Batteries draining over night

[franklin2]

I'm not sure how you look for a power draw with a test light. That is only going to tell you that you have a complete circuit when you touch it from what you are testing to ground. You really need an ammeter or a DMM that measures current. Am I right??? It's early and I haven't had my first Dew of the morning yet.

A testlight in series with the negative cable disconnected from the battery works. The reason is all the radio memories and other stuff draw very little current, usually less than 30ma. The testlight needs more than 30 ma to light up, so that's why it works. If you look really close you might see it glowing very dim,, but a very bright testlight means you have a drain that is high enough to run the testlight, and that is too much.

You can use a multi-meter, but it has to be properly setup and then you have to know what you are looking for. Generally anything over 70ma is bad. The testlight is so easy to hook up, and give s a good non-technical indication, that it's what I recommend most people use.

 

[PackRat239]

I fought with the same problem last fall. Tested everything, chased what I thought were problems, nada. Finally had the batteries retested, and one was internally shorted, draining the other overnight. Replaced both and no more problems. Starts great now too. Have yours tested before you spend any money on parts.

 

[franklin2]

I fought with the same problem last fall. Tested everything, chased what I thought were problems, nada. Finally had the batteries retested, and one was internally shorted, draining the other overnight. Replaced both and no more problems. Starts great now too. Have yours tested before you spend any money on parts.

That's a good point, I had the same thing happen to me. But when I did the drain test, my testlight did not light up so I had no drain, so I knew it had to be the batteries. He has a drain, so he needs to fix that first.

 

[soggybottom]

I still haven't gotten anywhere solving this. I've just been disconnecting the black/orange wire from the solenoid at night.

I disconnected the large plug at the firewall with all the cab wiring, and the drain did not go away. I disconnected the glow plug solenoid, and no change. I disconnected the plug at the transmission, and no change.

I tested the drain with a multimeter and got .12 on the 10A setting.

I am stumped.

 

[soggybottom]

Update

I actually had some time to look at the truck, and found out that if I disconnect the silver box behind the drivers kick panel in the cab, my drain goes away.

Is this the pcm? Am I to assume it has a short in it?

Any input appreciated

 

[icanfixall]

Yes.. Thats the E4OD computer. All it does is takes in the messages from several senders and tells the trans what to do and how to do it. Sounds like its time to replace it.

 

[soggybottom]

Bummer.