Something killing battery over night, Can't track it down.
 

Need some help guys on trying to figure out what causing this over night.

I've thankfully not had the car completely dead in the morning to where it won't start but every morning that I get in and start it, I have to give it a few seconds before my cluster lights and everything else brightens back up, Pretty sure the head lights are dim too. I do have a volt meter installed inside the car and it won't come on until it's above 12 volts and as soon as it comes on, I see the voltage climb at the same time as the cluster brightens up.

I had a brand new XS power battery (AGM) installed and I assumed it was the batter so I took it out and am now using a kinetik 1400 but still the same issues going on.

I use to use a lot of Audio equipment but no longer use it and it's all unhooked now so I know that isn't what's causing the drain over night. No cell phone chargers are left in or any other lights that I can tell are being left on.

I'm not sure what else I should check to figure out where this drain is coming from, so I decided to post here and maybe someone else had/has a similar issue with this car that can chime in. Thanks

With everything off, the current draw should be in the neighborhood of about 0.050 amperes or less (50 milliamperes.) That represents the current drawn by the clock and the receiver for the remote keyless entry system. If you are getting more than that, there's a partial short or other draw somewhere and you'll just have to track it down. Pull fuses one at a time to see if you can isolate the problem to one circuit, then see what's on that circuit and check the wiring and components on that circuit to locate the problem.

This stuff isn't rocket science but it takes patience and a logical approach. You can either do it yourself or spend 100 bucks an hour to have a pro do it. If you try it and still can't find the problem, be sure to tell anybody you hire what you have done so he doesn't have to duplicate your efforts.

You didn't describe your driving habits but it takes probably a good hour or more of driving to charge up a dead battery. The best way to charge a battery is a slow charge overnight.

Good posting by dcotter0579. That's exactly what I would do. Check the current draw, then start pulling fuses. See which circuit is causing the parasitic draw on the battery, then check all wiring and components.

I had a similar problem a few years back with my Dodge Durango. It was driving me crazy! I replaced the battery twice and the alternator once before taking it to an automotive wiring specialist. He could not figure it out either. One night I got home a bit late and noticed I could see light shining on the driveway underneath the engine bay. Apparently the mercury switch on the emergency light had come lose from the fastener attached under the hood. You know...that little courtesy light that comes on when you open the hood? Well, apparently it was hanging loose by it's wiring and the angle was such that the switch was keeping the light on on all the time whether the hood was open or not! The longer the car sat the longer the drain on the battery. I unscrewed the bulb and fixed the problem. I eventually got a new clip installed. A $1.50 bulb ended up costing me a couple hundred bucks.
Also... When I took delivery of my Chrysler Sebring Convertible it would not start due to a dead battery. WTF ??? I was steaming mad! Come to find out one of the courtesy light switches on the rear view mirror had been pushed accidentally causing the light to be on for a couple days after the vehicle was loaded on the transport. As it sat on the truck the battery eventually drained down. Yep! A courtesy light being accidentally left on for two days will drain a brand new battery for sure. Just check things out one more time before spending a lot of cash. My 2 cents. ;-)

Wife's 2004 Sebring convert had this problem. Ended up the battery was at the end of it's life. Happened again last year, first time it failed to start, I replaced the battery again, no more problems. Batteries in Sebring is very small and only gets three or four years of life.

Simple math, Charles: 0.050 amperes times 24 hours equals 1.2 amp-hours per day. Times 30 days equals a dead battery. If you are not running the engine enough to keep the battery charged, it'll die.