I have a 1996 z28 with 42k miles on it. Suddenly has a battery drain that will discharge the battery in about 24hrs to the point where the car won't start. Put a charge on it for a few minutes and the car starts right up. Alternator putting out 14.7 volts while charging the battery.

looking for leads. I have a mustang which has a factory service notice about air conditioner relays that remain on even when the car is off and will cause a battery drain...sure enough my mustang has the issue..and we just have to make sure we turn off the heater/ac, else the battery drains.

So I'm wondering if there are phantom drains in the 1996 camaro. I read that some folks think the alarm can be a cause of a drain so after charging it today, I'll lock the car up with out setting on the alarm and see if it starts tommorrow.

Any other leads would be greatly appreciated.

Battery is six months old or less.

 

Does the battery die with everything off? If not maybe its some bad wiring between the alternator and the battery,

 

Turn everything off including the ignition key. Disconnect one of the cables from the battery and insert an Ohm meter between the battery cable and the battery terminal. You should be reading no more than 0.5-0.7 amp. If the reading is higher start removing fuses, one at a time, and keep looking at the meter. The fuse that will make the reading drop is the fuse feeding the circuit causing the drain. Now see what is connected to that circuit and find the culprit.

 

Check your center console light. Sometimes when i close my the light is still on.

 

For the sake of not frying an ohm meter, didn't you mean an ammeter?
Not tryin to bust your lug-nuts Pete, just making sure he doesn't cook something that isn't already!

 

I once had the wife help me try to find a faulty trunk light by having her get in the trunk and I close the lid.
It took three days for her to find the problem!!!

 

ok so I'm not seeing any responses with specific known battery drains for the 1996 z28 camaro....like the specific service noticed I refered to for the 2000 mustang?

 

probably because there isn't some magical battery drain problem specific to a 96 z28...do what pete said...that should help. otherwise you're looking for lights that stay on. took me and my father 2 months to figure out why my battery kept drainin on my old s-10...finally we realized the glove box light stayed on. how do you honestly spot that? lol

 

You did not state how old the battery was??? Batteries do not last forever. If it is over three years old start thinking about a replacement.

 

Or, just because it might have been "new" 6-12 months ago, who says it is good and also, how long was it on the shelf prior to being sold?

On several occasions over the past ( I'm not revealing how many years), I've unknowingly installed a bad part. What happens is that you will assume the installed part is good, and since the "problem" isn't fixed, you move on trying other things. As you get more experience, you begin to trust in your abilities and also trust "theory". When you begin to 2nd guess yourself is when you begin to, as my Dad used to say, "chase your own tail".