Ok, so I have got my 1992 dodge dakota x cab 4 wheel drive up and running after multiple wiring issues. Now I have a problem with it constantly draining my battery after about 24 hoursish. It will start fine after 12-16 hours off, but more than that is pushing it. I've heard of the headlight switch needing to be replaced, but I'm not sure. Anyone else have some ideas??? I fixed the sterio wiring, multiple splces being corroded, new crank pos sensor, cam sensor, plugs wires, coil, cap, rotor, new battery, etc. Im at a loss here. Got a great deal on the truck and love it, just need this one last issue resolved. Items to note: new cd deck (sony something or other wired horribly till recently) 4x4 works great, recently lost tailights/brake lights, with headlights on, I lost my left turn signal (just stays on). I am considering wiring a toggle to the headlights to test, but figured I would get some other opinions before making significant changes. Thanks in advance, you guys have helped a ton so far!

 

something is draining the battery.......with key OFF take the pos battery cable off then just touch it against the pos post and see how much spark it throws, very little is normal. if it throws a big spark then start removing one fuse at a time and check the spark. when/if you get it to throw a considerably smaller spark then the last fuse you removed will tell you where to start looking for a short. about all i can think of.....

 

Well tried looking for larger than normal spark, seemed pretty minimal to me. Also hooked up the multimeter to the battery after it was charged back up and can see continous draw from the battery (not much, but enough to where I'd keep getting dead batteries) I disconnected the headlight and o/d switch from the dash and still saw pull on the battery. I have the battery disconnected for the night to see if maybe my new battery is just garbage and not holding a charge... if the battery holds I'm not sure where to look. My only other thought is the stereo again. I've checked all fuses/relays and they all seem fine, norhing noticible Is staying on, dome light hood light etc... any other ideas? Thanks again

 

if the battery stays charged after disconnecting it over night then pull the fuse on the stereo unit and do a overnight .

 

Good to hear you have an ammeter. Now hook up the meter and pull out a fuse at a time until you spot a drop in the current drawn from the battery. Don't forget the fuses in the Power Distribution Center up front in the engine compartment. I'd say this has to nail it, or at least put you in the right area.

 

Thanks for the help vhinze. So after pulling dang near every fuse I stumbled across the problem, which poses another problem. I started off with the ones under the dash and all seemed fine. Started working on the fuses under the hood and kept getting the same slow drain on the battery. After a 2 hr drive out wheelin' with kids n dog I parked for about 30 minutes then started pulling fuses(battery went from 12.64 to 12.61 by the time I found the problem fuse) I pulled the fuse and battery jumped up to 12.68. Now the problem is I am missing both of my fuse covers so I have no idea what this fuse works. Anybody have a fuse box diagram pic so I can further track down the problem? Google isn't showing much I can bring up on my phone. If you are looking down at the fuse box standing on the driver's side its the 3rd fuse from the right 20A fuse.

 

There should be fuse diagrams in the faq 1 section. Also after you fix the issue and if the battery continues to drain the battery itself could have gone bad from the constant draining and recharging they don't like that to much.

 

If I understand you correctly I believe your issue is the under hood light? If not here is the under hood fuse box diagram for you to look over. You can also find the under dash fuse box diagram and other common issues / links to factory service manuals at this link.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...e-manuals.html

 

Thanks, daks. I believe your right, I will double check tomorrow morning and let you guys know. Appreciate all the help. After seeing the issue a couple times (mainly just drive the truck on my weekends) I've been disconnecting the battery during the week to hopefully save it. We'll see though

 

Sounds like you're close to solving it but I do know aftermarket remote starters do the exact same thing if you have one that is