Having trouble with a persistent battery drain on a 98 Disco. Could use some help in what troubleshooting steps to follow next.

Here are the symptoms:

If I leave the Disco for more than a day or two, the battery drains to completely dead. Trying to start gets a relay click or, if left longer, NOTHING.

Battery is new and correctly sized, and at least was in good condition. (Will get it retested today.)

Jump starting works great: Starts right up. So starter seems fine. And disconnecting the jumper cables right away doesn't cause any stalling, etc.

Battery recharges great: drive for 45 minutes +, and it will restart fine. So I think the generator is fine. And as long as it is driven every day or two, no problems.

Mechanic has tested for drains on each fused circuit, and no drain is found (when key is off).

Also, I have had a small solar charger panel hooked up directly to the battery terminals, but that has not helped keep it charged (it is possible that there has been too much snow here for the panel to provide much charge).

So, what next? Where is this battery drain coming from?

- I will get the mechanic to recheck for drains on the fused circuit.
- My next sense is to visually inspect the ground straps/points, and clean or repair these. Does anyone have a link to checking these out?

Thanks for any help here.

 

put a test light between the battery post and the cable end, if it lights you have a drain. pull the fuses one by one until the light goes out.
Now some people prefer to work the other way and pull all the fuse and reinstall them until it lights, which might work better on new cars with memory radios and clocks and what not.

 

There will always be some draw. A meter works better so you can see what the draw actually is.

 

About 50 milliamps on my D1. Don't forget to test the bolt-in fuses as well in the under hood box. Some of these are like main fuses with sub fuses down stream. If no meter or test light, a tail light bulb will work. Glow bright on high drain.

 

is a dead battery the reason you have a new one?

has the battery cells been checked with a hydometer? can have a dead cell and still test good with a computerized testor and hand held load test

are our alternators like a gm where it can still charge with a bad volt regulator but causes a draw?

 

whoa. A dead cell is easily detected by measuring voltage with a good load attached. Like head lights. Volts will drop like a stone. Yes, I own hydrometers. A bad diode can allow charging (with 1/3 less maximum amps).

As for battery tests by high school kids who just started at the parts store a week ago....