0.020A draw, battery dying, any ideas?

[AN292]

Without pulling any fuses, I am getting 20mA of draw which I am reading is pretty normal.

My battery is less than a year old, it dies after 1 - 1.5 days sitting. Alternator is 14.2

I am going to start pulling fuses but just wondering if anyone had any ideas first

I have removed the cluster and radio just to get started based on some thread I've been reading and it didnt make any difference in the readings.

 

[rockola1971]

Disconnect negative or positive battery cable. Take measurement of battery voltage. THe next day take another reading of the battery voltage and compare. This will tell you if internal resistance in the battery has increased (A cell dying) or is starting to short.

20ma isnt enough to drain a battery over a couple days. Not even a couple weeks.

 

[Fless]

Anything under 50mA is "okay" and these trucks routinely sleep in the 20 to 30mA range after all is asleep. Mine runs in the high 20s and is good for two weeks at a time with no issues. My driver's door latch was the culprit.

You also may need to watch the draw over time, if you haven't already. Periodic wake-up of a module could cause this, or a driver's door latch being flaky and allowing the interior lights to come on occasionally.

Any aftermarket alarm or remote start systems installed? AUTO HVAC head or manual?

Before you start pulling fuses please consider using the voltage drop (across the mini-fuse test points) method of testing in-circuit. That way you don't run the risk of modules coming on- and off-line while you're testing, at least for those. Lots of YouTube videos out there about it, but let us know if you need recommendations and a link to the mini-fuse conversion chart.

An infrared camera can also ID any warm spots in the fusebox to help you zero in.

Pull the two ECM connectors off and inspect the pins and sockets for corrosion and pin fitment. If there's water intrusion the lower pins will have the green crusties. If you find that, clean it up and put in new connector gaskets.

 

[NewDenaliOwner]

Without pulling any fuses, I am getting 20mA of draw which I am reading is pretty normal.

My battery is less than a year old, it dies after 1 - 1.5 days sitting. Alternator is 14.2

I am going to start pulling fuses but just wondering if anyone had any ideas first

I have removed the cluster and radio just to get started based on some thread I've been reading and it didnt make any difference in the readings.

I had a windshield leak. The water found its way down into the fuse box. The water pooled in my fusebox and apparently caused my battery to drain.

I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the fusebox and allowed the water to drip/drain out. My battery stopped draining.

My floorboard will probably rust out. I haven't been able to determine how to stop the leak.

This may not be your problem . . . but it has solved mine.

jw

 

[AN292]

Another thing I have noticed over the last couple days is Ill start the truck just fine, drive 5-10 minutes, turn it off, do whatever I have to do for 10-20 minutes or so, go to start it and its either a hickup or dead completely. How?

 

[MassHoe04]

Another thing I have noticed over the last couple days is Ill start the truck just fine, drive 5-10 minutes, turn it off, do whatever I have to do for 10-20 minutes or so, go to start it and its either a hickup or dead completely. How?

Behavior described in this last post sounds a lot like symptoms you might find with bad battery clamp, cables or main ground connections.

 

[AN292]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm just going to start back at square 1 and went Autozone to get my battery replaced under warranty. Starts noticeably stronger now, obviously.

The old battery had been drained down to 3V on several occasions because my dash camera is plugged into the hot cig lighter 24/7.

I'm pretty sure that eventually wrecked the battery, there is no corrosion on the terminals or cables.

Since I'm only getting 20ma draw I doubt anything is pulling power, I now unplug the camera when I'm parked. If this keeps happening I will dig deeper but I still start here at square 1 with a fresh battery and keep an eye on things as time goes on. Thanks again