Possible Parasitic Draw... Follow My Journey

  • Sponsors (?)


I’m sure you read this link:

I think this manual would do it; maybe others will chime in to agree or corr3ct me:

Good luck.
 
The GEM takes roughly 40-45 minutes to go to sleep. If open a door or pop the trunk or activate any system it monitors, this resets. So really you want to set your meter up, flip the lock in the door to simulate it being closed (remember to flip it open before closing the door when done) and set your timer.

I had a parasitic draw issue recently, so went back to my thread. After finding the source of the draw (Mach 460 amps), i noted that when eveeryhing is running properly, draw on the system is 150 milliamps. When the GEM finally went to sleep, it was 20 milliamps. Note: this was without a radio, so it would be slightly higher for the draw the radio uses to keep the memory.


The source of my parasitic draw was the mach 460 amps, but I was pulling 0.35amps at rest. Once i disconnected those, my problem was solved and the GEM was drawing 150-160milliamps initially before going to rest about 45 min later.
 
The GEM takes roughly 40-45 minutes to go to sleep. If open a door or pop the trunk or activate any system it monitors, this resets. So really you want to set your meter up, flip the lock in the door to simulate it being closed (remember to flip it open before closing the door when done) and set your timer.

I had a parasitic draw issue recently, so went back to my thread. After finding the source of the draw (Mach 460 amps), i noted that when eveeryhing is running properly, draw on the system is 150 milliamps. When the GEM finally went to sleep, it was 20 milliamps. Note: this was without a radio, so it would be slightly higher for the draw the radio uses to keep the memory.


The source of my parasitic draw was the mach 460 amps, but I was pulling 0.35amps at rest. Once i disconnected those, my problem was solved and the GEM was drawing 150-160milliamps initially before going to rest about 45 min later.
Thanks this is helpful...I am at .050 amps (50 milliamps) after everything goes to sleep....170 milliamps before it goes to sleep...and I do have my stock radio installed

Now I did do it a little different...I found it to be somewhat difficult to try and maintain continuity while disconnecting the battery cable so I simply disconnected the battery cable and then hooked up my meter in series....this i don't think is a fully accurate test because the pcm never saw the key in ignition...I basically reset the pcm by disconnecting and then reconnecting....so I'm going to try this again the correct way of maintaining continuity so it's as accurate as possible....

I also think I should get a multimeter that records high and low readings and stays on for a good while....that way I do not miss any possible intermittent draws....

I dont know if the battery should read 12.6 volts every day I check or if it's normal for it to drop to 12.4 after 2 days etc....It would be cool if they made a chart or something where you can put in battery details (amp hours or reserve hours etc) and then have a good multimeter that really accurately reads dc voltage to the decimal and go by how many hours and what voltage the car goes down to....that would be a nice little test to do to get a ballpark idea if you do have a parasitic draw potentially...
 
Just wanted to update this post...

I did parasitic draw test again the right way...without breaking up the connection...it showed 70 milliamps which doesn't seem too bad but still over 50....I did drop voltage test on every single fuse and only fuse that came up with anything was fuse 21 (instrument cluster and engine control memory)

I pulled it and it dropped from 70ma to 40ma...I checked every single fuse and got nothing...I even pulled the GEM fuse (fuse 39) and it didn't change the reading....I removed the 2 circuit breaker fuses too (1 from each fuse box)....the only thing I haven't done is pull any relays and disconnect cable from alternator to see if maybe bad diodes are causing a draw....

So at this point do I chase the 30 ma issue with fuse 21? Or is that normal? I thought with even 70ma draw I should be able to start car once every 2 weeks and be fine but my battery will probably be dead in 7 days...maybe less...
 
You're this far... There's no reason [not] to disconnect the alternator just to see.
Yeah definitley going to try that tomorrow...if this isn't it then I guess next thing to do is let that multimeter sit out there for 2 hours and go back and look at min/max recorded values....see if i have a strange intermittent draw that pops up every 30 minutes or something....

I don't think 70 milliamps is even that bad....but I don't know the true amp hours of this cheap Walmart everstart plus battery...I'm sure it's very low considering it's a $109 battery
 
Yeah definitley going to try that tomorrow...if this isn't it then I guess next thing to do is let that multimeter sit out there for 2 hours and go back and look at min/max recorded values....see if i have a strange intermittent draw that pops up every 30 minutes or something....

I don't think 70 milliamps is even that bad....but I don't know the true amp hours of this cheap Walmart everstart plus battery...I'm sure it's very low considering it's a $109 battery

Yeah, plan to replace your battery when you can. Keep that one on-hand for a spare. Get one with a good reserve capacity. Maybe even one from... A Dealership :hide: or along those lines.
 
Yeah, plan to replace your battery when you can. Keep that one on-hand for a spare. Get one with a good reserve capacity. Maybe even one from... A Dealership :hide: or along those lines.
Yeah I think there's a reason why they don't list their AH...it's probably next to nothing....

70 milliamp is definitley a touch high but it's not like 500 milliamps or anything...it shouldn't drain my battery this fast....unless the drain is the diodes and the actual problem isn't the drain but the diodes causing damage to this poorly made battery...and I found the problem in a round a bout way
 
Have you tested the battery? You mentioned it's dropping to 12.4 volts. That's really at the low end of the range for what is considered a good battery
Well this is the 3rd battery now so I was hoping it would last...odds are that something with my car is destroying these batteries....

I bet this one's bad too....drove 30 minutes to work today...left it was 12.37....got to work tested and it showed 12.6 although was still surface charge so not that accurate....anyways I get in my car for lunch break and test again and it's 12.42. This battery is once again bad....parasitic draw showed 70 ma....no way that 70ma draw is going to drop these batteries down that quick....I think my alternator is damaging these batteries
 
I went to autozone and they said bad diodes...I did it for :poo:s and giggles...they did say battery was fine but alternator bad diodes....I did a diode test using my multimeter and I do get OL reading both ways....

I pulled cable off battery and it didn't drop my 70ma draw....I then fuse tested all and got nothing so I must need a very expensive quality multimeter to test because I had enough and pulled f6 from under the hood...the last 40amp maxi and it dropped everything down to 0ma....that feeds a lot...I think it feeds everything in the central fuse box but I have to double check on that....it's probably the GEM and the instrument cluster but who knows at this point....

Do you guys honestly think it's worth chasing a 70ma draw? It's not like I'm gonna knock off 70ma all the way to 0....best I'll do is probably knock off 30ma down to maybe 40ma...I think 70ma should let the battery last at least a week without starting...
 
Just to be sure (because I don't know what you know):


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbxQw-vsNws

Thanks I'm open to all videos to help...I did watch a really good video on how to test diodes multiple different ways....I'm still going to do them but I think if you have diodes you will have some sort of parasitic draw from them...I have zero parasitic draw when I unplugged the alternator....but maybe I'm wrong and they could be bad and not causing a draw....but I did rule out 100% certainty that my draw is not coming from the alternator...

I'm starting to think what I initially suspected....these everstart plus batteries are absolute garbage and if you don't drive them every day they lose charge fast....70ma is not great but it's not terrible either...no way that's my issue....I'm still going to check diodes because maybe it's kicking out too much a/c current and damaging the battery in doing so....but if I rule out these diodes then I'm done...I'm just gonna live with this battery til the 2 years is up and then buy a higher quality battery....for whatever it's worth the original battery I had in didnt behave like this....I could start it much less often and be fine
 
if you have diodes you will have some sort of parasitic draw from them...

This not correct. Diodes are not like capacitors. They don't draw or store anything. Their primary purpose is to limit the flow of electrons in one direction.

With a bad diode the alternator tries to [motor] when then engine is off. If this were the case, you would see a [much] larger parasitic draw.

If the diode is completely burned, then the alternator will not charge the battery with the engine running and you would [not] see 14+ volts with the engine running.
 
This not correct. Diodes are not like capacitors. They
This not correct. Diodes are not like capacitors. They don't draw or store anything. Their primary purpose is to limit the flow of electrons in one direction.

With a bad diode the alternator tries to [motor] when then engine is off. If this were the case, you would see a [much] larger parasitic draw.

If the diode is completely burned, then the alternator will not charge the battery with the engine running and you would [not] see 14+ volts with the engine running.
I meant to say bad diodes would cause parasitic draw....not diodes cause parasitic draw...I forgot the word "bad"

I know they aren't capacitors...they are more like check valves...allowing current to flow in one direction only
 
Chasing a parasitic draw...when i do it incorrectly by opening circuit and reconnecting circuit i get a 50ma draw....when I do it correctly and don't break circuit i get 70ma draw....ok no big deal right? Just 20ma shouldn't make a difference? Wrong....

If I drive my car and shut it off....and don't ever disconnect anything the ma draw is 70ma however I will go 12 hours the next morning and check and battery goes all the way down to 12.37v

If I disconnect battery and reconnect battery but don't do anything with the key at all....I will have 50ma draw and check next morning and the battery is at 12.6v

So 20ma difference is not going to cause my battery to go down to 12.37v versus staying at 12.6.....

Something I guess HAS to be turning on overnight and that 70ma draw is more like 500ma at maybe every hour for 10 minutes or something....

The bottom line here is that 50ma draw is not putting a dent into my fully charged battery and 20ma more at 70ma is....so that leads me to believe and suspect that I have an intermittent draw that is much greater than 70ma...something keeps probably turning back on....have you guys ever had issue with intermittent draw? I'm going to keep checking every 15 minutes because I have no life lol and I don't have access to equipment that I can just leave hooked for 24 hours...i have a cheap $40 scan tool that does have a min/max but it times out after 30 min or so...
 
I'm going to keep this post up in case it does help anybody going forward and to possibly figure out how this problem fixed itself but it's fixed....I can't believe it.

I drove it to work today and waited 5 hours to test batt voltage just exactly like I did yesterday....yesterday after it sitting for same 5 hours I got 12.42 volts today 12.66

I only did 2 different things that I hadn't done yet was remove b+ cable from alternator....I don't know enough about electricity in cars but I can't imagine that cured my parasitic draw....and I also for the first time last night pulled fuses....because I couldn't find any voltage drop with my multimeter to find my draw i finally decided to just pull the big maxi fuses at the battwr junction box....got most of them out until the drain went to 0....pushed them all back in and called it a night....well that fixed the issue....I no longer have a drain...I'm puzzled...I guess pushing the fuses back in reset something a module or pcm I don't know...I'm in shock though this is really odd
 
A weak electrical connection (including a ground connection) can cause an increase in draw.

Using a weak connection and common relay as an example of a circuit that stays energized with the ignition off (it could be any component that draws power).

Anywhoo.... Let's assume the possibility exists there might be some poor connections in our 30+ year old electric harnesses. O_o

The circuit for our theoretical relay draws say... 40 Milliamps at 12 volts but the connection has dropped it down to 6 +/- volts.

What's the current draw now assuming the wattage of the relay remains the same? O_o