HotRodNeil

My battery goes dead after 3 days when the car is not used (Red Top Battery), so I checked the amps and I'm pulling 185 milliamps with nothing turned on. I pulled all the fuses one by one from all three fuse boxes and none of them drop the current. I checked my other Z28 and that pulls only 8 milliamps. It can't be a short or the amps would be much higher. It is very stable at 185 mA, so something is drawing the current. Any ideas? Thanks!!

Tall Guy

iTrader: (1)

Is there any aftermarket stuff installed on the car? Perhaps there is dome light staying on or the RAP retained accesory power isn't shuting off. There isn't too many things that 'stays awake' on our cars to drain the batter that fast. I think the alarm is the only thing that draws power after the RAP turns off IIRC.

HotRodNeil

Yes, there are aftermarket things (it's my son's car), however, they're all on the accessories fuse. The alarm is disconnected. I'm going to try an RF tracer to find the wire that's carrying the current. The ones that the phone people use to find a phone wire.

Farmer2

iTrader: (168)

If there is a after market Tach in the car, it could be wired hot drawing off a solid fusable link. The guy I bought my pickup from did this and drove me nuts trying to find it. It also killed my battery in 3 days.

Keep us posted.

autotrix

iTrader: (5)

185mA sounds like a bulb is on...it is odd that pulling fuses didnt find the circuit though....
Try pulling relays, there could be an input that is causing the RAP to stay energized.

S99TA

Unplug the pcm and see what happens

HotRodNeil

First, what is the RAP? Second, when I attach the cable, the amperage starts at 375ma, then drops to 60ma for 20 seconds and then goes up to 185ma, and this pattern is consistent. If it was a light bulb, wouldn't it stay flat at one reading (once the computer is stabilized)?

I'm going to disconnect the 2nd fuse box (the lower one) to isolate where the draw is. Where does the 3rd box attach (the one next to the car door)?

BTW, thanks for helping on this. It's a real pain in the a$$ trying to find this B.S.

2000LS1TA

iTrader: (26)

Good luck finding the problem bro

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

Leave the DVOM plugged between the neg batt terminal and the neg cable going into the car.

Pull fuses until the voltage drops off, see what fuse that is for then trace it down from there.

Bird Man

iTrader: (1)

It's like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

Tall Guy

iTrader: (1)

RAP- retained accesory power.

It keeps your radio and windows working after you shut off the car but don't open the doors. It's usually times out at 10 minutes and then shuts off completely whether or not you've opened the doors but maybe it's stuck in the 'on' position. It's controlled inside Body Control Module under the right side of the dash.

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

Try pulling the fuses and locating where it is coming from before you 'guess' that it might be such and such a problem.

HotRodNeil

I actually did pull all the fuses, one by one in all of the three fuse boxes, and the amperage did not drop. I can't explain this, but I really should do it again, as this does not make sense. I want to isolate which fuse box of the three that is the culprit, but when I disconnect the red wire from the dual fuse box on the right of the engine, the reading went to zero (which makes sense).

I have to disconnect the 3 fuse boxes one at a time to isolate which box is the culprit. Is there a meter that you can clamp on the wire to measure current instead of cutting the wire?

kingcuda70

iTrader: (1)

a clamp-on inductive ammeter can measure current flowing through a wire.
I've only used for AC applications, not sure about DC, though.

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

it'll work on DC. THey have adaptable amp clamps for automotive use. The DVOM should have the function on it. Stupid question, but do you have a under hood light? and was the car door open? Those would up the voltage draw also (when you were reading it).

You said you disconnected the jump terminal on the right side of the engine? (driver's side).. Trace that back, I'm pretty sure it either jumps into the battery or down to the starter. Could be a shorting solenoid or a bad winding in the starter.

HotRodNeil

I found a meter specifically for this:
http://www.ueiautomotive.com/product-acm6000.html
This meter is amazing.

I did disconnect the red wire to the fuse group and the current went to zero. Therefore one of the three fuse boxes must be the culprit, not the starter. There is no light under the hood, and all tests were done with the car door closed, no lights on at all. Also, no radar detector in the car.

We're taking it to the dealer, a friend of ours, and he will use his clamp meter to isolate things. We've wasted quite a bit of time on this, but it was a learning experience. I'll let the group know what it turned out to be. Anyone else have any ideas? BTW, please notice the pattern of the milliamp changing.

98ws61le

please let us know when you have a solution and what the issue was.......... thanks

Dal1as

1 hint of advice. Rap will turn on whenever a car door is open or voltage is disconnected and connected. I believe it stays on for 10 minutes. I had to use a jumper, then connect the multimeter, then disconnect the jumper process to keep the Rap from interfereing. Got a little more complicated when I had to trace things down in the interior. Found out I had my cd changer (aftermarket) hooked up wrong. Car was dying in just a few days. Similar amperage was being pulled also. Now it's down to 50 ma.

HotRodNeil

After spending many hours, we took it to the dealer today. We'll find out tomorrow. BTW, what is the RAP???

Dal1as

Retained accessory power. Stays on after you turn the car off. When you open a door, hatch, reapply lost power Rap will be on for 10 minutes. Hence why I used a jumper when testing or let it run out before testing the inside fuses. Or you can just add the bounce into the equation. My draw is about 50 ma now. With RAP activated it was something like 150 if I can remember right.