Battery is pulling 185 mA when off. Why?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 186
Likes: 0
From: near Philly
Well, the Sony aftermarket radio was damaged when he went into a ditch (MB cracked) and this killed the backup battery in the radio for the settings. Therefore, the radio got it's power from the car, 185 milliamps. When we pulled the fuses, we forgot the spike current that the PDM pulls for 20 seconds until it levels off. If we had left the battery connected using a clamp on meter instead, we would have found it immediately, but I only had my regular amp meter that goes in the circuit. My son's pissed he had to pay $300, but he learned a lesson.
Thanks everyone for your help.
HotRodNeil
Thanks everyone for your help.
HotRodNeil
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 186
Likes: 0
From: near Philly
We took it to the dealer and found that the aftermarket Sony Radio was pulling the 180ma due to a dead backup radio battery. What threw us off is that the PCM pulls 300ma for a few seconds and then drops back down, and we didn't notice that until we pulled the other fuses.
It cost my son $300 to fix this, but hopefully, he learned something!
It cost my son $300 to fix this, but hopefully, he learned something!
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 186
Likes: 0
From: near Philly
Originally Posted by Sneakyws6
My bird does this same thing though it is more along the lines of 1 week before the battery dies.
What do you do to test how may amps the system is drawing?
What do you do to test how may amps the system is drawing?
I'm going to get a DC clamp meter UEI ACM6000 to measure the current when the wires split. It makes life easy!!
BTW, you remove the plus red wire from the battery and hook up the ampmeter in between the red and the battery, with a heavy duty clamp. Pull a fuse and look at the meter,, do this one by one.
Remember than when you hook up the meter, the PCM will draw 300 mA for a few seconds and then will drop down. Don't rush this or you will get an incorrect reading.
