03 z71 myster parasitic draw

[silky28]

Hey all, so I am dealing with a parasitic draw that is killing the batter in under 2 days, but I cannot track it down!

here is what I have tried:

1- verify draw by removing battery ground and running multimeter from ground wire to battery. Was not getting any reading but every time I connected the negative lead there was some sparking so it was surely pulling amps. I assumed multimeter bad.

2- switched to using an amp clamp. I clamped the negative wire right before the battery and got a reading of 610 miliamps. To verify the clamp was working I flipped on the headlights to see if amps spiked on meter - they did.

3- I waited 30 mins then did a voltage drop test on the under hood fuse panel. I couldn’t find a single fuse that had any voltage drop. So make sure meter was working I turned on headlights and found voltage drop on that circuit.

4- after waiting again I voltage drop tested the inside fuse box and again, nothing drawing power. So then I got annoyed and removed all fuses and relays from the engine fuse block, all fuses relays and wires from the inside fuse block, and everything from the instrument panel fuse block. On top of that I removed commonly problematic things like the radio, hvac controls, instrument cluster and drivers door lock switch. The draw is still there!

I am getting to my whits end with this. What can be left? Starter solenoid?

 

[Donal]

i may be misundersting what you have done, but sounds like two normally positive wires may be shorted together.
check alternater for amp draw as well

 

[silky28]

Vehicle is drawing power when off. I’ve tried to use voltage drop method to find circuit drawing power but with no luck. I then started yanking fuses and waiting for the amps to drop but again no luck. I removed every fuse/relay in the vehicle and it is still drawing amps when off.

I am wondering if it’s the starter/starter solenoid. It is not the alternator, I have disconnected it and the draw remained.

 

[Donal]

maybe search the wiring diagram for 'hot at all time' circuits and find a frayed or damaged section touching a ground lightly.

 

[swathdiver]

Hey all, so I am dealing with a parasitic draw that is killing the batter in under 2 days, but I cannot track it down!

How old is your battery and what is its state of charge in the morning after sitting at rest all night?

When the car is sitting, modules wake up, do their tasks, and shut down again. They're not always drawing power when the key is off.

 

[silky28]

The battery is old but still serviceable. When I do the tests I have it on a 1a trickle charge to keep it topped up. Well that is the problem right...something is draining .6 amps constantly.

I am pretty sure that it is not to do with the starter because when I put the amp clamp on the wire going to the starter I get no reading. I am quite certain it is something that connects to the fuse box because the amp clamp reads an amp draw on the wire the goes from the battery to the fuse box. Other than that I have no idea and I cannot find a fuse that is drawing amps through voltage drop testing.

 

[ivin74]

Vehicle is drawing power when off. I’ve tried to use voltage drop method to find circuit drawing power but with no luck. I then started yanking fuses and waiting for the amps to drop but again no luck. I removed every fuse/relay in the vehicle and it is still drawing amps when off.

I am wondering if it’s the starter/starter solenoid. It is not the alternator, I have disconnected it and the draw remained.

Do you have any after market stuff?
Radio, LED lights, headrest TV, inverter, erc?

I would start there first, I had a similar situation and it ended up being an inverter hooked up straight to the battery. China made headlight LEDs also draw power while the vehicle is off.


These vehicles are known to draw power from a bad instrument cluster.