The test was NOT performed correctly. See highlited in red above.

NOTE for AMP TEST: The negative BAT cable was to remain disconnected from the previous test. The meter is to be placed IN-LINE. You can not measure current with both cables connected.

NOTE ON SHORT TEST: If you've got 1 OHM of resistance there, you've got a problem. You sure you set it to the correct scale? Closer to Zero means almost a dead short.

CM

 

Doh! I'll check it the right way tomorrow. I wasn't sure if both cables needed to be connected or not. I thought you meant to probe the end of the battery cable where it connects to the block. Now I know and I'll check it when I get home.

My multimeter is auto ranging so it might have just jumped to the wrong range. I can manually adjust the range though. Do you know what the acceptable amount of resistance is?

The multimeter is a Craftsman model # 81437 if you're curious. I believe it is a good one.

 

Fluke meters are good and worth buying in my opinion. Anything else, well, I'm not going to say another word. Now, If it's auto sensing, and, it's actually working, that OHM reading is way too low.

The positive and negative cables are not connected anywhere in the vehicle. All CKTs are loaded down so, to get ~ 1 OHM is meaning a dead short.

Something is out of whack. Either the meter (doubt it as even cheapo meters are not that far out) or, the measurement wasn't performed correctly or, you've got a dead short. The meter's resistance ALONE is about .5 OHM and, direct short to ground measures 1 OHM. Something is not right.

IF you measure the resistance of the ground wire cable from the ALT to the BAT cable, you'd see 1 OHM end to end. Add the Meter's resistance @ .5 OHMs + .5 OHMs for that wire thus = 1 OHM.

But, to obtain that reading across BOTH POS and NEG- something is out of whack.

I doubt it's a dead short for, you'd be blowing fuses left and right.

I would revisit the test again along with telling me HOW you performed the test to verify that it was done correctly.

CM

 

I tested again today and something is up.

With the Positive cable connected to the battery and the negative cable disconnected I tested the current with the positive probe on the positive battery post and the negative probe on the negative battery cable and still got a 0 reading.
I also moved the positive probe to the battery clamp thinking that I didn't have good contact between it and the post. Still got a 0 reading.

With both cables disconnected for about a half hour I checked the resistance between the battery cables (one probe on each cable) and got 20.xxx ohms (x= numbers that were jumping around) and it steadily dropped to about 15 ohms before I removed the probes.

I put the probes back on the battery cables and got "OL".

I pulled the IOD fuse and it looked fine so I put the multimeter on it and it showed 0 ohms. I swapped that fuse for another 10A fuse and did the battery tests again and got the same results.

After testing with my multimeter, I got my dads Fluke T5-600 and tested again. The ohm test showed "OL" and that meter can't test DC current so I couldn't check that with his.

The battery is at 12.28v by the way, so I'm not trying to test a dead battery.

On a side note, a few sites I've looked at while trying to find reviews on my Craftsman multimeter to see if anyone has had issues with accuracy say that it is a re-branded Fluke 17b. They are almost identical aside from the Fluke version having Two more buttons as well as a temperature setting. I wonder if they are actually the same meter with mine just having a couple of the available features missing from it.
Those sites also mention that the Craftsman came with a Fluke certificate of accuracy. That has me wanting to dig out my paperwork.

To add a little more info, I disconnected my amp and all my lights power wires from the battery cable along with pulling their fuses so there is no way they can affect the tests.
Also, the only fuse I've ever blown is my fog light fuse and that was because I clipped the fog light wires and forgot to unhook the battery first so when I touched the bumper with my wire snippers it popped that fuse.

 

Again, the test was not performed properly. It may be a failure to communicate this clearly on my behalf so, I'm going to instruct you how to do this clearer than before. EDIT: I have read back through and I failed to tell you WHICH post to connect the probe to. I am sorry for this. I assumed you had already knew how to measure current. Again, please forgive me for this.

Here's better instructions.

PROCESS FLOW

Remove the NEG battery cable and wait.

Place the RED probe of the meter TO the NEG BAT POST.

Place the BLK probe of the meter to the NEG BAT LEAD. NOTE: try not to be near the BAT when doing this. Find the cable where it ties to engine ground and attach the probe there vs near the battery.

This is in-line or, in series. The CURRENT is going to flow THROUGH the cable INTO and OUT of the meter and INTO NEG at the BAT.

CM

 

Sorry for not understanding you the first two times, I'm a little slow after I get off work.

I performed the test exactly like you said and still got 0.

That got me thinking that maybe I blew a fuse in my multimeter.
Well I pulled it apart and checked for resistance on both fuses with the Fluke and guess what it said... "OL". Crap, I need to get some fuses.

I would think that the meter wouldn't work at all with blown fuses but it does.
I also noticed that the circuit board inside it says "FLUKE 17B-3001 REV 009" So I guess it is a Fluke.

I'll revisit this after I pick up some fuses.

 

EDIT: It just came to me what happened. At the time of running the first test, you inadvertently SHORTED across the battery by leaving both cables connected.

NOTE: WHEN TESTING FOR AMPERAGE / CURRENT, ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS: THE METER IS LIKE A DIRECT WIRE THUS, CONNECTING ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER. It's not like when you test for voltage and, you must be aware of this. So, when you set the meter to to measure amps, and, you moved the probe to AMP, this puts the meter in direct wire mode thus, it makes connection from one side to the other without a load on it thus, shorting out POS TO GROUND by accident.


CM

 

I was going to suggest that but didn't want to come across as disrespectful.

 

Thanks for the explanation CM, I was wondering how I blew the fuses.

Unregistered, if it is useful information then I don't see it as disrespectful. Like I said, I'm a little slow to wrap my mind around things when I'm tired.

 

I'm curious... this has the smell of faulty ground circuit. Have you opened and cleaned that goofy bad idea of a ground splice (where the wires are clamped together) on the negative battery cable clamp? That's worth a shot. If any of the wires are beyond cleaning to shiny copper, cut 'em off, strip back another 3/4 inch, and reconnect. Also inspect the battery negative to chassis connection, and clean both the lug and the contact point on the chassis just for giggles.

Myself, I replaced the cable clamp a day or two after buying the truck. The splice was loose, but I'd have chucked that bad idea clamp anyway. I hate 'em.

If that's not a magical cure, there's a ground point under the dash on the dash mounting bracket just behind the parking brake pedal (closer to the driver's seat than the firewall). Insect it carefully -- it should be clean and tight. Whip out your multimeter, set it to the lowest resistance range, and measure from the exposed barrel of the ring lug to the bracket it's attached to. You should see 0 ohms, or whatever your test lead resistance is (if your meter doesn't zero properly). Anything more than that, it's time to clean the contact surfaces of both the ring lug and the bracket.

If that's not the magic fix, disconnect the battery and measure resistance from that ring lug to the negative battery cable clamp. I don't have a spec for it, but my best guess is that you'll want 0.2 ohms or less. If you need to extend your probes with a bit of wire to make the stretch, measure the resistance of the wire and subtract it from your reading. Oh, and don't put your body in the circuit by holding the wire ends and probe tips together in your fingers. It's okay to hold one end, but the other should be joined in some other way -- an alligator clip or small locking pliers properly adjusted to avoid pinching the probe tip off will work.

If that resistance is high, hunting it down might be a bit trickier. Right off the top of my head I don't know how that bracket is mounted so I'm not as much help as I could be.

It could be a wild goose chase, but these checks and measurements are all pretty easy to do so the cost is low.