Is there an underhood light that activates when the hood is open? If so, did you disconnect it?

Start here. With all circuits closed (shut the door), pull each fuse and put a test light between each fuse socket.

 

One of the first things I did was monitor the current draw while pulling fuses. I pulled every single fuse (engine bay and interior) and it did nothing. I disoconnected my alarm, my gauges, everything I can possibly think of!!!! WAIT!!!! As I wrote this post something just hit me like a lightning bolt - my alcohol system altough turned off, will turn itself on with the key turned to accessory and not turned on!!! I'm going to have to check that right now.

 

I think my multimeter is tweaking... If I switch it to milliamps it does down to between .1 and .3 (wtf), a far cry from 2.7 amps. Get this, if I switch the probes around, the draw goes from 2.7 amps to 1.9 amps???? Whats with that?

 

I/ve heard some after market alarms can cause a drain,but I dunno.My02

 

well, first of all, you arent using the meter correctly. you should have the pos. side of the batt. connected normally, and be between the GROUND side of the batt.. I have never tried it on the pos. side of the batt., so Im not sure it that would give you a false reading or not, but you should be checking that on the ground side. so start there. are you sure your meter is on the correct scale? you should be on the 10A scale. you should be getting a "ma" reading, not an "A" reading. as in 2500 ma, or 20 ma. NORMAL drain would be in the 10-30 ma range for almost all cars. a good way to test that the meter is hooked up properly is to open a car door,when the light inside comes on, you know you have a good enough connection through the meter to support a good amount of current. and you should also read about 1200-2500ma more with the int. lights on compared to when they are off. dont turn the ign. on either. that will blow the fuse in the meter too. unless there are accessories hooked up directly to batt. voltage, there is no way to have a drain w/all the fuses and fuseable links disconnected. if there was a batt. cable or hot cable shorted to ground all the time, it would melt and/or overheat quickly. if there is a short that maybe rubs and drains the batt. intermittently, you can do a wiggle test on all the harness's in the car while someone watches the meter for it to drop off to a normal reading. alot of the times at work, we find modules that are internally shorted. so you can disconnect all the mod. 1 at a time to see if the draw goes away. the bcm is the most usual culprit. do you have a remote start system? cause 2.8A is what you'd typically see when the key is on. Id try unplugging that if you do. also, just an FYI, Ive never seen a drain that big, nor one that wasnt going through some fuse or another. like I said, the only way it can drain and not be goin through a fuse, is through the batt. cables them selves as someone else suggested, or if there are aftermarket acc. that are hooked up directly to the batt, or if they are on the batt. side of the fuse, not the "protected" side of the fuse. good luck and let us know if the meter reads diff. on the neg. side of the batt.
chris

 

It sounded to me that he was checking on the neg side but had pos completely disconecteeed. And if thats the case meter is bad or you dont have it on amps .Also sounds like he has a cheap meter or bad leads possibly.

 

My $7 analog multimeter has solved many more problems than my $50 craftsman digital.

 

Thanks Iroc ss85 for the info... the meter is not cheap however I probably was using it wrong. I did have it set on the 10A scale so that was corrent. I didn't know that you could read current on the negative side of the batt because I thought the current was used through the circuit. Can a short draw current???

Anyway, I will go check again and report back. Thanks for those that responded with info to help me.

 

Yes, a short draws current. That's what a short does, it shorts current to ground or another circuit, creating a current draw to ground that is only regulated by the resistance of the conductor. I have my doubts about a constant 2+ amp draw.... Whatever was shorted to ground would burn with 2 amps constantly applied.

With a high current draw, your battery voltage should read lower than normal.... Remember that when current flow increases voltage output decreases and visa versa.

*Bad battery cables cause what's called a high resistance short.... Sounds wierd, but I didn't invent the word..... This will drain a battery....

*If your meter has a diode check funtion, you should check your voltage regulator on your alternator.

*Try electrically isolating your battery's case from the chassis while it still in circuit. (You're checking the case of the battery electrically)

As an aside, gell cell batts do short themselves internally..... Seen it happen many times.

 

Thanks for all that info Van... I will look into everything you stated.

Is there a way to test if the batt. shorted itself??? Test from pole to pole?

 

No, there is no way to isolate a short from the battery's terminals with a meter. You have to check the individual cell.

There are 6 cells, placed in series, in your battery. Each cell should put out 2 to 2.3 volts DC.... Your bad cell will be significantly lower and draw voltage from the other cells that are in series with it, causing their output (current) to be high as all the cells try to equalize.... This is what causes the battery to drain itself and diminshes its storage capacity while on charge.....

On a charger you could tell if you had a bad cell in a matter of seconds...... If you take your battery into any auto parts place, they would hook it up to a tester that applies a charge and gives you a go/no go light....... The tests are free at any of the big chain places.....

Hope this helps....

 

96ws6, I just went back and edited my posts.... I tried to word them a little better......

You can actually check for an internally shorted battery by monitoring battery voltage with the battery connected and disconnected....

If the short is external to the battery (elsewhere in the circuit), once the battery is disconnected its voltage will rise.... It does not "charge itself" but will rise back to steadystate voltage.... If the battery voltage does not rise with the battery removed from the circuit, you have a bad battery. (*note- Just because the battery voltage rises back to steady state does not mean it has any current stored, so it will need a charge).... If your battery returns to steady state voltage, re-install the battery and monitor your voltage. If your voltage drops you obviously have a current draw somewhere in your car.

If you've done what's been suggested and pulled all fuses and components and still can't your short email me and I'll give you a few suggestions....

Hope this helps....

 

Thank you so much man, that was some awesome information. The battery actually does lose charge when it is completely disconnected. I'm going to try what you said to try. I have finals this week but I will report back afterwards.