Parastic Draw / Battery Drain

[Doc Plus]

Hi,

Sorry it's very very long, but I did some tests and I prefer to give you all the informations that I have.
I have a 2006 Maxima, and I have a parasitic draw of about 0.7A.
I measured it with a DC Amp Clamp, and even waiting for 30 min without changes. My hood was open, the door closed but not locked. Also my front/map lights are on the off position.
Also I have the service manual on pdf.

1- I checked the voltage across the fuse on every fuse (3 fuse boxes). I get 0 mV for all of them. Not sure if my multimeter is precise enough to the low voltage (like 3mV).

2- I removed some fuses without changes. I did so many tests, I don't remember if I removed all the fuses in the interior fuse box. I removed at least all the BAT fuses, and also the 6 and 21 (to check the lights).
I remove all the fuses on the fuse box near the air filter box, but none in the last one.

3- Interior lights:
- glove box: it was dead so I removed it.
- vanity mirror: on each side one was dead, and if I pressed on the plastic cover, the light will goes off. Something here, but removing them did not drop the draw.
- center/map: in the off position, seems ok. All the switch positions work.
- trunk light: turn on and off as it should.
- all the others (foot, step, rear personal lamps) work fine and just illuminate when I open the door and go off in less than 30s after I closed the door.

4- I noticed something strange. If I close the door and get back to read the Amp Clamp, I read about 0.2A, and in less than 30s it goes back to 0.7A.

5- In my interior fuse box, I have 2 toggle switches that has been clearly added. I had to investigate more. One is a latching spdt, the other a momentary spst. I emailed the previous owner (which one the second one) and he had no idea. It told me that he installed no aftermarket devices. Does a previous remote start installation could explain these switches ?

6- My seat belt light is on. First it was not on all the time and if I touched the cable on the seat buckle I could turn it on and off. It sounds like I could fix it. Can this issue explain the draw ? I didn't check the schema for this one.


Other informations:
a- my alternator seems fine: 14.5V when the car is on.
b- I cleaned my battery terminals
c- I will have to replace my battery, max is 12.2V, but first I want to solve the parasitic draw.


What should I test next ?
Especially with the 4- ?

What I'm thinking:
- My 5-
- remove again all the fuses in the interior fuse box to be sure
- disconnect the bose head unit
- disconnect the cable on the alternator from the battery +
- check the battery ground ?


Thank you
Doc Plus.

[lexcrob]

So your problem is your car wont start after sitting.
You have a BAD or questionable battery.
I would before anything replace the battery.
Spend the money buy a brand new fresh one with a warranty.
I'm sure your sick of jumping of your car anyways.

Next have the charging system tested. All the parts stores have one of the magic boxes. This will make sure that your alternator didn't kill your battery.

Then do a voltage drop test from negative post to chasis and block. Then from positive to alt. power stud and fuse box distribution lug.

If all that checks out then go after parasidic draw. Ive seen some vehicle take 45min to "turn off". Ive also seen a bad battery and even a bad ground make a ecm pcm bcm not go to sleep.

Good Luck!
Rob

[Doc Plus]

Thank your for your help.
As I said, before buying a new battery I would prefer to find what causes the drain.
For the record, I just had to jump start my car one time, and it was a few weeks ago.

My mechanic has tested my battery and told me it only needed to be recharged.
I will follow your advice and test the alternator in depth
I guess it would be a great idea to have the battery tested again by someone else.

[lexcrob]

My 02 dodge ram would not start after sitting over night. I checked parasidic draw 0.7 amps. I pulled every fuse till I found it was the instrument cluster fuse. I read online just about everyone finds this same problem. They all just got new batteries and never looked back. *Some did replaced the whole cluster with mixed results.

I priced a cluster. Its just beater truck no thanks.
I bought a new battery no more problems.

Although it did sit for 3 weeks and needed a jump. I just disconnect the battery if its gonna be a while now.

I have seen a few batteries test good then next day or what not now bad.
I found that the ones that tested to be bad later normally had visible swelling of the outside.
Now a days if it even looks at me weird I get a new battery.
Im kidding but seriously they will get you.

[Doc Plus]

I have some updates.

My mechanic cleaned the battery negative post and connector, but not really the positive ones. So I did this.
I also clean the battery with a solution of baking soda.
I tried to remove the metal plate which supports the battery, but 2 fasteners are really hard to reach and they refused to move (even with WD-40). So I gave up before destroying the fastener.
I will try again because I really want to see my ground connection to the chassis. There is rust on the metal plate so maybe also on the ground connection to the chassis.
My draw was about 0.33A at this point.

This morning I bought white lithium grease and put it on all the latches (hood, trunk and doors). The draw is now 0.2 A.

[lexcrob]

That is what a high end car with all the bells pulls. 0.2

Id call it good. The grease.....Not sure what thats about.

Maybe your car is thanking you. Kinda like when you wash your car and it just feels like it runs better. LOLOLOL
Glad you got it handled.