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99 Parasitic battery draw

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Old May 5, 2020 | 02:19 PM
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Default 99 Parasitic battery draw

Hey guys i have a parasitic draw and i have issues locating it.
the car wont start since the bat. is so weak after 1 day of sitting.
i recharged the battery several times and i can confirm proper charging via the Alternator

I can hear the clicking noise of the fusebox/ Computer in the passenger footwell area.
The only real electrical that is not working is my driver side door LOCK... the unlock is working ( passenger side both are working)

i checked all the fuses in the footwell and they all fine in terms of voltage. i saw some videos with Ohm meassurement technics and a chart, Is there anything easier of
how to chase this issue?

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Old May 5, 2020 | 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Sebambam
Hey guys i have a parasitic draw and i have issues locating it.
the car wont start since the bat. is so weak after 1 day of sitting.
i recharged the battery several times and i can confirm proper charging via the Alternator

I can hear the clicking noise of the fusebox/ Computer in the passenger footwell area.
The only real electrical that is not working is my driver side door LOCK... the unlock is working ( passenger side both are working)

i checked all the fuses in the footwell and they all fine in terms of voltage. i saw some videos with Ohm meassurement technics and a chart, Is there anything easier of
how to chase this issue?
You need to determine your parasitic drain first to have a better idea of what you're looking for.

To check the drain, disconnect the cable from the (-) battery post and insert a multimeter set to read current in the 10A range. Connect the multimeter's negative lead to the (-) battery post and the multimeter's positive lead to the negative battery cable you just disconnected. Wait for the car to go into sleep mode and check the current. Normal reading for a C5 should be around 25mA.

The following is a different approach to "current drain hunting". This can only be used on fuses, not on relays, but it could be used first and then, if still needed, go after the relays with the traditional methods.

This is easier and faster than the traditional way because you only have to wait for the car to go to sleep once, and then all fuses could be easily checked, one right after the other, without disturbing the car.

I don't know if this is what you were referring to, but if it is, you don't measure Resistance (Ohms), you measure the Voltage (Volts) Drop across the fuses.

In your case, it would be a matter of finding something (hopefully a single item) drawing around the same number of mA or A than your parasitic drain, while the car is in sleep mode.

The video is very good and provides links to the required charts. There's just one detail that I'm only bringing up to avoid confusion in case you notice it: at around the 7:06 mark he looks in a chart a voltage drop of 3.4mV and after finding it, he says it corresponds to a current draw of .1A when in reality it is 1A (1000mA).


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Old May 5, 2020 | 04:50 PM
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Assuming your battery is tested good and fully charged. With that size current draw, to discharge the battery in only a day-

I would first pull both seat breakers and then do the test detailed by GCG above. I would let the car go to sleep with the hood and passenger door open.

Seat switches are often but not always the culprit.
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Old May 5, 2020 | 05:04 PM
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I forgot to tell you that the first step should be to fully charge your battery and then have it load-tested.

Testing for a parasitic drain requires a fully charged battery
​​​​​​

Last edited by GCG; May 5, 2020 at 05:52 PM.
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Old May 7, 2020 | 06:57 PM
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When I tested my car, I found no draw challenges under the hood... but Fuse #25 in the passenger compartment was removed and my draw went to 25 ma. Also I had a relay that was very warm to the touch - #37 "Monitored."

Got any guidance for me?
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Old May 7, 2020 | 07:34 PM
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The body control module shuts things off that are on after about 15 minutes being idle. #25 feeds the body control module, one ignition circuit and instrument panel control. # 37, a relay, powers those things that should go off in 15 minutes.

I might start by replacing relay 37, easy and cheap. DO NOT stick anything conductive under the relay to pull it. Relay pullers are cheap.


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Old May 8, 2020 | 02:27 AM
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Let me just add to the previous post this schematic showing what is controlled by Relay 37:



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