Has anybody successfully solved a parasitic battery draw problem?

[indept]

That scale is 2000 ma ( or 2 amps) max scale so those measurements are 43 ma & 1 ma. Thats not a problem. Are you having a problem with not starting or are you just worried about the drop. Your battery is probably around 700 amp hour rating which if it is 700 ah that means your battery will supply 700 amps @ 12v for 1 hour, or 70 amps for 10 hours or 7 amps for 100 hours. Or your 43 ma for 16,279 hours. Unless it's causing a problem I wouldn't be concerned about the slow drop.

View attachment 475215the 12v batteries that are specific for the 2009 2018 and classic are wet cell lead acid and after the starter motor engages it draws enough amps for your truck to need to travel 50 + miles for the alternator to replace the energy consumed and by making short trips and re engaging the starter depletes the battery’s charge this also over works the alternator since its always playing catch-up Around the 2000 model year most manufacturers started using smart charging alternators and temperature controlled charging to keep the alternator from over working and adjusting the charging rate based on environmental factors ambient temperatures and how the vehicle is driven.

Emissions tests are preformed after the vehicle is not driven for a specific length of time by CANbus systems that are pre-programed

LowJack and other types of GPS location and communication systems often use battery power at low voltages also while the ignition system is inactive.

Placing a smart charger on your truck overnite on your truck to bring the battery voltage up to 12.75v or better is another way to mitigate low voltage problems until the parasitic drain problem can be solved

Correction to my original post above. In my example I wrongly referred to the 700A as amp hours not cold cranking amps . using Mister Lucks post above stating 80 AH, with a a 700 cca battery you w can draw 700 amps for 6.8 minutes and your 43 ma draw for 1860 hours.

 

[Kubasaki]

We had that problem years ago on another vehicle. I traced it to a door lock solenoid that was sticking in a midway position. Replaced it and problem solved. Pulling fuses was only way to isolate.

 

[farout75]

I replaced my starter, and had the dealer take it for three times, onetime was for four days, and they even contacted those people in FCA (at the time) and they suggested to replace the battery, even though it checked out fine. I reluctantly replaced the battery. That solved the drain off issue for my truck. Its been a year and its worked flawlessly.

 

[RBJRBJ]

I decided that the simplist method to avoid a dead battery is to attach a Battery Tender Plus charger, maintainer 12V, 1.25 Amp to the truck’s battery whenever I know the truck will sit idle for 3 days or more. These newer vehicles have so many electronics and some are always drawing power from the battery. Peace of mind and knowing the truck will always start is worth it.

 

[CaptOchs]

Check anything that has a motor and make sure it works. I had an Expedition with a draw. Found the rear wiper didn't work. I disengaged the linkage and the motor cycled. It was trying to move the wiper but it was frozen because the grease dried up. I fixed that and the problem went away.

 

[62Blazer]

Going back to the OP, are you actually seeing an abnormal battery drain issue such that the truck is dead after a few days? A lot of the posts are going back and forth between "normal" battery drain and "abnormal" or "excessive" battery drain. Assuming the battery is in good shape and the charging system is working properly a vehicle should have no problem starting after sitting a week or two. I've been on many week long vacations or business trips and never remember having an issue with my vehicle starting. It's also not unheard of for a vehicle to sit for a month or more and fire up with no issues (though would recommend a battery tender if you plan on regularly letting a vehicle sit for that long on a regular basis). Another example is when a new car leaves the manufacturing plant. It's not unusual for a new vehicle to sit for weeks without being started, or started for a very short period of time and turned off.
In regards to finding a true parasitic draw (greater than normal, such as the battery is dead after a day or two) any good mechanic or somebody with basic trouble-shooting knowledge can usually locate those issues. Simply checking the amp draw from the battery as you remove each fuse usually points you in the right direction.....the tricky part sometime is once you narrow down which circuit is finding the actual cause (fuses can feed multiple circuits/devices).
In the end, some of the advice above are more of an band-aid and not a repair. Sure, if the battery goes dead after a couple days always having a trickle charger will solve that issue....but you haven't actually fixed the issue but rather just covering it up. Having a cut off on the battery is another example. Again, keep in mind the difference between an issue that causes the battery to go dead after a day or two versus a vehicle sitting around for weeks or months at a time. Yes, using a trickle charger on a vehicle that sits for months is a good idea and true "fix" for the battery going dead........but using a trickle charger to keep the battery from going dead after a few days is not a "fix" but rather a band-aid.

 

[RichieW13]

Going back to the OP, are you actually seeing an abnormal battery drain issue such that the truck is dead after a few days? A lot of the posts are going back and forth between "normal" battery drain and "abnormal" or "excessive" battery drain. Assuming the battery is in good shape and the charging system is working properly a vehicle should have no problem starting after sitting a week or two. I've been on many week long vacations or business trips and never remember having an issue with my vehicle starting. It's also not unheard of for a vehicle to sit for a month or more and fire up with no issues (though would recommend a battery tender if you plan on regularly letting a vehicle sit for that long on a regular basis). Another example is when a new car leaves the manufacturing plant. It's not unusual for a new vehicle to sit for weeks without being started, or started for a very short period of time and turned off.
In regards to finding a true parasitic draw (greater than normal, such as the battery is dead after a day or two) any good mechanic or somebody with basic trouble-shooting knowledge can usually locate those issues. Simply checking the amp draw from the battery as you remove each fuse usually points you in the right direction.....the tricky part sometime is once you narrow down which circuit is finding the actual cause (fuses can feed multiple circuits/devices).
In the end, some of the advice above are more of an band-aid and not a repair. Sure, if the battery goes dead after a couple days always having a trickle charger will solve that issue....but you haven't actually fixed the issue but rather just covering it up. Having a cut off on the battery is another example. Again, keep in mind the difference between an issue that causes the battery to go dead after a day or two versus a vehicle sitting around for weeks or months at a time. Yes, using a trickle charger on a vehicle that sits for months is a good idea and true "fix" for the battery going dead........but using a trickle charger to keep the battery from going dead after a few days is not a "fix" but rather a band-aid.

Yes, I noticed the problem because my car wouldn't start 4 different times over the past 3 months. Two of those times happened when the car sat for over 24 hours. Two times it sat for about 8 hours. It's not often that I go more than 12 hours without driving the truck.

I bought a new battery last week. So far no starting problems, but it also hasn't sat for more than ~12 hours at a time. I have checked the voltage in the morning a couple times. So far it has always tested between 12.45 and 12.50 volts.

 

[Mister Luck]

I replaced my starter, and had the dealer take it for three times, onetime was for four days, and they even contacted those people in FCA (at the time) and they suggested to replace the battery, even though it checked out fine. I reluctantly replaced the battery. That solved the drain off issue for my truck. Its been a year and its worked flawlessly.

Electrical Load testers that shops and dealers
use do not always catch the weak individual battery cell
and it’s not easy to test with “ maintenance free “ closed cell batteries but all thats needed is a specific gravity tester for lead acid battery. I believe the cause of a weak cell is usually a factory defect in one individual plate that passed tolerance testing on the low side or simple human error.

 

[62Blazer]

Yes, I noticed the problem because my car wouldn't start 4 different times over the past 3 months. Two of those times happened when the car sat for over 24 hours. Two times it sat for about 8 hours. It's not often that I go more than 12 hours without driving the truck.

I bought a new battery last week. So far no starting problems, but it also hasn't sat for more than ~12 hours at a time. I have checked the voltage in the morning a couple times. So far it has always tested between 12.45 and 12.50 volts.

I would definitely call that an abnormal issue. When it did not start did you just jump start it and off you went? We have a 2019 Honda and it has not started about 3 times since we've owned it, and each time this happened the car had only sat for maybe a day and once time it only sat long enough to fill up with gas at a station. A jump start corrected the issue and then it would go for many months without an issue. Haven't replaced the battery but do carry a small jump pack.
Have another motorcycle that began having periodic no-start conditions, either after sitting for several days and sometimes only for a few minutes. It was weird because the starter relay would just click like a dead battery, and then suddenly it would fire up and go. It would then start fine many times in a row. Thought for sure it a bad battery connection or something and fought it for weeks. Finally the battery suddenly went completely dead and wouldn't take a charge....replaced the battery and no issues in over a year now.

 

[RichieW13]

I would definitely call that an abnormal issue. When it did not start did you just jump start it and off you went? We have a 2019 Honda and it has not started about 3 times since we've owned it, and each time this happened the car had only sat for maybe a day and once time it only sat long enough to fill up with gas at a station. A jump start corrected the issue and then it would go for many months without an issue. Haven't replaced the battery but do carry a small jump pack.
Have another motorcycle that began having periodic no-start conditions, either after sitting for several days and sometimes only for a few minutes. It was weird because the starter relay would just click like a dead battery, and then suddenly it would fire up and go. It would then start fine many times in a row. Thought for sure it a bad battery connection or something and fought it for weeks. Finally the battery suddenly went completely dead and wouldn't take a charge....replaced the battery and no issues in over a year now.

Yes, I just jump-started and it was fine.

 

[miles01]

If you don’t mind me asking, Where did you get one of these? Interested in this.

Any place that sells boat parts

 

[Ramtrucker12]

After a month of keeping my battery connected to a battery tender and feeling like this solution was going to last forever, I had a jaw dropping moment when I FOUND THE CAUSE OF MY BATTERY DRAIN! I have a problem with mice getting into the engine compartment and cab and was convinced that these little rodents had chewed through some wires and it was going to cost me an arm and a leg, not to mention time at a shop, to get this problem tracked down and repaired. I had read through every post on this forum and another Ram forum trying to find the answer myself. I found that many owners isolated the problem to the radio and was prepared to pull the fuse and run an amp test to see if that was my problem when out of the blue I began to think that the one area I hadn't checked was the factory sub woofer under the backseat. I envisioned that mice had gotten in there and chewed through those wires so, I proceeded to unbolt the unit and pull it out just to see. Much to my surprise, when I pulled the unit out I found that there was about 4 inches of water in that recessed area where the sub sits and the connector plug was completely under water. I disconnected the plug, pulled the unit, unplugged the battery tender and let my truck sit overnight. Tried to start my truck the next morning and it fired right up! I drained the water out of the recess, reconnected the sub woofer, and again let it sit overnight and next morning it started right up! It has now been two weeks and the truck sat for 5 days at one point and I had no problem with it starting. Now, as for the water problem, that damn gasket around the third brake light appears to have been the problem. I just replaced that yesterday and we are expecting rain turning to snow today so we'll see if that worked. If this post helps just one person find their problem I will be happy!