Constant Battery Draw?
CF Active Member
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RE: Constant Battery Draw?
yea u do a amp. draw with a voltmeter. hook it inline with the positive battery cable by unhooking it and putting one end on the battery and the other on the terminal. wait like 10mins for everything to go into sleep mode again and read how many milliamps u r drawing.
CF Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2007
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RE: Constant Battery Draw?
Also, I would like to add.... If you find a key off draw using the method described above you can start pulling fuses one at a time until the draw on the meter dissappears. Doing this, you can narrow down the problem to a particular circuit.
CF Pro Member
Joined: Oct 2006
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RE: Constant Battery Draw?
This is referred to as " parasitic drain " , all modern vehicles will normally have a small amount of parasitic drain for the various electronic control modules and constant memory for things like stereos, etc.
The test for this :
With a Multimeter set to DC amps , without the key in the ignition, doors closed and everything OFF
1 - disconnect the Negative battery cable
2 - attach one lead from the meter to this negative cable
3 - attach the other meter lead to the negative battery point
wait a few minutes for the reading to settle ( this is for everything to re-initialize ) and observe the reading, which should be somewhere in the ball park of .010 (milliamp) to .020 (milliamp). [ 1 amp = 1000 milliamp and 1/2 amp = .500 amp or 500 milliamp ]
This will depend on what accessories your vehicle has.
If you find a high reading , for example .500 amps ( 500 milliamp ), you can do one of two things to locate which circuit is responsible for the high draw.
#1
- leave everything connected as mentioned above
- remove one fuse at a time and see if the reading drops significantly
just remember to shut the door or disable the interior lights so they aren't on.
#2
- reconnect the battery cable
- pull one fuse at a time
- place one lead of the meter on one terminal of the fuse socket
- place the other lead of the meter to the other terminal of the fuse socket
- observe and record the reading
This will direct you to which circuit has a problem.
The test for this :
With a Multimeter set to DC amps , without the key in the ignition, doors closed and everything OFF
1 - disconnect the Negative battery cable
2 - attach one lead from the meter to this negative cable
3 - attach the other meter lead to the negative battery point
wait a few minutes for the reading to settle ( this is for everything to re-initialize ) and observe the reading, which should be somewhere in the ball park of .010 (milliamp) to .020 (milliamp). [ 1 amp = 1000 milliamp and 1/2 amp = .500 amp or 500 milliamp ]
This will depend on what accessories your vehicle has.
If you find a high reading , for example .500 amps ( 500 milliamp ), you can do one of two things to locate which circuit is responsible for the high draw.
#1
- leave everything connected as mentioned above
- remove one fuse at a time and see if the reading drops significantly
just remember to shut the door or disable the interior lights so they aren't on.
#2
- reconnect the battery cable
- pull one fuse at a time
- place one lead of the meter on one terminal of the fuse socket
- place the other lead of the meter to the other terminal of the fuse socket
- observe and record the reading
This will direct you to which circuit has a problem.
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