Does anyone know about what the current draw should be on a 1995 850 turbo wagon (135K miles)when the engine is off and the key is out? I've had several times over the last year or so where the car has been sitting for a week and when I return, the battery is dead. It doesn't alwaysdo it, and the car generally doesn't sit that long. I had a store brand battery from Autozone first then replaced it several months ago with a store brand battery from parts america ( I think this ones a Duralast). I let it sit for a week while on vacation, and when I returned it cranked about 7 seconds then nothing but the dreaded click, click, click...The temperature was in the50's then in the single digits while I was gone, it was dead enough I couldn't jump it without leaving the cables connected to another vehicle for 5 minutes. Even after that it seemed to crank fast enough but wouldn't start so maybe a dead battery and something else? Its in the garage now which is unheated but should be just above freezing with a charger on the battery to see what happens. I'm hoping for just a dead battery and frozen fuel line or something form condensation - it had less than 1/2 a tank.

 

Maybe a bad alternator...

 

IIRC mine was about 30mA.

 

Just an update - I charged the battery all night. Now it cranks fine, or at least it sounds like its cranking fast enough, but wont start. Doesn't even sputter like its trying to start. I cna hear the fuel pump wich was replaced last summer, so I guess its time to start the troubleshooting.

 

Thanks axelm. When I get it running again, I'm going to have to test it to see if its just crappy a battery or if something is staying on.

 

Here's the latest - I put an electric heater on the engine to warm it up a little. After about 2 hours it sputtered to life, ran rough for a fewminutes then smoothed out. As long as I had the gas on it stayed running but wouldn't idle. After a minute or two it idled ok. I was able to drive it for about 30 miles of city and freeway driving with no issues. I did notice that when I got back to the garage and tried restarting it (1 time out of 4) the starter spun but didn't engage I think this also happened about a week ago but wasn't paying attention- could it be the solenoid or starter going bad?