Hi Gang!

So the other day I replaced the carpet on this Grand Caravan we bought used, paying much attention to every detail, not do anything stupid with the electrical, harness, etc. The carpet went in easily, mounted back the seats etc., all was fine. Or so I thought. When trying to start the car, it sounded like the battery was drained. Measured the voltage, it was 10v! Within 5 minutes it went from 10v to 5v.
Charged the battery overnight, all was ok, and measured the current draw with nothing on. It was 6 Amperes!!!
Uninstalled the passenger and driver seats, and discovered that when I pull the electrical connector of the passenger seat, the current draw drops to 1.70 Amperes.
Tried pulling several different fuses to see which one would bring the Amperage down and I discovered it was the 20A fuse labeled IOD (?).
Long story short. Popped that fuse back in and left the passenger seat connector disconnected so I have 1.70 Amperes with the key out of the ignition and nothing on in the car (ceiling light, or anything else).

The question is:

What's an acceptable current draw when the car is not on? Is 1.70 Amperes something I should be concerned of? It doesn't look like a short since that would draw way more, isn't it?

Any tips on troubleshooting this greatly appreciated!

thanks!
Gabster

 

Shouldn't see more than around 30-40 milliamps. That's .03 on the meter. You are disconnecting the negative battery cable, connecting the ammeter, letting it sit 15 minutes then taking a reading correct? The modules need some time to shut down.

IOD = Ignition off draw. The fuse is left out at the factory then reinstalled at the dealerships to keep the monitors from draining the battery.

 

Thanks a lot for the reply!

I only measured the amperage within the first 10 seconds, I should do that today and measure it after 15min connected. Yep I had the ampermeter in series like this:

negative battery cable-->Ampmeter set on 10A--->battery negative pole

Thanks for the IOD clarification.

Anyway - I left left the battery connected overnight, after showing 12.98v. Measured it again this morning and it showed the same 12.98 so I think we are fine.

Wanted to mention that by connecting the passenger seat electrical connector the draw instantly went up to 6A. It looked too much for me so I left it disconnected. I think the culprit is the seat.
But then are the seats on even with ignition off?

It looks ok now but that elusive 6A draw just bothers me a bit.

Thanks a lot!
Gabster.

 

The IOD fuse is one power source for the Body Control Module (BCM). The BCM controls the data bus and is always powered on. The BCM plays a role in controlling heated seats and seat position memory via the data bus. If your van is equipped with neither then you've got me. Seat power adjust doesn't appear to be on the data bus.

 

Thanks again!

So, yes, I waited 10-15 minutes to have a correct reading on the ameter and indeed it went down to .02 amperes. I think it was the ceiling lights that were on and were pulling like 3 amperes total or so. Closed all the doors, things are good now. Also plugged the passenger seat connector back and no 6A draw either.

I think we're fine.

thanks a lot for help!
Gabster