Parasitic Battery Drain
#1
07-16-2018 | 07:41 PM
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Parasitic Battery Drain
I have an 800 milliampere drain on my 2006 Ram 1500 that I need to jump start if I leave it sit for a day or less.
I hooked up a multimeter to monitor the current draw and when everything shuts down and the doors closed, it drops down to .8amps and stays there.
I pulled every single fuse in the under-hood fuse box and the current never dropped.
What's the deal? How could this be happening even when I pulled fuses?
Thanks!
Mike
I hooked up a multimeter to monitor the current draw and when everything shuts down and the doors closed, it drops down to .8amps and stays there.
I pulled every single fuse in the under-hood fuse box and the current never dropped.
What's the deal? How could this be happening even when I pulled fuses?
Thanks!
Mike
#3
07-16-2018 | 07:53 PM
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#5
07-16-2018 | 08:25 PM
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#6
07-16-2018 | 09:52 PM
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It’s supposed to have a .8 draw at all times when off. I had the same issue with mine. I did a lot of research and found that after the doors are closed and the lights and everything go off. The computer will drop the draw down to .8 just to keep its memory. Mine wouldn’t drop down to that. It would stay at 1.0 or more amps and by the next morning the battery would be dead. It turned out that my ignition switch was bad. I replaced that and now it drops down to .8 like it’s supposed to.
The problem with your wipers is the wiper motor relay is bad. The relay is actually attached to the wiper motor. If you look at it it’s the black plastic cup attached to it. I’ve heard that you can take it apart and clean the contacts then it will work. I didn’t want to do that,so I just bought a reman one from auto zone. The first one I bought from them was bad also. The second one was right and the intermittent wipers are working again
The problem with your wipers is the wiper motor relay is bad. The relay is actually attached to the wiper motor. If you look at it it’s the black plastic cup attached to it. I’ve heard that you can take it apart and clean the contacts then it will work. I didn’t want to do that,so I just bought a reman one from auto zone. The first one I bought from them was bad also. The second one was right and the intermittent wipers are working again
#7
07-16-2018 | 10:56 PM
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#8
07-17-2018 | 09:53 AM
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#9
07-17-2018 | 01:12 PM
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From: Nashville, Tennessee
It’s supposed to have a .8 draw at all times when off. I had the same issue with mine. I did a lot of research and found that after the doors are closed and the lights and everything go off. The computer will drop the draw down to .8 just to keep its memory. Mine wouldn’t drop down to that. It would stay at 1.0 or more amps and by the next morning the battery would be dead. It turned out that my ignition switch was bad. I replaced that and now it drops down to .8 like it’s supposed to.
The problem with your wipers is the wiper motor relay is bad. The relay is actually attached to the wiper motor. If you look at it it’s the black plastic cup attached to it. I’ve heard that you can take it apart and clean the contacts then it will work. I didn’t want to do that,so I just bought a reman one from auto zone. The first one I bought from them was bad also. The second one was right and the intermittent wipers are working again
The problem with your wipers is the wiper motor relay is bad. The relay is actually attached to the wiper motor. If you look at it it’s the black plastic cup attached to it. I’ve heard that you can take it apart and clean the contacts then it will work. I didn’t want to do that,so I just bought a reman one from auto zone. The first one I bought from them was bad also. The second one was right and the intermittent wipers are working again
Pulling fuses alone is not enough to find a draw anymore. You might be in over your head.
Last edited by TNtech; 07-17-2018 at 01:16 PM.
#10
07-17-2018 | 01:18 PM
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I thought .8 was a pretty big draw.
I wouldn't say I'm in over my head, but I *am* in here asking for advice on how to find the 'leak."
Maybe in over my head on the how-to knowledge but not over my head on ability. :-)
Do you have any techniques you can suggest?
I've seen several decent youtube videos on it, but was hoping for something more Dodge specific.
I wouldn't say I'm in over my head, but I *am* in here asking for advice on how to find the 'leak."
Maybe in over my head on the how-to knowledge but not over my head on ability. :-)
Do you have any techniques you can suggest?
I've seen several decent youtube videos on it, but was hoping for something more Dodge specific.