Quick Battery ?

[joshua632]

I know this has been covered but I' m at work and don't have time to search, sorry! I have a parasidic draw somewhere in my truck I have unhooked the - cable and tested in between the cable and battery with my multi-meter it reads 12.5 volts so I believe I have a pretty big drw somewhere. I have tried unhooking the alt. no change I have pulled every fuse no change I have unhooked about every sensor under the hood one at a time no change. Am I missing something or am I doing something wrong. PS this is a new Optima red top and the alt is charging fine. Please help?

 

[Wicked Wolf Auto]

I had the same problem test as you have and pull one fuse at a time

 

[joshua632]

Well with all the fuses pulled it made no difference, so I'm not sure how pulling them one at a time will tell me anything. But I will try anything at this point.

 

[Wicked Wolf Auto]

then that means you have a direct draw off the battery

 

[joshua632]

thats what I am thinking but can't find the source.

 

[diesel4me]

use a test light...

I'd use a test lamp instead of a voltmeter--a meter will read any normal parasitic draw a computer, or radio memory has as a short,and say its drawing 12V,(and it is!),but not enough to kill a battery --right away at least...A lamp will give a better indication of how much amperage the "draw" is using,you can tell by how bright it lights up..

If pulling out all the fuses does not put the lamp out,then its one of the "always live" circuits that has the short...try removing the wires off the altenator,the large red one that is held on with a nut,and the 2 that plug in--also try pulling the pink wire off the HEI distributor,and check all headlight wires..(I've found several of my GM vehicles show a draw (very dim) with a test light,and it wont go out until I pull the pink wire off the HEI--never figured out why!--and my batteries dont go dead,so it must be a very slight draw..maybe its normal? good luck!--electrical demons suck..

 

[joshua632]

I hear that bro. Only its killing a battery over night so it seems like a big draw. Right now I have the + cable off until I figure it out.

 

[Wicked Wolf Auto]

mine was dieing overnight with a brand new dry cell it ended up being a short in the stereo swapped stereos and haven't had a problem my blaze can sit for 2 weeks and still be good

 

[joshua632]

Though of that to but I unhooked the radio too no good. Its probably something so stupid and simple I will kick myself when I find it.

 

[bigjbear]

It sounds like you are saying you unhooked your battery cable then then used a volt meter to measure from the bat to the removed cable and it reads 12.5V. If that is the case you are using your meter wrong. Voltage is measured in parallel, current is mesured in series. You just completed the batterys curcuit. Switch your meter to amps and look for current flow. Then follow the steps above about removing fuses, alt wires, ect. As mentioned above a test lt will also work for this.

 

[joshua632]

Thanks I was worried I was doing it wrong but didn't have internet last night to ask. I will try this again. Thanks again guys I really appreciate the help.