I believe .022 is too much draw. With your DMM hooked up you could start pulling fuses till you find the draw.

 

i'm going to do that tomorrow, just start pullin them in the fuse panel?

 

http://www.wagoneers.com/XJ/tech/93-shop/PARASITI.pdf

Says max Ford parasitic draw is <.050 A. Your battery may be bad. .022 A is well within the max.

When I do a parasitic drain test, I latch the driver door (still open) so the dome light etc is fooled. Then I let it sit for about two beers (1/2 hr or so).

When you disconnect the neg battery terminal, you need 3 hands. Maintain contact neg terminal to post and meter leads to terminal and post. Do not let the meter leads become disconnected from the terminal and post while you DISCONNECT the terminal from the post. (That link shows the "disconnect tool" that accomplishes this task for you).

I suggest you REMOVE the battery and have it load tested. Those Optima batteries have a pretty checkered history of premature failure. I'm still a big fan of good old lead acid with a lot of CCA's, despite the weight.


Edit: Thanks, Bob /sanity check/

 

Should be:

Says max Ford parasitic draw is <.050 AMPS. Your battery may be bad. .022 AMPS is well within the max.

 

Yeah just start pulling (leaving the large fuses for last) one at a time. I'd start with the fuse panel.


^Best tool for Parastic draw tests. Jegs.com has them HERE.

 

....and the fun begins! i'll update in a while guys. thank you

 

May be just low cells in the battery. usually the simplest is the fix.

 

alright went out and started pulling fuses, got to fuse 26 and the amps dropped to about .004, MUCH better.. so turns out that fuse 26 is Battery saver relay, Auxiliary relay box, Restraint Central Module (RCM), Generic Electronic Module (GEM), Instrument cluster... why would this be drawing power? and what can i do to save it from draining it completely?

 

Dude, its that red top. I have changed 2 in 2 years. Upgrade to a yellow top and call it a day. Want to go a step further, get a 130 amp from the jy, that is if your truck does not already have one.

 

dont have a red top, i think that was the original poster hahaha

 

bumpity ^^

 

I'd start with the easy stuff like those relays.

 

you have a light in your glove compartment?! i wish i did

 

what do you mean? like i said i found the source of the draw i just don't know how or why it's drawing when everything is off

 

could something like my battery saver relay be bad?

 

The battery saver has to time out. IIRC it only takes about ten minutes (I hear mine click off while I wait for the wife, shopping; takes about 15 clues of a crossword puzzle. The only effect is I can't close the power windows after it times out.).

You should cheat the door shut by latching the door latch as if it were closed. Again, .022 A is WELL within the parasitic draw limits. Your problem is elsewhere - have the battery load tested.

 

You don't look at Voltage with draw you look at Amperage.

 

yeah, i was gonna say it should be amps.. well i'm going to go outside today and make sure it clicks off after sitting for an hour and see if my amps drop down at all. i also will have my battery load tested. i'll keep you updated

 

Load test can kill a battery that otherwise would just need a charge.

Parasitic Draw Test How-To

There is a really good How-To, for checking Parasitic Draw. Just in case anyone should need it in the future.

 

Okay, should I leave my truck off with the alarm on and let it sit for 40 minutes until the GEM is supposed to shutoff and all that bull**** turns off and THEN check my draw? I read somewhere that if the relay or something is stuck, it will drain the battery.