So, lately, my car has been somewhat slow cranking if I let it sit for more than a few hours. So I disconnect my battery for 30 min to let everything stop drawing power, and taking off my + BAT cable, placing the red lead of my multimeter on the + post of my battery, and the negitive lead of my multimeter on the + BAT cable feeding the car, reading how many amps that my Max's electrical system is pulling when the car is off, doors closed, everything else off, like it was going to sit for the night. it says that it is pulling 0.15A at this point, which if I remember from my ASE training, is too much and will kill the battery in a couple days if the car is not started. I am thinking it is only supposed to draw a few milli-amps, but I could be wrong. does anyone know how much can be pulled to avoid drainging the battery.

I have disconnected all my audio equiptment and the draw is still there, so I know that is not the problem. also, I started pulling fuses to see where the draw was and unless I missed a fuse, then I cant find it anywhere.

also, if I charge up the battery after it has been sitting, or try to start it after I have been driving, then it starts fine so I have reason to believe there are no problems with the starting or charging systems on the car-there has to be a parasitic draw somewhere.

by the way I have a Optima YellowTop battery which I know is in excellent condition, but have no clue as to the condition of the alternator...

as always thanks in advance
-Matt

 

Trunk light?

 

I think thats on the interior illumination circuit, and I pulled that fuse and the draw was still there.

and just to make sure I opened the backseat thing with the trunk closed and it was off.

 

do this frist.. get a ammeter (amp meter) and disconnect the positive side of the battery and put the ammeter in series with it.. check to see if something is drawing current fromt the car....

 

um, if you read my first post I have already done that...

 

just read that and wasnt trying to sound like an *ss but that may have been how I came across so my fault...

 

"One tech bulletin I found stated that a fully loaded GM vehicle could have an expected parasitic drain of 25-35mA. Seems like a lot, I think that we try to stay in the 10-15mA range." Quoted from here.

Oh and I didn't think you were being an ***, he clearly didn't read through your first post.

 

I'm not sure, but I think your next step would be to pull some of relays and check stuff in the power distribution box.

 

yeah, that's where I was going next, but it got dark on me.

I figured it was somewhere between 10-20mA, but i wasn't sure. in that case, I guess .15A is too much-there's my problem.

thanks for the input

 

Try throughly cleaning your battery terminals and the two clamps that go on the terminals. Make sure the clamps and well seated and tight. And then take out the bulb in the trunk. In my case - went down to normal. And my battery doesn't keep dying!

 

Are you measuring with the hood open? The alarm system has a sensor on the hood so it might be suming some power when the hood is open.

 

yeah, thought of this too, did it all when I put in my new battery, and just did it again when all this started happening. tried the trunk bulb also, not the problem...

did not think about this, but I think the alarm circuit is fused from the inside fuse panel as well, and I tried removing all those fuses and nothing...

 

Keep the meter on it and start pulling fuses until you see a drop in the amount of amp draw. Then diagnose from there.

Sorry, I just missed the last post. Didn't see you already had.

 

mine pulls 250mA, car starts eaily after a week or so.
I noticed BOSE & Auto climate has power all the time, plus the ECU so it might be normal and mine is GLE it might have more drain than a GXE.