On occasion my battery (new) goes dead. Sounds like a battery leak? How do I test for this? I have a Cnc odb2 tester, test light, multi meter and alternator tester. If that helps.

Thanks

 

The 'occasion' is the harder part of the issue.
What is the 'occasional' interval?
I could be the alternator but then it would usually not be of an occasional nature and easy to test for.
Otherwise the 'drain' needs to be there to see it when testing.
Normally there is a small drain that is normal from the computer memory and any other equipment that has to maintain memory or a delay time after ignition shutdown..
.
Basically you need to look at the baseline normal drain to see when the extra drain is occurring so you can see when you open the circuit that is causing the extra drain to see a reduction.
.
The alternator will cause various drain intervals from a 'leaky' rectifier stack.
What that means is the alternator will still charge normal but allow drain to ground through the faulty stack to ground.
Depending on how bad the leakage is as to how fast the battery will drain down.
If it this a very high drain, the alternator case will feel warm after the motor has cooled as a tipoff. It can be tested for by removing the heavy power cable
very carefully then re-touching it back to the terminal.
If you see a spark it tells you the alternator is leaking the battery back through it to ground.
Bottom line is you have to establish a base line by observing the drain so it can be determined when you find it by such things as removing fuses one at a time to detect the difference in drain.
Good luck.

 

Super great information. Thanks!!!!

 

Gray, you start by removing a battery cable and putting your meter set to OHMS in series between the cable and the battery terminal.. See what current is pulled with key off, nothing running....... wait several minutes for the computer to time out and see what the draw is when it goes into sleep mode..... then follow the directions from Bluegrass.

 

Connecting a battery while set to OHMS will likely ruin the meter, or blow a fuse.

You are measuring current, in this case milli-amperes. 50 milliamperes is considered "normal" or at least typical. Remember 1000 mA = 1 amp

 

The easiest and safest way to find the issue is make up a lamp socket assembly and a lamp wattage that just lights to near full brilliance from the drain.
Hook it up in series with the battery lead.
When you find the circuit that is causing the drain and open it, the lamp brilliance will reduce, go dim or go out.
This is a positive and safe way to monitor the progress with out any possibility of damage to a meter.
Be sure to remove the engine compartment lamp so it's drain is not included in the testing.

 

If the meter is connected in order to measure current, it won't be damaged.

This shouldn't be a show stopper i.e. it's not rocket science. Just trying to clarify here so nobody makes a mistake.

 

yea...long day.......... I should have said AMPS and not OHMS. ......... your looking at the current.

 

I am loosing. .40 amps. does that rung a bell


checked the alternator and that seams to be fine

 

no, half an amp is not normal......... did you wait 5 -10 minutes for the sleep mode to kick in ? I believe you should be in the MILLI amp range or 100 x less than you see now.

 

Usually We do a load test to see if the battery is leaking or the charging unit is at fault, but as you mention its new right so it should be checked and replaced by the dealer with no charge at all.

 

Also, leaking battery usually produces white powered like substance.