Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

davidmuller.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 515 posts

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#221

Post by Baeocystin »

Eumenes wrote: post #78
lylejantzi3rd wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like mechanics really don't like digging into the electrical part of the car... Tell me about it. I'm in a similar boat. My audi a4 has had a parasitic draw for the past 10 years. My mechanic didn't want to take the time to address it because that sort of thing takes a serious amount of time and he's always backed up. I got out my fluke and narrowed the cause to what I believe is the comfort control unit.…

I'm looking into buying a reliable older vehicle, pre 2000, and just rebuilding the engine

I drive a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I get asked if I'm interested in selling it at least once or twice a month, nowadays. The sightlines are amazing compared to modern cars, its AC is OP, and the AMC 4 liter straight six is one of the most durable car engines ever made. Mileage is not great, but it's paid for and dirt cheap to insure, that buys a lot of gas right there.

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#224

Post by legitster »

JPws_Prntr_Fngr wrote: post #204
legitster wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fair, but it's funny because that's how I always felt about BMWs. My buddy loves them but I always felt like they were so... sterile. Unless you are at a track or love cutting off people in traffic it feels really hard to have any fun in one.

Sterile compared to what? Is there another manufacturer of acceptably-tuned rear-drive sedan chassis out there at a semi-reasonable price point that I should know about? (I'm talking about pre-2010 BMW here; I would totally agree with most new ones being sterile)

I mean, I guess if you are limiting yourself to that exact style of car then yeah I guess.

(Although the Mazdaspeed6 was 90% of a BMW with 10% of the maintenance bill).

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#225

Post by illumin8 »

bityard wrote: post #141
arscan wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did that for the exact same problem on the same model car earlier this year, but gave up after trying a few places that all said the same thing (including the dealer). Glad to see this post though… now I know I’m not the crazy one.

I would expect a _good_ car (no maintenance issues, new gas, newer battery) to go at least a couple months without being driven and not have any issues upon starting it up. The average car in average condition should go around a month without being driven. Anything less than that either means a battery nearing the end of its life, not getting charged, or a parasitic draw somewhere.

We have a 10 year old Honda Odyssey that we keep just for long road trips and it has gone 3-4 months without being driven with no issues. I usually do try to fire it up every 1-2 months just to make sure the battery gets a charge and to avoid long term storage issues around oil and belts and other parts that degrade.

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#226

Post by Baeocystin »

Harbor Freight sells a $15 cheapie solar panel (with diode) that plugs straight in to a car's cigarette lighter that essentially 'solves' most parasitic drain problems, if you park outdoors, at least.

https://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-solar-battery-maintain...

(Not all cars have ports that are live with the key off, but the panel has other ways to wire it)

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#227

Post by illumin8 »

kybernetyk wrote: post #29
kccqzy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's normal for the battery to die if you don't drive it for 3 days I've heard this nonsense a couple times now. I was incredulous at first but everyone seems to say this. What are anyone's suggestions for a weekend-only car? (I bike to work so I don't need a car on weekdays.) Trickle charge the car battery on weekdays?

There's battery kill switches you can install onto the battery pole to effectively disconnect everything from the battery. This should work for older cars. For newer ones you may experience hiccups like reverse camera not working for a few hours until it has re-paired itself with the head unit.

This really wouldn't work for any car made in the last 20 years. Most of them have anti-theft systems that require you to put in a PIN to use your stereo if it ever gets disconnected from the battery. I suppose you could type that in every single time, but there are other computers like your automatic transmission management that learn how you drive, etc, and might not like to get reset every day.

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#228

Post by yurishimo »

jopsen wrote: post #218
peteradio wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude's been tending his issue for a decade, I bet he'd have at least those like him as a customer. In a metro he might have a pretty lucrative business. On the other hand in the metro there is probably someone who already does this work, but they are very hard to find!

How do potential customers find your specialized shop? Most people will give up, stop researching and buy a new car when the dealer tells them it can't be fixed.

Word of mouth w/ cars is hugely important. Anybody with a good mechanic will tell you about them.

Shoutout to "The Hondew Shop" in Dallas. He does great work on all Honda/Acura products!

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#229

Post by umvi »

I have a 2013 Mazda 3 and I've had to replace the battery every year for the past 3 years. I wonder if I have this exact same problem? I don't want to disable the wireless key system though because I like being able to lock/unlock the car without pulling the keys out of my pocket. Is there an alternative to this workaround?

Re: I fixed a parasitic drain on my car in 408 days

#230

Post by elteto »

asciimov wrote: post #157
lylejantzi3rd wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great idea. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thanks!

They also make switches for fuses, so that you can kill the circuit without pulling the fuse.

If you are going with a hack then _this_ is the way to go.
Post reply on HN