I've got an 04 ram 1500, 5.7, and it has a parasitic battery drain. I've put a test light on it to check for a drain, and it goes bright and dim. I figured out that the light changes match a red light flashing on the instrument cluster. It flashes only when the negative is disconnected on the test light. Reconnect the battery, and it will stop flashing. I tested the battery at night parked inside 650 cca, then tested it again in the morning, 422cca. Well, I pulled the fuse to the instrument cluster, and there is still a variable drain. I put a multimeter on it, and it drains at 7.5 mv (acceptable) sometimes, 75mv (marginal)sometimes, and 150mv (the battery killer) sometimes. I did a little research and found out that it has been at the dodge dealership and they couldn't fix it, the guy ended up selling it. I just wonder if anyone has seen this problem and what it ended up being.

 

That's weird. I never heard anything like that before. Have you checked things like the Altenator?

 

I would start pulling one fuse at a time to see what circuit is causing it, then go from there.

 

I've tried that. For some reason, it doesn't seem to be fused. I saw a post about a horn button, but the button works fine. Another problem I have is the fact that it's not a constant drain. when it's at 7.5 mv, it doesn't even light a test light. It's almost like the truck's watching me. When I go to pull fuses, it won't light the light anymore.

 

Allright, the drain on the dodge is on the cluster/radio/interior light circut. Does this help any?

 

OK before you start ripping your wiring harness apart, get the battery load checked. I would not be surprised to find out that you have a cell going bad. Another guy a few weeks back had a similar problem, I told him the same thing, turns out he needed a new battery. If you really don't want to run it to a shop to get it checked, you can check the specific gravity with a battery tester, but a load check is the right way to do it.

 

What is a voltage drain?
Votage drops, current drains.
You have a 150milliAmp? drain? That's nothing...
If your voltage drops under ~12V unloaded, then it'sone or morebad cells in your batt.
If it can't take a load then it could be a bad cell, or it's developing a high series resistance internally, which may be only intermittant. It's happend to me before on a 5yr old battery. These things usually only show up as problems during cranking.

(sorry Gone Fishin,Iwasreplying to the author...[sm=youreright.gif])

 

I have an 04 1500 Ram that has a battery drain. I installed a new battery but it was dead in a few days. I traced the drain to the fuse that runs my radio. Since then I pulled that fuse and have been driving around without a radio for months. Someone is bound to know how to fix this.

 

Many things draw current all the time. ANYTHING that must stay live all the time needs juice: the computer, the radio (for station presets), the clock. Probably several other items as well. That flashing light is probably the security system.

 

The fuse that runs the radio is called the "IOD" fuse. IOD stands for Ignition off draw, meaning that this fuse controls anything that has power when the switch is off. Power door locks, clock, interior lights, horn etc..
Try unhooking the negative battery cable, connect one end of a test light to the unhooked battery cable and the other of the test light to the negative battery post. Start pulling 1 fuse at a time until the test light goes out. See what that fuse controls and you can get a better idea of which circuit is drawing the battery down.....