EarlSS

Got a 2000 ss that the battery keeps going dead on. I had it tested and it's got a drain that's pulling .3 amps while the car is just setting turned off. The guy checked all fuses under the hood and inside the car and the drain stay constant .3 amps. He said it can't be anything that's going through the fuse box. So my question is what else could it be? What should I check next?

neverlift17

have you installed any aftermarket electronics (radio, alarms, lghts etc)?
make sure the contacts that are on the doors and trunk make sure those are not stuck

EarlSS

It has a viper alarm and remote start. I had it checked at a audio shop. The guy said it couldn't be the alarm or anything that runs through the fuse box since it kept drawing .3 amps after he pulled each fuse. He said I should check to see if it's something like the alternator or starter draining it but that was not his area he just deals with electronics, radios, alarms ect. I wish he would've just unhooked the starter or alternator while he had the tester on the battery. I'm kinda just stumped and don't know what to check next.

neverlift17

Did it start after he installed it? you can disconnect the starter and alternator and see if that fixes it if thats what he suggested do as long as you have a voltmeter

EarlSS

I'm not sure when it started. It's been doing it the whole time I've had it and the alarm was on it when I got it. He was pretty certain it wasn't the alarm but he could be wrong. If it's not the starter what else could it be? It's got me worried. I'm hoping it's nothing to serious.

neverlift17

did you just recently get the vehicle? it could be anything electrical problems like this are a pain in the ***. He checked all your fuses to see if you had any amps going through them or just made sure none was blown?

EarlSS

No I've had the car several years. I just haven't drove it a lot and keep the battery unhooked. I'm starting to drive it more now and it's pretty aggravating. The guy put a meter on the battery and seen that .3 amps was being drained from the battery while the car was just setting. He pulled fuses one by one and the meter never changed. It stayed on .3 amps.

neverlift17

oh yeah i bet haha, well it might be the starter or the alternator since he pulled all the fuses here is where the starter is located ,

the alternator is under the power steering pump so its a little more of a pain to get too.

EarlSS

Thanks man, I'll check the starter and alternator out. It'll probably be Monday before I can get to it.

EarlSS

I picked up this cheap tester but not sure if this is the tester I need to check the drain on my battery. If it's the rite tester what do I turn the **** to and plug the leads into. Do I disconnect either of the battery cables from my battery before i put this tester on my battery?

neverlift17

Disconnect the ground leave the positive connected and make sure all your doors and lights are off keys are out of the ignition. turn it to amps and connect one to the negative cable and one to the negative terminal

heres a video that goes more in depth on that process

eseibel67

iTrader: (10)

Don't forget, body module will still draw power for a time after you close the door. Make sure it's asleep before you test.

Some small draw is ok, such as alarm and radio, but it's nowhere near .3A.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

that meter is marked up to 200 milliamps in the green section, then up to 5 amps.
for the 5A setting you put your red wire test lead to the top hole in the meter outlines in red with the 5A. for the 200ma setting you put your red wire test lead to the middle hole marked "V-ohm_symbol-mA". the 200ma terminal may be fused to that so if you draw over that (you said 300ma above) then you'll blow the fuse in the meter. so to start you should go off the 5A resolution setting and see if the meter reads above 0.2. if it doesn't then you can undo things and run your test lead off the middle hole in the meter.

you need a separate jumper wire with aligator clips,
disconnect neg battery cable,
connect jumper wire between battery - and battery cable,
this will make connection and power vehicle and handle the high initial current when connecting battery (can be over 2-3 amps).
now connect your meter in parallel set on 5A setting, red lead to battery - cable and black lead to battery - post.
wait 5-10 minutes,
now disconnect your jumper wire so it's only the meter making the connection, this way the BCM has gone to sleep and nothing should be drawing power.
my guess is you have a blown diode in the alternator voltage regulator drawing power when car is off- you can disconnect the output wire to the alternator to check this although that's not easily accessible. or you have a bad radio head unit. those 2 things are the most common on an unmodified car.

my car is a 2002, completely stock.
battery draw is 8 milliamps (0.008 amps) with everything off, waiting about 1-2 minutes after making a battery connection.

EarlSS

Thanks guys I been super busy with dr visits and haven't had a chance to check what's draining my battery. 1 FMF I took my stereo out of my car and even unhook the factory amp and have replaced the alternator and it's still goes dead within a few days. Any more ideas what it might be? I'm open to all suggestions

EarlSS

I finally got around to checking my drain out today. I turned my meter to the 5amp setting and for some reason my meter reads .14 not connected to anything. When I first connect the leads to the cable and battery it sounds like my passenger door unlocks and meter shoots up to 4.2 then back to either .08 or .21, sometimes it read .08 and sometimes it read .21. I've got the little sensor in my hatch unhooked that tells that your hatch is open because when hooked up it keeps the light on my dash lot up telling me my hatch is open when it's really closed. I hooked it back up just to see what it'd do thinking my meter would read higher but I was surprised with that sensor hooked up my meter read .01. Shouldn't the draw have been higher or at least stayed the same with that sensor hooked up? I left it hooked up hoping that might be my problem.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

meters will jump around reading various numbers when the + and - leads are not connected to anything. before using the meter on something, connect the + and - leads from it to each other then see what it reads- a dc voltage reading should then be zero along with any current reading. when the meter leads are just hanging out in open air not connected, you have an open circuit so the meter will spew funky numbers that's normal.

not sure how you used your meter from your description, but i strongly recommend doing it the way i explained using a jumper wire in parallel especially whenever you do something like open a door because then an interior light will go on and the BCM will be active and current draw will be high. you don't want just the meter making your electrical connection in series between the battery post and battery cable all the time. use a jumper wire with aligator clips and connect that in parallel before you do anything to troubleshoot, then when all door are closed and lights off and after a minute the BCM has gone to sleep only then undo the jumper wire so it's the meter reading the current draw. every time you disconnect something to troubleshoot, you then need to close everything on car and wait 1-2 minutes for bcm to go to sleep otherwise you'll chase your tail on false meter readings. troubleshooting this kind of problem can be time consuming.
the most common items to go bad and draw excessive current are installed aftermarket components, the alternator, the radio, the BCM, and the alarm system and in your case there is that shock sensor on right rear side near spare tire you can try disconnecting.
after those, it's a matter of pulling fuses in underhood fuse box to hopefully narrow it down

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

and when you post the numbers, it would be helpful if you labeled them such as 4 amps, or 4 milliamps, or 0.004 amps.
you posted a 0.01 which i "assume" is in amps which is 10 milliamps (or 0.010A) which if that's all that's being drawn is fine. but you need to make sure you are reading your meter correctly, i know on some cheap meters if you set the meter to a milliamp scale it will read a number like 2.345 which is NOT 2.345 amps it's actually 2.345 milliamps or 0.002345 amps.

EarlSS

thanks man for trying to help me. Yes I had my meter set to amp instead of milliamperes. When I said it showed 0.010A. Sorry for the confusion. I'll test it again and zero my meter out first by putting the leads together first. I'm not quite sure how to do the jumper wire. I did my test just like the video posted earlier showed.

SCULLYJR

So whats the verdict?