Who likes finding mystery parasitic draws?

[shizzzon 461]

Ever sinced I changed my stock battery to a XS D1200, after a few days of the initial installation, been noticing the car is starting to take a hair longer to start...

While working on the car today, i noticed right after i got done driving it.. it was reading 12.6v.. that's pretty low from just turning the car off.

So i clamped the battery cable, reading 0.4A draw... hmmm...

Pulling fuses under the hood and came up with this-

AM2 fuse - (according to forums, controls Starter, fuel injectors, etc....) this fuse is pulling 0.15A

DCC fuse - I do not know what this is but it is said dealers pull this fuse to prevent battery discharge if car is left unnattended for days.

This fuse under the hood is rated for 30A, It is pulling 0.25A .... why?

I then recharged the battery to 13.1v rest.

I reconnected ground, remeasured power cable, still pulling 0.4A.

I went and clamped every cable i could find under the hood and inside the car under the dash and couldnt find ANY draw...

I then went back under the hood to reclamp battery power cable... and there now there is NO draw, wtf?

So lets recap-

Got home at noon, measuring voltage drop on starting battery from noon to 5pm and constantly reading 0.4A draw.

Charged battery back up at 830pm. Clamped and still reading 0.4A draw.

About 10min later, reclamped and there is no draw....

So it went from 5hrs of draw before i disconnected it to 10min of draw and stopped...

I'm very curious as to why i have a draw.

I have a remote start\alarm installed by shop. I couldn't get to the power cable of the brain or else i would have clamped it.

Only thing i can find out online is typical parastic draw on chryslers is 0.035A..

So either my car is very inefficient electronically or both fuses are drawing more than normal.

Anything else i can look for or do before i just throw in some more batts to compensate?

[ssh 924]

When you parked your car, there wasn't an aux fan on? After long drives and parking, my fan stays on to cool everything down.

If you check your car an hour after its been parked and it's not drawing that current anymore then I wouldn't worry about it.

[shizzzon 461]

no, can can only come on if key is in ignition or actually on mode.

And when i initially parked it, it was drawing this 0.4A for 5hrs before i stopped it by disconnecting the ground cable.

I fear how low the battery has been getting because sometimes it takes about 2 full seconds to turn over...

I don't wanna spend $80 at the dealership for them to tell me they found nothing wrong when it's pulling anything.. like it is now.. it stopped pulling current few minutes ago.

[///M5 2,833]

My experience with dealers and that sort of problem is good fucking luck. I assume you disconnected your system completely to see if it still happens? Obviously the easiest to trace through what you've added and changed first as regularly that is the problem.

[C4W18 0]

Did you wait 30 minutes for the GEM or BCM (depending on what kind of car you have and assuming you have a newer car) to shut down first before doing the test?

[coobies5 43]

Did you wait 30 minutes for the GEM or BCM (depending on what kind of car you have and assuming you have a newer car) to shut down first before doing the test?

x2

most newer cars have some modules that stay powered for 5 minutes to like a hour after you shut your car off.

[Beandip 3]

unless I read that wrong he said it was under constant draw for 5 hours until he pulled the battery out to charge it. Then it was only a 10 minute draw

I would be suspicious of that aftermarket alarm. Did it draw any more after you put the battery in and drive it around?

[shizzzon 461]

OK, i'm going to be the first one to say this so i don't feel retarded....

First off- I FOUND THE PROBLEM...

Second- I'm somewhat stupid.. but not completely.. i have excuse!

It's clowning time..

School me on my unawareness of stupidity 101.

The reason the car is pulling 0.4A is..........

Drum roll...

I had the doors open......

Now, before you start laughing, have excuse-

I removed every light in the headliner and I figured it wouldnt pull any current...

Well, apparently this is what's going on -

This part is interesting to know-

The computer takes about 5-10minutes to shut off after car has been shut off.

If the door is opened when car is off, the AM2 fuse AND DCC fuse will both start moving a total of 0.4A through the fuse panel...

The AM2 fuse is more than likely controlling the light around the ignition module letting me know where the keyhole is and any relays that may get turned on by having the door open.

The DCC fuse is still a mystery to me as to what exactly it controls but because it's 30A, i'm sure it controls a lot but since this fuse becomes active when door is open.. it's doing something.

When i shut the door, it takes ~25 seconds for the DCC fuse to disable current draw.

After ~25seconds, the current draw is back to 0.15A (AM2 fuse).

After about another 5-10seconds (total of 30-35seconds from time door is shut) all current that is measurable through an Ammeter has disappeared.

So, i figured it wouldnt draw that much current when i work on my car with the doors open if i didnt have any lights on but i guess sensors\relays and dash lights alone are enough to effect battery!

So from now on, i'll be pulling these fuses out when i work on my car so i don't have to disconnect the battery when what i'm working on is not electrical anyways.

So, interesting lesson about newer cars.

[Ohjay 116]

Glad you got it figured out.