbpsb82 · Post by **fbpsb82** » 08 Feb 2010, 14:39

You are correct sir. It is the air pump. I pulled the battery and the tray out and used some wires from the car to the battery, and it is the pump that is on. Is it necessary, or can I just remove the ground? Or is there a relay I should replace?

Post by **Pauloil** » 08 Feb 2010, 16:43

the pump is shot and you need new one:

http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/p ... gory_id/10

fbpsb82 · Post by **fbpsb82** » 08 Feb 2010, 16:51

I just got a hold of the records from when it was serviced shortly after New Years, and it says they replaced the pump and check valve.

I don't think the pump is shot. It works fine, just when the car is off. It's got to be a bad relay that is intermittently supplying power to it or something.

Post by **jblackburn** » 08 Feb 2010, 16:53

Take it back to the people that did it...it should still be covered under some kind of warranty (at least any reputable mechanic will cover it for at least 3 months).