Hey everybody I think I have a nasty short on my 2006 IS350. Ok yesterday I drove my IS to work and when I got there I shut off the car just like any other day and went on to work. 10 hours later when I got in my car to go home...my battery was completely dead and wouldn't start. I tried to starting it with a battery jumper. I placed the positive cable on the positive side of battery and when I connected the negative it sparked (more than usual). The car started right up but then I noticed smoke coming from the negative battery terminal, so I disconnected the jumper and the car immediately turned off. Later I took the battery to get tested and they told me it was TRASHED....dead cells (battery was only 4 months old). I ended up getting a new battery and when I tried hooking it up to my car I got the same sparks and I noticed that the battery cable immediately got really hot. I then proceeded to conduct a parasitic test on car and it is spitting out 14.65 AMPS while the car is off WOW!!! that's a lot. I tried disconnecting all fuses and relays one by one to see if it changed and nothing. Oh yea and did I mention that it fried the hell out of my alternator so I had to replace it. Has anybody experienced this or has any insight on what my problem could be. Any and all help would be appreciated. trying to fix in house before I gotta take it to a dealer, which my nearest Lexus dealer is about 450 miles away

 

So you replaced the alternator AND the battery and you still have this 14+ AMP draw with the car off?

Before this all happened, what was the last thing you or someone else did under the hood?

 

take a look @ your ground wire
I dont like electrical problems, they drive me

 

I also had to replace my alternator and battery late last year, but I think it was partially my fault too. I mistakenly allowed the battery to drain low a couple times while listening to music with the head lights in auto and I believe the cells collapsed and took out my alternator on my way to work one morning. I had the alternator replaced and installed a new Lexus battery. No issues since.

BTW, the alternator is an SOB to change.

 

^Well, the one bolt connecting the alternator bracket to the engine block is a SOB.

 

last thing I did to the car was replace the headlight bulbs

 

That sounds dangerous to do it yourself. Damn, dealer is 450 miles away. That sucks big time. I think you should bring it to the trusted mechanic instead.

 

So is the car throwing any CELs? You say the relays/fuses are all good; did you test each one with a multi-meter?