Check my post #27.

Chris

 

Landmobile!!! you're right, the second set of grey wires went to the alternator. with only that set hooked up I had a 4.35A draw. I disconnected the heavy wire from the alt. and it 0.00'd out. SO, does this mean bad Alternator or just a problem with the wire? But that only takes care of that problem. The alternator swap is easy enough, but what's causing the other fuses to show a draw?

 

Do the other fuses still draw with the heavy alternator wire disconnected from the alternator?

 

Not sure about the other fuses, but let's try this first: leave the alternator completely disconnected (heavy wire AND the plug with smaller wires), and then try plugging those 4 fuses back in one at a time and see what the current draw is. Leave all the fuses out of the power distribution box except for the one you are testing.

Chris

 

Agree. That's what I'd be doing also. It surely sounds like the alternator has an internal short. I doubt that more than one electrical shorting problem has surfaced with the vehicle at the same time. Unless this problem cropped up following a collision of some sort.

 

disconnected the alt. completely, and now the #6 mini doesn't show the draw, so I'm assuming at this point that I'm replacing the alt tomorrow. also, after removing everything from the interior fuse panel, the #22maxi under the hood was cool too. I'll get to that in a sec. So far ad the under hood fuse panle goes, I still have the issue with #28 (Brake Controller) and #14 (abs). On the interior, I have problems with #1 (turn / hazard) and #15(Stop Lamp Switch (Logic): Generic
Electronic Module (GEM), Powertrain
Control Module (PCM), Four Wheel
Anti-lock Brake System (4WABS) Module,
Brake Shift Interlock, Cluster and PCM
Keep Alive Memory).

So??????

 

Wondering if the 7 wire trailer wire harness in the back is part of the problem.

 

Nothing major has happened, but you're right, it seems odd for all of these things to show up at once, AND all have the same draw.

 

perhaps whatever else is going on trashed the alt??

 

Don't buy a new alternator quite yet, and let's not jump too far ahead. Fuse #22 (50A) feeds the interior fuse panel and #6 (10A) feeds the alternator's internal voltage regulator. Was the 4.3A current draw gone when those fuses were plugged back in one at a time?

You said you still have the issue with #14 (60A ABS module) and #28 (30A trailer battery feed). Do each of these fuses cause the same 4.3A draw when plugged in individually?

Remember, when testing each circuit make sure that one and only one fuse is plugged in at a time.

Chris

 

Not to mislead you into thinking I have the answer, but seeking clarification:

With the alternator wiring completely disconnected and all fuses pulled from the underhood fuse panel, the #14 and the #28 fuses in the under-the-hood fuse panel each individually create a 4 amp power draw?

And with the #14 and #28 fuses pulled from the underhood fuse panel, but the #22 fuse installed, the interior fuses #1 and #15 each individually create a 4 amp power draw?

PS: I was preparing this post at the same time landmobile was posting.

 

when 28, 22, 14, and 6 under the hood were all pulled, I had a draw of 0.04. when I plugged in ANY one of them individually, it jumped to between 4.3 and 4.5. After I disconnected the alt. I could plug in #6 (alt regulator) with no gain in the draw. after I cleared out the internal fuse panel, I could reinstall #22 50A (junction). Then as I added fuses one at a time to the interior box, the #1 and #15 both individually made the draw jump to 4.35. That dropped to 0.04 if I pulled the #22 under the hood. So I think the #22 is cool and the draw from that is just showing when to two troubled fuses under the dash are plugged in. So now, under the hood, I have the alt. totally disconnected, #14 and #28 pulled. Under the dash, #1 and #15 pulled and my draw is 0.04. Any fuse installed individually causes the draw, and if I hook up either wire to the alt., then I get the draw again also

 

Yes, exactly!!!!

 

You're correct with the diagnosis for fuse 22, it supplies power to both 1 and 15 in the interior fuse box. But things get stranger after that. Fuse 1 supplies power to the flasher relay and 15 supplies power to the brake pedal position switch and generic electronic module. Fuse 14 powers the ABS module and 28 is a 12V feed to the trailer battery. I agree with PaulDH that it's highly unlikely that there is more than one independent problem causing the exact same current draw, but these circuits seem rather unrelated. My next step would be to unplug the GEM and flasher relay and repeat the current draw test by individually plugging in the fuses.

 

Yeah, I'm hoping it's not the GEM. Earlier I tried the flasher, but that was waayyy earlier, so I'll try that in the morning. I pulled the trailer light harness, and that didn't help. So my thinking is leaning toward the gem. I haven't even thought about looking at how to disconnect it yet, but, I'm sure it can't be that hard to get to. If that's the prob, then that could explain the majority of the "random" issues, but I'm still thinking that the alt is still bad. Thanks again to all of you guys for your insight