Electrical Issues, car in for work now

[kartboy1234]

Hello everyone, a few days ago while on the freeway, I got an over voltage warning and to pull over. I pulled over and luckily a tow truck was behind me and tried helping me. The car had power but it was not shifting or driving right due to the over voltage. The car was towed to a mechanic and once it got there, the battery was completely dead. I checked on it the next morning and the battery was at 1 volt. The mechanic put a new battery in the car, but apparently the car is drawing 1 Amp of current when the key is off. Any ideas? The radio, AC and dashboard all still work which is good so those aren't fried. A week before the car battery died, but I just thought it was an old battery. I hope its not the ECM. They just replaced the battery so that isnt the issue. I will update if they find anything.

[kartboy1234]

I spoke to the mechanic, they said that the voltage regulator was dead, which is what I expected. The mysterious power draw has gone away, I think it was all of the computers restarting that caused it to draw a lot of power. I get the car back tomorrow so hopefully everything is working well.

[coflynn]

When the voltage regulator dies it can cause a constant draw - I had same thing on my S60. The regulator isn't fused or anything, it's got a direct connection to the battery. So once that happens you are screwed until you replace it.

[pelagikos]

overvoltage and then drained battery - sounds like the excitation is always on... bad regulator.

[kartboy1234]

I got the car back today. The battery and voltage regulator were replaced. The car is now running fine, but my wallet is not happy.