Peyman

iTrader: (2)

I've had the battery drain issue for a while now. My battery is new, and my alternator seemed fine when they tested it.

So i drew each fuse out today and had the voltmeter connected, one on the negative battery side and the other connected to where the fuse goes.

When i got to the BTN fuse, my voltage draw went from .59 to 7.55. What is drawing this current, and where do i start?

HAILERS

The BTN fuse feeds what I call the Battery Bus on your interior fuse box.

That Battery Bus consists of the second row from the top of the fuse box.........plus one fuse on the very bottom.

So. Pull one fuse at a time from the second row from the top and watch the voltage on the meter. Plus, don't forget the very bottom row. The third fuse from the left if looking into the fuse box.

The fuses fed by the BTN on the second row are the Stop, Hazard, Room, Antenna, Illum. The fuse on the bottom row is ABS for cars with ABS.

Peyman

iTrader: (2)

ok, i pulled each fuse and the yellow fuse on the second row of the interior fuse box that stands higher than all the other fuses seems to be the one drawing the current. It was drawing 12.4 volts, and when i took it out, it showed 1.1 or something like that.

This is the fuse that makes your door beep when you open it.

So what does this tell me? I took the fuse out for now...

HAILERS

If you go to the first two threads on this forum, you'll find one that is called FAQ. It has this picture http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...=&postid=16970 which fuse is it?

HAILERS

http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...=&postid=16970

HAILERS

EDIT: I erased my first answer here. I thought it was the METER fuse but it's the ROOM fuse. Ignore my first answer if you read it..

Straighten me out. Are you taking all the fuses out of the engine fuse box, right?

And one meter lead is on the negative post of the battery and then with the other meter lead, if you touch one blade on each fuse socket the meter reads battery voltage. Right.

But if you put your lead on the OTHER blade on each fuse they all read zip except the fuse called the BTN fuse. Right.

And if you pull the ROOM fuse, the seven something volts at the BTN goes south. Right?? Right.

Anyway, write back. I'm interested if you did it like I stated above. Leave the MAIN fuse in, please.

At first I thought it was the METER fuse (wrong) that you pulled in the interior that made the volts go away. If that was the case, then it would be a alternator backfeeding thru a blown diode. Just for fun, read the seven something volts you've been reading and pull the small plug off the alternator and see if the volts disappear. Later.

HAILERS

OR did you pull each fuse in the engine bay. Then put one meter lead on one fuse blade and the other lead on the other blade?

And the meter read zip until you came to the BTN and the meter read 7 something volts.

If so, that is NORMAL except my car reads 11.8vdc. Is you battery down to seven something volts?

Icemark

11.8 volts and you probably have a dead cell in your battery or your meter is off calibration

Icemark

something fishy here, because you should be testing for draw with amperage, not voltage.

Voltage has nothing to do with draw.

To use a watering hose analogy:

Voltage as the size of the hose that water is flowing through.

Amperage is how much water is flowing through.

So, if testing for draw, there should be a amperage draw...because the car is already a 12 volt system. How much water is flowing, not what the water is flowing through.

HAILERS

Yo. I made a monkey out of myself with my answers. The BTN will always draw current all day long. It feeds the ECU and a number of other things all day long.

If you check the current, as shown in the picture I'm attaching, you'll normally see a current draw of 9 milli amps. Turn the side lights on and you'll see something like 6 Amps give or take. So I'm saying what your seeing is normal.

As Icemark said, check the current draw as shown in the picute I'm posting.

Icemark

I like those pictures... mind if I go ahead and copy them into the FAQ for a current draw/dead battery FAQ???

HAILERS

This post is bugging me. Lets say you put one meter lead on the negative battery post. Then you pulled the BTN fuse. Now one blade where the fuse went will have battery voltage on it. That is expected.

But if you now put your lead on the other blade where the fuse went, and get seven or whatever volts........that ain't (isn't) normal. That scenario is not normal at all.

Icemark

That is why I am not convinced he was setting up/useing the meter correctly

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

heh i was about to say what mark said, voltage has nothing to do with draw. amperage is what causes parasitic draws not the voltage a circuit is drawing. an easier way to find out the source of the problem is simply charge the battery fully(a fully charged battery should be at around 12.6 volts) and hook up a voltmeter to the battery and then start removing fuses and see which brings battery voltage back up near static battery voltage(voltage with the battery disconnected).

i hate using the amp portion of the meters as one short spike will kill the costly fuse, just measuring voltage usually comes up with the problem fairly quickly unless it is a very small parasitic load.

Peyman

iTrader: (2)

ok guys, looks like a missed a lot! I must have been testing it the wrong way. Hailers, sorry to confuse you, my bad.

I had just got the voltmeter the same day and i thought i was doing it the right way. I'm going to go out there and test it tomorrow and do it the right way according to the pictures (thanks btw).

So Karack, are you saying if i pull a fuse that is bad or what not, the voltage of the battery will go up or down?

I will let ya'll know what happens.
So, if i pull a fuse and the battery

HAILERS

Tell you what. If you have a battery draining overnight, check this out. Go to your series four alternator and look at the small plug on the alternator. PUt your meter negative lead on a good ground. With the alternator small plug connected up, backprobe the WHITE/BLACK wire with your meter lead (use a sewing needle if you have to). There should not be any voltage there if the key is OFF.

If you have voltage, I think your alternator is draining the battery down overnight. You might even try to make sure the battery is up right now and disconnect that small plug overnight and see if in the morning if the battery is up/down.

Don't mistake the white/black (white wire with a black stripe) with the Black/White (black wire with a white stripe).

junito1

Ok, im having some BTN issues as well.
Things that tell me somethibg is wrong.
BTN fuse removed, and testibg the spades at the fuse box of the BTN 60. multimeter positive lead on the live spade and negative on other spade is (which the fuses feeds)
And i get full voltage... wtf...
How do i go abiut this.. maybe related to my next finding, read on.

Front harbess blue connctor of about 20pins/wires named f-1 or I. The black 10 or 12ga wire on the corner or the connector has voltage... wtf...
I tried to chase the wire but it quickly joined a huge loom of wires... ugh.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

What issues are you having with the BTN 60A fuse? The fuse block is fed 12V so you will see voltage at the female spades on the fuse block.

junito1

I removed the btn fuse. Put the volmeter lead one one each spade and it read voltage. i did not ground to chassi. This is not nornal.

junito1

Now my meter fuse isnt blown.. i dont think. Not home. It wasnt before. But my fuel, tach arent working. Oil,water,boost arent hooked up. Could be related.