Sporin

ALright guys, I've got an electrical problem.

My battery went dead the day after I bought the truck. My 2 year old was playing in it before work that day and left the lights turned on. Came home that night, discovered it, I jumped it, drove it around for a while, turned it off, restarted, no problem. The following day though... no dice. So I pulled the battery out and put it on the trickle charger.

Last night I put it back in the truck. Starts right up, no problem.

However, tonight, it's dead again.

Did a web search, found this on Yotatech and did it...

So I DO have a drain, that goes away when I pull the horn/hazard fuse. There was no horn hooked up when I got the truck and the horn/hazard fuse was blown. Coincidence? Dunno. So I put a new horn and fuse in.

The draw is there with or without the horn hooked up so I suspect the hazards. Once my battery is charged back up (it's on the trickle right now) how do I go about finding the problem?

I have ZERO electrical experience and though I have a multimeter, I have NO idea how to use it... I can't even find AMPS on the dial. It is a tandy/Radio Shack "Micronta 18-range Multitester' of indeterminate age. It's got OHMS, ACV, DCV and DCA with 3 or 4 "levels" in each.

This is the same one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Any help would be appreciated. I'm supposed to bring this thing to get the exhaust done Friday and I can't be jumping it all the time. I certainly don't want to drive it around without horn and hazards and it won't pass inspection (the 11th) that way.

-Dave Morin
85 4runner

Rick F.

There are a lot of ways to track that down and none are all that simple. The first thing I would do, assuming it IS your horn/hazards circuit, is to connect your meter in series with the battery (disconnect the positive red battery lead and connect the meter using the DCAMPS mode, black lead to the + post on the battery, red lead to the red battery cable) and with the horn/hazard fuse in-place, pull your front and rear bulbs that are on that circuit 1-at-a-time to see if any of those could be causing a drain. If not, then it's probably a bit more complicated like a wire rubbed through and touching a ground.

The bottom line is to isolate the problem thru the process of elimination. Be aware that you'll have SOME amount of current flow to maintain things like your clock, alarm system, etc., which will most likely be in the milliamp range. Setting up your meter and pulling ALL fuses and then installing them 1-by-1 (be sure to put the same size fuse back where it came from!!!) should help identify all circuits that drain the battery. Anything large enough to kill the battery overnite will probably be pulling a few amps or more so be careful to keep from smoking the meter (start on a high range and then range down as you test each circuit). It's time consuming, I know.

farmerj

Rick has got you on a good start. Your test light can get you as close as a multimeter also. The brightness of the bulb can tell you how much voltage is going through it.

I also think you are closer than you think.

You say the drain goes away with the horn/hazard fuse pulled. Try pulling your hazard/turn signal flashers also. Chance are if your two year old was in the truck, like all other two year olds, they flipped your hazard switch on and burned the contacts they were on so long. The flasher unit is located up between the stereo and heater controls.

That is what I am guessing from what you said above.

Rick F.

Farmerj beat me to it. I was off-line thinking more about it and came back to suggest you pull the flasher! Great minds think alike, I suppose!

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

On your meter, ACV=Aleternating Current Volts, DCV = Direct Current Volts, DCA = Direct Current Amps (that is your AMPS meter). I have some meter use tips on my web page:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...oUseAnOhmMeter

But in short, set the meter to the highest DCA range (i.e. teh one with the largest numbers) then disconnect the "+" cable from the battery and put the meter's red proble on the battery post and the black probe on the positive cable that you just removed. Meter should give a reading (make sure you don't "peg" the meter full scale, if so the current drain is too high for the meter). Then pull fuses until you find one that drops the current reading on the meter. Since you have already found the Horn/Haz fuse does this you are on the right track. Then you just need to find out what item(s) connected to that fuse is the problem. A factory wiring diagram would be the most use here to find out what items are connected there.

Sporin

Awesome guys, I will try all this stuff.

Most of the guys in my club suspect that the battery is toast so I bit the bullet and just went and bought an Optima Red Top. $109 (plus a $10 core). Not bad.

I’ll take my old battery off the charger when I get home and just let it sit
unhooked. Curious how fast it discharges without any draw.... I suspect it will discharge quickly.

Then I can start looking for the draw, assuming it's not an acceptable amount (it may be). The test light was only very dim (unless I flipped on the hazard switch) so it might not be bad.

Keep the suggestions coming, I am a complete noob to this stuff. Example fo noobness... Is the "flasher" the same as the "relay?"

-Dave

farmerj

http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl....99&test=testpl

With out a testerlike that, it is hard to say if the battery is bad or not.

As to the relay being the same as the flasher, would dependon where the relay is pointing you to...

The falsher is between the radio and heater control, so they sould be the same.

Sporin

What would be an acceptable number on my meter (and at what setting) for a constant draw?

I'm actualy fairly pumped to get home and start solving this.

farmerj

Check out this website...

http://www.autoshop101.com/asetest/asetest3.html

It will help you figure this out. Go ahead and guess, it will allow you to see both the right and wrong answers.

Sporin

farmer,

Thanks!

Sporin

I *think* my battery issues are solved.

When I got home, my old battery had been on the trickle charger for 24 hours and was only up to about 25%. I unhooked it and left it sitting on the workbench all night and it discharged completely. So it's safe to say it is/was dead.

Popped in my new Red Top and went through all the checks that everyone has suggested. If I'm reading my meter right then the draw is very , very small. Also found out that the stereo (aftermarket) must be on the same circuit and fuse as the hazards & horn... which explains whey there is a small draw at that circuit (clock, memory, etc).

Does it make sense that the stereo would work with the fuse in, even if the fuse was burnt though? The stereo worked all the way home even though the horn/hazard fuse was burnt. Today, with the fuse out, the stereo was dark (as weas the horn & hazards)

???

I left the fuse out last night just as a precaution since I had to get it to Midas this morning. Started right up, no issues. I'll put it back in and let it sit a while this weekend to test it, but I suspect {fingers crossed} that I've got it licked.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.