Nothing can be me more frustrating than getting in your car in the morning to go to work only to find it won’t start because the battery is dead. Did you leave the lights on? Or is something else draining the battery overnight. Follow this Real Fix to see how a parasitic draw on the battery was diagnosed and resolved.
Vehicle
2007 Jeep Compass 2.4L
Title
Battery drains overnight, replaced rear wiper motor.
Complaint
Customer states the vehicle will not start after sitting overnight.
Cause
Connected a scan tool, checked for codes and found none in the system. Performed a visual inspection of the vehicle with the doors closed and found no obvious faults. With the ignition on and the engine off, removed one fuse at a time while monitoring a test lamp and found the lamp changed when fuse 16 was removed. Inspected the components related to fuse 16 and found the rear wiper was not in the park position. Attempted to operate the rear wiper and found the rear wiper would not return to park causing a parasitic draw.
Correction
Replaced the rear wiper motor and verified the vehicle no longer exhibited a parasitic draw that was draining the battery.
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