Ok for the past.....feels forever my battery will drain if i leave it and at first i thought it was the battery changed that.. now i am trying to do the parastic test but its not working for me... I put the multimeter on 10A 200A and all the A's on it. Then i lossend the negative side of the battery put the negative of the multimeter inbetween so its touching the battery post and the cable. Okay the multimeter reads 0.00. I tried removing the ground putting the positive inbetween... Someone plz help me this is really agrvating the living **** out of me because i have been messing with this so long and im pretty sure it is doing harm to my alternator charging and recharging the battery.

 

To measure the amps you have to take of the negative terminal. Then connect the positive of the multimeter to the cars negative cable and the negative of the multimeter to the battery's negative. I attempted to draw a pic quickly in paint. hope it helps. Make sure that the multimeter's cables is connected in the correct sockets.

 

wow the negative is supposed to look like a *****?

 

Thanks so much man u helped me out ALOT... i am getting a reading of 0.33 i guess thats alot?

 

in what scale... 330 mA? could be the problem if it sits for a day or 2

 

Lmfao

 

I think it is 33 millamps i did it in 2ma 10a and 200ma my multimeter has this range butten that changes the decimal. But i think its 33 millamps.. thnx now im guna go rip my fuses out one by one.

 

Okay great i found the problem! It was the room light fuse. Aactulayy on the 10A mode it read .33A I took that fuse out it droped to .08A Then i put it back in and it was .29A then droped to .19A but i just left it out... i think i solved the problem. Thanks Guys.

 

What fuses did you pull ?? The ones under the dash by the steering wheel...

I gotta do this tomorrow.

-matt

 

Yea i pulled the ones under the dash. Its like winning the lottery when u find the right fuse.

 

Are you suppose to wait for the car to go into sleep mode ?? Ive read that when I searched.

 

Well some cars take as long as 5 min. to go into sleep mode the max took as little as 25 sec. to get into sleep mode. Basicly when u touch the multimeter on it the amperage will be high for a few seconds and then it will drop. If it dosent drop below 25 millamps then u have a problem.

 

The **room light fuse**
I can imagine the look on the part storeman's face if I asked for one of those.

 

Any special way to connect the multimeter "Probes" to the battery and battery cable ??

 

Alright. I gave it a wirl and got zero readings. Maybe I am using the wrong setting on my multimeter. This is the one I have on, and im using it on this setting I have it. (Negative going to the negative termimal, and the positive going to the negative Line going to the car)

 

lol the first time i used it i got 0.00 and was really fustrating. Does your multimeter have bridging function? What you want to do is remove the negative side cable and touch the POSITVE on it then take the black one and touch the negative on the battery... the pic is helpful although the writting is a little blurry..

Basicly you want the wires to be like.. when u touch the neagtive and positive on the battery for it to spark like because your joining it... i dunno if u understand.

If all the above dosent make sense... when u connect positive to the disconnected negative cable and negative to teh negative battery post the car should be electrically functioning... meaning u can put the radio on turn the lights on etc.

If all fails try switching the wires on the bottom. Later i might make a youtube video on how to do it because many people have this problem and have very little information on how to do it. Hope all goes well for u.

 

Im loosing a charge now in a DAY !!! lol...any more information on this test cause I still cant get it to work.

 

[+battery-]<---[+dmm-]--->[chassis ground cable]

if you are getting a correct reading of 0 like this then your battery might be do for a change.

if you get an amperage reading then commence to pulling fuses one at a time until you find a fuse (or fuses) that lowers the amps. thats (those are) your parasitic circuit(s).

 

I searched on Google and many of the How-To sites say to use the positive side of the battery for the test.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2249402_find...paign=yssp_art

Any more assistance on this would be appreciated. I dont know what to set my multimeter to

This is the Multimeter I have
http://www.mygreenlee.com/Products/m...c_number=12039

 

You can usually buy different ends for the probes, specifically ones that would clamp onto the cables. As someone stated before, remove negative battery cable, insert positive probe from multimeter to battery (negative) cable, put the negative lead for the ammeter on the negative battery post while the multimeter is OFF. Then turn it on.

Hopefully you don't have a big current draw. Make sure the headlights are off, and the ignition is NOT turned on, as if you leave these things on, it can cause enough of a current draw to blow the internal fuse to the ammeter. My Fluke meter has a 10A fuse internally, but I don't know about other meters. If that fuse blows, then you won't get any readings.

Basically, once you start the connection, the computers will power up, cycle through their diagnostics, then one by one begin to shut down again. I don't know how long Nissans take. Some Cadillacs take up to 40 minutes. I would say just to be safe leave it there for 30-45 minutes then come back.

You should find a service manual and find out what the spec is on the Maxima for maximum (no pun intended) key off current draw. Usually this is less than 50mA. If you see something that doesn't look right, then begin to pull fuses individually. Do it one at a time, and replace it if that circuit is not he cause.

Once you DO find it, pulling the fuse is great, but now you need to find out where the actual problem is. This requires wiring schematics. When you get to this point, and have the schematics (dealer, google, maxima.org search) post it and we can help more. Chances are if something is staying on, you have a pinched wire that is shorting to power, but there can be other issues as well.

Hope that helps.

 

Do NOT connect the ammeter directly between +12V and chassis ground (0V) and expect anything but a toasted ammeter.

 

Well If i charge the battery completely one day, it will be good back and forth to work if I use it every day, but if I just use it around town, starting and stopping, it will be day in a few days. Also, if I leave it sitting over the weekend, it will be dead.

I have replaced the Optima red top a few times now, and had a parasitic test done on the system by my macanic, and he sais all is fine. Do I replace it with a totally different battery or should I get another test done on it.

With the battery fully charged up, it starts like a charm, but the rest of the week it starts really really slow, and then one day just wont start.

-matt

 

So they say its fine... Go test your alternator to see if its charging the battery. either that or the machanic dosent know what he is doing.

 

What did you do once you found the draw ?

 

How much is the draw? After you have found the draw you just start pulling fuses until the draw goes down.

 

Yea true...once you find the problem, how do fix that ? I guess it depends on what it is...

If my trunk light stays on, but I pulled the buld, could that still be drawing juice ?

 

Maybe it could be pulling from the bat. but you just need to find out what it is. Just go nutso with the fuses and pull until you find it. Then narrow it down and see whats wrong with w/e was causing the problem and see if you can fix it.

 

How you pull fuses and see if the amperage is droppping ? Doesnt the door open take the car out of sleep mode ?

 

Alright got the correct MM today. On the 10A setting, I am getting .12. Pulling fuses inside, I cant get it to go any lower.

If I open any door, with the door switch open, it jumps to .25. Now the only door it doenst do that for is the pass side rear door, that switch is broken, but I have the upper light off, but it might still be drawing power ?? I unscrewed the switch, and didnt change from the .12.

Now there has been NO bulb in the trunk forever. I did unplug the actual switch and there was no change to the .12. Could that plug be drawing current if its dead.

 

Went down to .10 with the hood button unplugged..

-matt

 

Could the trunk switch, even with the buld not in there, still draw power if its shot ??