Battery draining down when parked but no lights on

That little red light is your anti-theft system and it does not drain enough power to drain your battery unless your car is sitting for a year. I would check for a draw. Unhook your negative battery cable and hook a test light between the cable and the negative terminal. If the light lights up brightly, then you have something draining the battery at a significant rate. I start by unhooking the main cable off of the alternator, this is a prime place to start for a battery drain. If unhooking the alternator does not dim the test light then move on to the power distribution center and pull fuses and relays one at a time until the light dims, this will at least narrow down the circuit that needs attention.

You have something drawing on your battery. disconnect the nevagative cable. hook a test light between the negative cable and negative battery post and pull fuses till the test light goes out. when the test light goes out you've found the circuit that's drawing down your battery. trace the circuit and look for a short to ground or if something on that circuit is staying on.

I doubt the actuator, but not positive. I think it would be buzzing or clicking if it were drawing current.
So new battery and alternator. Assuming no problems in the charging system, you may be right about the drain. Here's how to check for the so-called parasitic draw, or unintended drain: Having just gotten home or having run the engine a good time to assure the battery is fully charged (about 30 minutes at least), shut off the car and open the hood. If there is an under hood light, take out the bulb. Now let the car sit for a good half hour, key out of ignition, everything off, to make sure the engine computer has gone to sleep, and all systems are shut down.

Take off the negative battery terminal and hook up a test light or voltmeter between the negative cable end and the negative battery post. If there is a drain, the test light should be bright, or voltmeter will register voltage. There is always a very small electrical draw on the battery from the keep alive memory for clock, radio pre-sets, computer memory, and the security system. But this should only be milliamps (less usually than 100 milliamps-not enough to drain a battery for a long time, less amperage than a glove box light bulb would draw). The test light should not be lit, or if affected by this milliamp draw, would have a very, very dim bulb glow.

If the tester lights up bright, there is an unintended drain. To find it, start pulling fuses one at a time, watching the test light. When a fuse is pulled and the test light goes out, you have found the problem circuit. Check a wiring diagram to see what all is on that circuit to find the problem.
Now if you did not find a drain, then have the charging system checked. Good luck, hope you find it.

Could be a light not cutting off. Check for a dome light, glove box light, trunk light. Disconnect the negative cable from the battery and barely touch it back to the post. A small spark could indicate something that is drawing power. Do this in the dark.
Bill

Best thing to do is disconnect the neg battery terminal put your volt meter on amps and hook it up in series from the neg cable head to the battery neg and disconnect fuses one at a time until the draw goes away,then narrow it down from there

If you disconnect the negative battery cable and connect a 12V test light between the battery negative post and the negative battery cable terminal the light will burn if there's a draw. Make sure all electrical consumers are off and all doors closed when doing this draw test. If the light is on start pulling 1 fuse at a time until the light goes out, when it goes out that's the circuit that has the draw. Trace it from there.

PUT A TEST LIGHT FROM THE GROUND POST OF YOUR BATTERY TO THE GROUND CABLE CLAMP.REMOVE THE CLAMP FROM THE BATTERY AND THE LIGHT WILL LIGHT IF THERE IS A DRAIN.START UNPLUGGING STUFF [START WITH THE ALTERNATOR] AND WHEN YOU GET TO THE DRAW THE LIGHT WILL GO OUT. TRY PULLING FUSES TO NARROW DOWN THE CIRCUT.WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT CHECK THE OWNERS MANUAL TO SEE ALL COMPONENTS THAT YOU NEED TO CHECK. MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS A DIODE GONE IN THE ALTERNATER CAUSEING A 4 AMP DRAIN,IT WILL NEED A RECTIFIER PUT IN IT.HOPE THIS HELPS.

something is draining battery,check charging system complete with a draw test,check to see if any lights are left on ( glove box,trunk,under hood,mirror lights, ect,)start there hope this helps.

You have either a battery with a dead cell that must be replaced, or something is on and draining the battery. Check the under hood, trunk, glove box, brake, parking, and courtesy lights. Open the hood at night and remove the negative cable. When you touch it to the negative battery post if you see a fairly large spark, something is on or something is drawing power. If you see a very tiny spark that is normal as it is the radio & clock pulling power. Replace the battery.

You can always verify if it is your radio that is drawing the current of your battery down or at least you can narrow it down to which circuit it is. Remove the negative battery terminal and connect the negative side of a test light to the negative cable. Then place the positive side of the test light on the negative battery terminal. If you have a current draw the test light will light up. Now just start pulling fuses one at a time until the light goes out. Then you know which circuit is the culprit.