Parasitic draw...

[mr.smartass]

I've searched and read through most of the threads I found but I've never used a DMM before so I'm still a little lost...

I pulled the positive cable off and put the meter inline between the cable and the battery.

With the meter set on 200m ( over on the right side, under the big A which I'm assuming means amps ) the number constantly fluctuates between 5.4 and 0, but seems to say between 3.9 and 5.0 for the most part.

So what's that put my draw at? Shooting for 25mA right?

 

[mr.smartass]

Basically just need to know with the meter set to 200m, what is it displaying? Do I need to move the decimal for milliamps or what?

 

[jonrpick]

So, do you have a draw you're trying to locate? You should be able to use a cheap home-made adapter to connect a fuse outside the fuse panel, then insert the DMM there. Then you could nail down exactly which circuit is drawing power...

 

[mr.smartass]

Well... to begin with if the truck would sit for a week or a little longer the battery would die... as of late it's getting worse. Drove the truck last night and it did fine, took it a few places and it started fine but after it sat over night, it woudln't crank.

So I picked up a new battery tonight, I've never put a new one in it so I'm sure that's part of the problem. But before I hook this new one up, I wanted to make sure something wasn't going to start killing it instantly.

So I'm just trying to see if there's a problem to begin with. If there is then I'll start tracking it down.

 

[jonrpick]

Well... to begin with if the truck would sit for a week or a little longer the battery would die... as of late it's getting worse. Drove the truck last night and it did fine, took it a few places and it started fine but after it sat over night, it woudln't crank.

So I picked up a new battery tonight, I've never put a new one in it so I'm sure that's part of the problem. But before I hook this new one up, I wanted to make sure something wasn't going to start killing it instantly.

So I'm just trying to see if there's a problem to begin with. If there is then I'll start tracking it down.

Well I'd do as I suggested and test each circuit individually after you verify that there is indeed a draw. My Dodge Van did that...never bothered to find out why.

 

[punx.inc]

I was having a similar problem with my 86. Never could find the problem, even after checking fuses and all. I finally ended up hooking up a battery disconnect switch to the negative cable. I have it mounted right underneath the steering wheel. Flip it off when I'm done for the day and turn it back on when I wanna drive. Never had a dead battery since.