Electrical issue - Battery drain

[GTOKID]

Hi all - this is my first post.
I have an 09 Aveo (65,000 mi) I bought new. I went to start the car and the starter ran for like three seconds and the car did not start. Went to try again and the battery was dead. Jumped it and all was good - no codes. I drove to the airport - the car sat for 2 days - the battery completely dead - another jump. The alt is good, the battery tests good. I have about 0.4A drain on the battery with the car not running and nothing on. I know that the ECM and maybe the radio memory use some power but I think that is too much. Pulled fuses and relays - no help. If I pull the main 50A fuse - the drain drops to 0. HELP!
Thanks

[avguy]

How are you measuring the battery draw - multi meter between the negative battery cable and post?
DId you close the door to turn the dome light off, and then wait for half an hour or so? Some stuff doesn't shut down completely right away, and will throw the test off. If you've done all that, then the .4A is definitely too much. Start pulling fuses one-by-one, which should isolate the circuit that's causing the draw. Then, depending on which circuit is at fault, it may be easy, or not-so-easy (if lots of wires need to be chased) to determine exactly what the cause is.

[GTOKID]

Thanks for responding avguy. Yes - thats how I measured the draw. I did pull the fuses one by one - I isolated it down to the 50A SJB Batt fuse. I'm looking for the electrical diagram to see what is been powered from this fuse.

[avguy]

Sorry, I was referring to (and should should have said) Instrument Panel fuses, because that's what the SJB fuse should be protecting.

[2010AveoLT]

Sorry, I was referring to (and should should have said) Instrument Panel fuses, because that's what the SJB fuse should be protecting.

I'm With avguy on this one, start looking in the Instrument panel Fuse box, I once had this same problem in my old Plymouth, Battery would go dead overnight; found out the Trunk Light contact in the Latch was out of adjustment, causing the trunk light to stay on, and was slowly killing the battery. in other words, start with the Courtesy Lights, and work your way through every system that's fed by the IP Fuse Box.

[GTOKID]

Hi avguy - I pull each fuse downstream from the SJB 50A fuse to isolate the 0.4A drain. When I pulled the OBD 10A fuse, the drain went down to 20-30ma. The OBD feeds the Data link connector, theft deterrant module, pass presence sensor, restraint sensing module and vehicle comm module. Guess I need to disconnect each one of these to isolate further......

[avguy]

You're making good progress, and hopefully you'll get it on your own (and post the outcome here). But if you have any more questions at this point, I probably won't be of any help to you.
My 2005 is the most basic vehicle made - crank windows and no AC (but it gets me back and forth to work every day ). So some of the things you mentioned just aren't happening for me. I'll just say be on the lookout for broken or frayed wires, and the other guys can give you a hand if it comes down to a specific part. I'm betting you'll track it down and bag it real soon.

[navylady]

Hi, I know this is an old post but I'm having the exact same issue on my 2009 Aveo. It has led to me pulling the sjb batt fuse every time I park my car. We broke it down by seeing what fuse would stop the drain and so far our outcome has just been to pull the fuse. Did you ever find out what was causing this issue. I'd really love the help and feedback to lead me in the right direction.

[EmilyT]

I've dealt with the same issue on my 09 for a few years now... I'm not auto-aware enough to figure it out, and it hasn't been worth it to put the money into hiring someone to investigate, bit I've ran into more people around neighborhood out jumping their Aveos for what sounds like the same issue I'm almost waiting for that manufacturer's recall at this point.

Anyway, would love to hear of anyone has gotten to the bottom of this, because at this point I just want to sell the thing.

[petrified.rabbit]

This is interesting, I am still running my aveo on the original battery. Which leaves me to believe it is in the options I don't have.

Does your car have an alarm system? power locks, etc? I would suspect if there are any remote operated features that the "antenna" for those features must stay powered to open the doors and such when you hit the button. That and/or the alarm would be the two things that need power supplied when the car is off. I would start with trying to pull either fuse, but be prepared to not be able to get in the car or have it not run once pulled.

Aside from that, the stock battery is a very cheap, almost recycled quality battery from korea. The typical draw on the systems that stay on in a car anymore is much more than a car even 10 years ago. So you might just need to replace the battery.