Hi, everyone.

I have a 94 Camaro with the 3.4l motor. All stock under the hood. Parked my car outside in the cold for about a week, came home and went to drive it, but there's no power at all. I don't have a remote, so I unlock the car with the key. Anyway, I opened the door, and first thing I notice is that there are no lights. Put the key in the ignition and turn it - nothing, absolutely dead. Thinking it's the battery, I put jumper cables on it, and suddenly all systems normal. I used one of those remote power carts/battery tenders, and it reads that my battery is fine. I warm the engine and then take it for a drive, park it, let it sit for a few hours, and it starts right up again. I go away on another week long trip, and the same issue all over again - no electric power whatsoever. I pop a brand new, fully charged battery in it, and she starts right up. I think to myself that it's the battery, but the "old" battery (only 4 months old) checks out good on a battery tester under load. So, I put that batter aside and go off on another trip. Come back 5 days later and same issue again!!!

Is this a relay issue, maybe?

 

next time it does it and you have time, track the power with volt meter and see where it stops. could be a bad ground, could be bad battery cable, bad battery cable connection, start by cleaning battery cable ends with wire brush. clean connections at the power junction box on the passenger side fenderwell. its a small red plastic box. take wires off and wire brush the ends and put back on. do same with ground junction next to it.

 

You have a parasitic draw that is draining the battery as it sits. If you want to put your mind at ease about that one, disconnect the battery before you leave on a trip, then reconnect it when you get back and start her right up. So now you need to find what's drawing power. Not a lot though, when the key is off. What would I suspect? Have your alternator checked. The alternator has power to it all the time, and if it has a bad diode (they act as an electrical "check valve), you will be back-feeding power through the alternator as it sits. Run the engine for a short bit, shut it off, then put your ear up to the alternator. Do you hear an electrical "singing" sound? Although not always a tell-tale sign, if the alternator is making noise while sitting still, it's bad.

 

69 I believe was dead on. Something is just slowly sipping at your battery. I had the same problem when I had a tiburon. Turns out the radio wasn't grounded properly and it was eating my battery. It could be a bunch of things. So definitely unhook your battery until you have time to see what it is on your car that is playing parasite.

 

I had a bad horn relay that was draining mine once a pone a time.

 

I got in the car again the other day, unlock the car, open the door - no lights, nothing. Put the key in the ignition and try to start - absolutely nothing at all. Is the brand new battery dead? I remove the battery and check it, and it shows a full charge, even under a load (with a battery tester). Just for grins, I check the "old" new battery (bought and installed it only 6 months ago), and same thing - shows a full charge under load with a battery tester (somewhere well north of 12 volts). There appears to be nothing wrong with either battery. But if I put either battery in, and hook up some jumper cables from another car (with its engine running), my car starts right up, immediately, with authority. The alternator is only 4 months old, and since the batteries are holding charge, I don't suspect the diodes. That's why I'm suspicious its a relay issue. Is there a relay or some other diode or something between the battery and the rest of the electrical system that needs just a bit more current to excite or open? It seems to me that an old relay that is getting "sticky" and may be about to die completely might need a higher voltage to close than normal. And this is only happening since I started parking the car outside in the cold.

 

i would look at the battery cables. track the power till it stops. test big wire to starter to see if power from battery is getting to the starter. test to see if power is getting to the junction box on the passenger side fenderwell. test to see if any power is getting to the ignition switch. test for power to both fuse boxes. anyways you get the idea.

 

I agree with craby to check the junction box and the cable to the starter first. Also, check the ground. Follow the ground wire from the battery, it should go onto your engine block. take it off, clean it up, make sure its tight. I had that as an issue as well before.

 

Thanks, guys! As soon as I get back to the UK, I'll use all your advice and start trying to track this thing down. It's such a pain because this is my "airport car" and it's sitting in the parking lot of local London (England) airport. It always seems to be raining and it's always cold - miserable conditions to have to try to work on a car outside. I've got no place to take it where I can work on it indoors, and when I take it around to any of the local garages, everyone looks at it like it's some kind of alien spacecraft or something. Sheesh!

I so wish I had this in my garage back home in Arizona! It would be an easy thing to work on then!