ok i have a problem with my battery going dead after my truck sits for a while. i know its either a bad battery or i have a current draw somewhere in my system. I have a volt/amp meter but how do i use it to test the system for a short or draw?

 

take the negative cable off your battery. connect one lead to the disconnected cable and the other to the battery post.
connect a jumper wire between the the terminal that is disconnected from the battery and the other end of the jumper wire to the battery post.
put your miltimeter to milliamps and wait for the truck to go to sleep then disconnect the jumper wire so just your miltimeter is connected still and read your draw.
if your draw is more than significant start pulling fuses till you see a drop in milliamps.

 

You may have to connect the leads differently to test current.

 

to test current you want to be in series which is what i described.
the jumper wire is so you dont have all that current at once and blow the fuse in your miltimeter.

 

brett is correct. Anything over 30 mA is considered to be an indication of a current drain issue. Procedure after that would be to remove fuses from the fuse panel one at a time until the current draw is gone and then determine how to fix that component.

 

if its the original battery its time for a new one

 

All great info on this.