Battery Drain... New everything.

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Aug 27, 2015 | 04:52 PM

#16

84&04

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From: citrus heights California

Ahhhhhhh! Well that would make sense. But no such luck in that manual. Well, I cut the fusable link on the sly charge wire, and wham 14.26 at idle for 20 minutes. Nothing changed... So the charging issue seems resolved... Now to the drain...

With the alt out of circuit, the reg out of circuit, gp system out of circuit... Still have what looks to be a 12 volt drain... Unless I'm testing it incorrectly...

Positive on volt meter to negative lead
Negative on volt meter to negative stud.

Disconnected passenger ground.

Aug 27, 2015 | 07:02 PM

#17

madpogue

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From: Madison, WI

You have to disconnect BOTH negatives. Then connect the meter between the negative post and the negative terminal on either battery, and set it to read DC current. The meter is therefore completing the circuit and the draw is running through it.

Aug 28, 2015 | 12:42 AM

#18

84&04

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From: citrus heights California

Quote:

Originally Posted by madpogue

I didn't make that clear enough ahahah I remove all negatives. And test on the passenger side haha. Should I be disconnecting the other positive? Or with both positives connected. I have a feeling the thing stealing the power is the other battery... I went through and tested and removed/cut/cleaned up all the connections... And I cannot find it.. The only thing left is the other battery or the the starter itself.

Aug 28, 2015 | 06:13 PM

#19

southern-old-bold

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check all accessories

Quote:

Originally Posted by 84&04

I have to keep jobs like this simple, mainly because I'm not antibody's electrician. Ok so I would go to the fuse panel after hooking up my meter as described previously to measure amps (at battery) and remove single fuses. If the discharge stopped with a fuse removed you have found a fault. If you go through them one by one and nothing shows up then look for accessory fuse holders in your wiring bundle including under the dash or in the rear loom. You say a p/o did some wiring, you cut a fusible link which suddenly allowed your system to charge, there may be other places where you will find wierd stuff. I'm lucky, I know a bunch of really skilled auto and marine electricians, but I could do at least this much myself. I would also check all the grounds for proper contact while I was doing this, make sure you have grounds from battery to frame, battery to engine, frame to cab, fuse panel to cab,and make sure they seem too big for the job and the connections are clean and tight.

Aug 28, 2015 | 06:20 PM

#20

southern-old-bold

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check voltage again

Quote:

Originally Posted by 84&04

Check your voltage again with your main light beam on and maybe your heater fan running, reef the engine to 1500, it should still be 14 Ish volts. If it isn't you may have cut the wire to your voltage regulator if it is an external one.

Aug 28, 2015 | 06:24 PM

#21

84&04

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From: citrus heights California

Thank you all for your help. I'm still thinking it's deeper in the truck.. No matter what wire I remove from circuit under the hood, it still stays at a constant draw... I've removed all fuses. Currently just running one for windows and one for dash lights.

Headlight switch isn't pulling power. The only thing I haven't disconnected is the starter as I said..

Is it possible the starter relay could be pulling the power? One main post is 0 other post with all of the wiring is 12v which is how it should be from what I'm understanding.