Posted on 1/30/2026
Nothing throws off your day like walking out to a car that will not start. It feels random, too. The car was fine yesterday, and now you are stuck wondering what changed while it was parked. Overnight battery drains are usually caused by something small that stays awake when it should not. The key is knowing the common culprits, what the early signs look like, and when it’s time to stop resetting the clock with jump starts and get a real fix. Why Overnight Battery Drains Happen Your car always uses a tiny amount of power when it’s off. That is normal. The clock, security system, and a few control modules need a small standby draw. The problem starts when that draw becomes too high or lasts too long. This can happen because a module does not go to sleep, a switch sticks, or an accessory keeps pulling power even after you lock the doors. In our bays, we often find the cause is something simple that's easy to miss from the driver’s seat, like a l ... read more