Power Drain Mystery

[ciscolinks]

Hello,

I have a 1999 Lexus ES300. The car has had an intermittent issue causing it to drain the battery when sitting idle. The Lexus dealer keeps saying a door or the trunk was left open but this doesn't seem to be the case.

After removing all fuses, there seems to still be a small ampere drain on the battery as the car sits with all known systems off. Is there a non fused circuit in the car causing this or has this type of issue happened to anyone else?

Its in the shop again as they try to find what is draining the battery. This issue has been going on since the car was purchased according to the original owner.

Input appreciated

[lenore]

there is always a drain for the clock and the door ecu for monitoring the security and unlock features. If the car sits for extended periods (weeks) than the battery probably could go low...maybe a trickle solar charger would stop it, however the cigarette lighter is switched on the RX and probably the ES....

[chadmg7]

I had a "parasitic draw" on my battery cable which was draining my battery. Sounds like the same symptoms.

[amf1932]

As was said before, there is always a certain amount of discharge when everything is turned off, but if your battery is old this small drain can weaken it enough so you can't start the car. I would have the battery checked on a "load tester" to really determine if this weak battery condition is caused by this small discharge. This is the first step you should take before troubleshooting further.