QuestionQUESTION: I have a 98 sebring 2.5 v6. I have a short or something if I don't disconnect the battery it will drain in 30 min. If I run the ac and headlights at night the battery light will come on. I put a new battery alt. on it and ha them checked and the horn only works when the alarm goes off don't know if related.
ANSWER: Hi Sean,
I think you have a short somewhere in the wiring or a component is staying energized when it shouldn't be.
The best way to find what is causing the draining is to obtain a volt-ohm meter at an electronics store or an auto parts store, or borrow one from a friend. (You can for a little more money use a meter that also measures current, amps, and use it the same way as I will now describe except you will be trying to find fuses that when removed reduce the reading (less current flow) on the dial). You should be able to get one for under $20. Then you disconnect the clamp from the "-" or "neg" post of the battery, then remove the "+" or "pos" clamp. Then put the two test leads of the meter on the two clamps (one lead on each clamp) with the meter set to read ohms. It should read something less than infinite, but you would like it to read more that 100 ohms and ideally much more ohms than that, which would mean there was no source draining away the charge. If instead you find that it reads only 5 or 10 ohms that means there is a component that is draining the battery. (If you intend to measure current, then the battery needs to be in play so you would just remove one battery clamp (the - post one) and insert the leads of the amp meter between the clamp and post that you have disconnected the clamp from).
The procedure to find out the drain source is to disconnect each of the 19 fuses (starting with the larger fuses in the power distribution center box under the hood, it is long and thin and located behind the radiator between two computer modules) that are assigned to a specific circuit in the car, one at a time, and see if the meter reading moves toward infinity (ohms) or decreases (amps) as the result. If there is no change in the reading of the meter, then replace the fuse and move to the next one in the distribution center box and see if it causes an increased reading, etc. When you find one (or more) such fuses that when removed caused the reading of the ohm meter to go up significantly, then look for the label on the fuse box for that fuse, put the fuse back so that the reading decreases again.
Then if the fuse isn't labelled as to its purpose write me back and I can tell you which fuses/circuits the fuse in the distribution center powers up in the secondary fuse box that is under the dash. Then you will go to the under dash box and do the same thing, and when you find the smaller fuse that also raises the resistance (decrease the current) when pulled you will begin to unplug each of the electrical items that are powered by that fuse and keep checking until you find the item that causes the reading to go up again. That is the faulty component that is causing your problem.
You will want to do these tests with all the doors closed so that no lights are "on" and the car is sitting just as it is when you have it shut down. Be careful not to change anything about the car doors/lights (always close the doors before reading the meter) while you are doing this testing or none of it will make any sense.
This is something you can do yourself and save labor costs by so doing. If you find a fuse that when removed causes the reading to rise significantly, tell me what the number of that fuse is and I will tell you what to do then to solve that problem specifically (how to unplug the suspected faulty item).
Whenever you go to reconnect the battery, always put the + post clamp back on first, then put on the - post clamp. The reverse is true when you disconnect the battery (as I described to you at the start). It is done that way for safety so you don't accidentally short the battery and get a burn.
So let me know what fuse #'s in the power distribution center are causing signicant changes in the meter reading and if you can find an associated fuse under the dash that does the same thing let me know that too.
The loss of the horn is probably due to a break in one of the flexible wires which are located in a part called the 'clockspring' which is located between the steering column top and the steering wheel. The horn actuation by the theft system doesn't depend upon that clockspring so that is why the horn works for it.
Roland
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I pulled the engine monteur fuse (30a) and the short went away. What does this control. The fuse is in the motor compartment fuse box the fuse is located in the top left corner of the fuse box if you are looking at it from the front of the car.
ANSWER: Hi Sean,
I have two questions: is this Sebring a convertible or a coupe? I ask because they have entirely different fuse boxes. Is there a number associated with the 'monteru fuse (30a)'? I ask because I don't see a fuse of that size in the top left corner of the fuse box under the hood for either the convertible or the coupe. Can you describe the fuse layout in the box?
When you say that the 'short went away' can you tell me what the reading was on the meter before and after the fuse was removed, and were you measuring resistance (ohms) or current (amps)?
Sorry to ask so many questions but until I can get an accurate idea of which fuse and vehicle type you have I can't answer accurately. I don't have my French dictionary so I don't know what the word 'monteur' translates as in English. Was this car first sold in Europe?
Thanks for answering my questions.
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: It's a couple. I use the test light on the neg side when I pulled the fuse the light went out almost all the way. The fuse is located in the top left hand corner to the right of it is (P/window) 30A fuse to the bottom of it is hazard fuse 15a.The fuse that we are looking for is the engine fuse 30A.
AnswerHappy New Year, Sean!
May I ask for your help?
I need your vote of confidence.
I'm in a close race to be recognized as 'Volunteer of the Month' at Allexperts
Purely symbolic, but it means alot to me.
Please click on "Thank/rate the expert" button below/left
It will take you to a page which asks "Would you like to nominate this expert...?"
Click on the "YES"
That's it.
Thanks for taking a moment to help a fellow Chrysler-owner.
Roland
PS:Do it now, the contest closes at 6pm central time.
Hi Sean,
I have two problems: a test light will not tell you the amount of current that is being drawn between two points, it will only tell you the voltage between the points. The battery drain is caused by too much current, not too much voltage. So until you get an amp meter or an ohm meter there is no way to find out which circuit is drawing too much current.
I still can't be certain which fuse you saw the volt light change brightness (though as I said above that voltage is not a meaningful measurement). To the left of the power window fusible link is a red fusible links for the ABS (but if you don't have ABS then that slot would be empty) and to the left of that slot is a pink fusible link (30 amp) for the radiator fan. And the position below the blue hazart fuse (15 amp) is the power window fuse.
So you need to get a meter to measure ohms or current (amps) to solve the problem, and we need to clarify how to describe the fuse which reduces the current or raises the resistance (ohms) when removed (as I described in my first answer).
The manual shows that are of the box to have 13 fuses/fusible links: two at the far left, and then 6 in an upper row and 5 in a lower row, those 11 are to the right of the two on the far left. So in the future tell me the fuse position to be either in the upper or lower row and also what position it is in (counting 1-6 in the upper and 1-5 in the lower.
Roland
