Battery drains when shut down after a few hours?

Tiny
VINCER
  • MEMBER
  • 2006 HONDA CIVIC
  • 1.7L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 140,000 MILES
The battery goes dead when shut down after a few hours. Traced the problem to a circuit for heated seats it doesn't have. Removed the fuse and stopped the bleeding. The circuit is hot leading up to the fuse but doesn't make sense. Why keep the circuit for heated seats live all the time? It would drain the battery pretty quick if you forgot to turn them off when the car was shut down. When testing the circuit with a voltmeter, the voltage is all over the place, like hot one moment, then not the next. From the schematics I can find, the circuit is fed by the 80A Op fuse/circuit from the fuse box under the hood that also appears hot. So, I might have 2 problems. One is I am getting juice on the load side of the 80A Op circuit to the fuse box in the cabin that should be dead. And two, power is shorting out somewhere on the load side of the power heated seat circuit where there should be no wiring, or perhaps wiring that is present, but not connected to anything. Does anyone have experience with this issue? I kind of know what I need to do next, but I really don't want to get into trying to trace and rip apart that wiring if someone has dealt with this before on the Honda Civics.
Thursday, October 10th, 2024 AT 6:27 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
So, the 80-amp fuse powers the front and rear accessory socket, do you have anything plugged in? Also, the radio amp is plugged into it as well, so I would unplug it to see if the problem stops, the amp will be warm if it is the problem, here is the location and the wiring diagrams for the 80-amp fuse so you can see. Check out the images (below). Please let us know what happens.
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Friday, October 11th, 2024 AT 10:52 AM
Tiny
VINCER
  • MEMBER
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Thanks Ken L.

Your schematics are much better than the ones I found. Both show that circuit should be hot, and it is. Nothing plugged into any of the accessory outlets. Turns out pulling the fuse only mocked me. The car started great after sitting over night, but barely started in the afternoon. I started over again pulling the power leading into the main fuse box under the hood. The only lead connected to the battery was to the starter. Tested for a short and got one. Starting to have a history with Duralast starters and not a good one. Won't be the first replacement, but the job too much of a pain for me to replace. Going to the shop now. Thanks for the help.
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Friday, October 11th, 2024 AT 7:27 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
Yep, starter motors can cause issues as well, please let me know what happens.
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Sunday, October 13th, 2024 AT 8:46 AM

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