'The Wizard' diagnoses a constant electrical-draw that leaves the customer with a dead battery in his SLK320, which has the same wiring & electrical parts as the Crossfire.

 

Would be a great sticky.

 

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AWESOME video for finding excess current draw in your systems. GREAT find!


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I have some comments:

1) I have never seen it take more than three minutes for all modules to go to sleep, I don't see where he's getting this '1/2 hour' thing.
2) I like the AmpHound, I'd heard conflicting news about how well such products worked but this guy proves this particular product does work.
3) When pulling fuses (which he does not do) you will see odd current readings. Pulling some fuses will cause the current to go UP. STOP, wait three minutes! Pulling some fuses causes some modules to reset and "start over", so wait three minutes to see if the current settles down. This is a disadvantage of the "fuse pulling" method and is an advantage of the AmpHound.
4) This guy explains and then SHOWS YOU how to connect your meter, even if you are not using his $2000 instrument, this is how you connect your multimeter.

This thread will be our standard-issue "how to" for battery drain issues. Sticky it is!

 

Added to his demo, I offer my Crossfire-specific advice for those not using an "AmpHound" and for those who never find ANY fuse that causes the drain:
This procedure was written specifically for the Chrysler Crossfire – it is a good idea to watch one of those “how to” videos on the subject for additional tips and instructions. This procedure is written to give you the Crossfire-specific information you need. I do not intend this to instruct a novice in how to accomplish the task based on this text alone, although it is possible for some readers to do so.


A healthy (but not necessarily new) battery should start the car after 21 days of sitting. In fact, it should start the car after over a month of sitting, but I personally am not comfortable with leaving any vehicle sitting longer than three weeks at a time. My car is started every 21 days in winter and is never on a battery tender/charger/etc as I despise those devices.

You need a reasonable quality digital multimeter with an ammeter function. I find that Lowes or Home Depot sells meters I like more than what Auto Parts stores sell, but that’s just me. These meters have fuses in the ammeter lead circuit. If, at any time, you suddenly have zero current, the fuse has blown. You need spare fuses. Do not leave the store without spare fuses. PROVE, by taking the meter apart, that you have bought the right size spare fuses – if the meter has a spare fuse, but five more just like it. Keep in mind that there are often two fuses, one of the 10amp or “high current” scale and one for the “low current” scales (10-15 amp and .25 or so amp, respectively). MOST of the time, the meter will be accurate enough for you to use only the high current scale. Again, watch a youtube video or two if needed.

You also need “clip leads”, one clamps onto the negative battery post on one end, the other end grips the meter’s “Positive” (Red) lead. The other clip lead grips the meter’s “Negative” (Black) lead on one end with the other end clamping onto the batter ground cable’s battery post clamp. Now, all current flowing thru the battery must also flow thru the meter.



Prepare the car for the test:
1) --- Open hood, remove key from ignition, close glove box door, trunk lid and both car doors.

2) --- If you have ANY aftermarket accessories wired into the car that have their ground wires attached to the battery negative post, follow this procedure:

a) --- Slap yourself HARD in the face. Repeat two more times.
b) --- Remove those ground wires from the battery terminal.
c) --- Remove the chassis bolt from the battery ground cable and secure both the battery ground cable and the wire(s) of step b) with the same bolt. (You have moved the aftermarket ground wires from the battery post and connected them to where they belong, the chassis ground bolt for the battery cable.)

3) --- Take battery ground cable off the battery negative terminal.

4) --- Insert meter as described above between battery post and ground cable, you may want to set it to the 10amp scale.
5) --- Observe current reading, it will be .1 to .3 amps, perhaps more.

If it is zero, you do not have the meter connected or configured properly. Do not continue until you get a reading on the meter.


6) --- WAIT THREE MINUTES - the current reading will go down, as modules hibernate.
7) --- AFTER THREE MINUTES - any current reading over 55mA (.055 amp) is a problem.

If you have too much current, start pulling fuses until the current drops below .055 amp.
Start with the fuses in any aftermarket accessories that are wired directly to the battery’s positive post. (If any of these wires to not have fuses in them within a few inches of the connection to the battery, simply disconnect them from the battery and see what current you have. Do not reconnect them until you put fuses in the leads.)

From here on out, as you pull fuses from the car’s fuse boxes, know that pulling some fuses will cause the current to go UP, this is due to 'waking' a module somewhere, wait three minutes and it should go back down, only then, after three minutes, believe the reading on the meter.

Read the above paragraph again. DO NOT waste time chasing your tail, take your time with this procedure, if for any reason you see the current go UP at any time, wait three minutes to see if it goes back down.

If NO fuse causes the current to go down enough, in the little black box next to battery (size of a pack of cigarettes):
8) --- Remove one 50 amp fuse that goes to engine fan - it is labeled. If this lowers current to below 55mA, replace the fan control module on the driver’s side fender well, it is the module that the engine cooling fan is powered by.

If 8) does not do it:
9) --- Remove other 50 amp fuse, that goes to brake controller - it is labeled. If this does it, you have a brake controller issue. This is very rare so I won’t go on about it.

If 9) does not do it:
10) --- Remove 200 amp fuse that feeds entire car - if that does it, we need to talk! This means it is in the car’s major harness. The only car I saw this in, I never got fixed, as we ran out of time and I had a flight to catch. I hope no one else deals with this one, maybe jump to step 13).

If 10) does not do it:
11) --- Remove BIG red cable from back of alternator - if that does it, you need a new alternator (or get the one you have rebuilt, but make sure the guy knows it has a bad diode(s) ).

If 11) does not do it:
12) You, again, need real help. My rate is $100 per hour plus $1600 travel expenses. (You should report the car stolen at this point.)

 

I checked my draw the other day and the read out was between .02 and .03 is that good or bad or indifferent?
What should it be ideally on our cars?
If .055 is bad does that make .05 good? I doubt it.

 

The specification is ".055 or less", that's from the service manual. Even .070 would not impact the battery much, but point is, the design calls for .055 or less.

I've found our cars to run as low as .010 and usually not run much over .040; if it's over .040, its WAY over, like .360 or .500.
Mine runs very little, .008 or so - but I have no TPMS, Homelink or audio amplifier (it's a base model). I don't think you can get lower than the Base models and I cant remember measuring either of the Limited's that Iv'e owned.

 

All good stuff.

 

I checked my parasitic draw and it was 129 milliamps after everything gradually shut down. Pulling and replacing every fuse 1 by one made no difference in draw with the exception of fuse #14 that serves the Diagnostic Socket (Data Link Connector). When I pulled that fuse the draw dropped to about 29 milliamps. However, I also found a fuse diagram online that says that fuse also serves the Steering Angle Sensor even though the fuse box doesn't have that listed for fuse #14, it only says Diagnostic Socket. Has anyone else checked for parasitic drain and found this fuse to be leading to the source of a majority of the drain? I'm wondering how either the Diagnostic Socket or Steering Angle Sensor could be causing parasitic drain when the car is not running.

 

Please reference milliamps, not millivolts. If you mention the correct term, ppl do not get confused. Good luck finding your drain!


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No, no one has reported this, and that fact does not matter. You are one of very few people who have attempted to properly find the problem, for that, I salute you.

I would now unplug that sensor and see what you get, because we must remember that the service manual is inaccurate and incomplete. THis means that there may very well be OTHER items that fuse feeds that we dont know about. So, unplug that sensor, if the current does not drop, we must find what OTHER item is fed by that fuse.

 

Baloney. Anyone who reads that post and is confused by that error, has no business trying to help anyone.
Deepsea21 is trying harder to do this properly than over 90% of the people I've tried to help with a battery drain issue.
Most are too lazy to actually measure the current and logically chase the issue.

 

Back in I go and I'll let ya know what I find.

 

Went back in and found my buddy's wireless code reader still plugged into the Diagnostic socket from reading codes a week ago when I did the sticky key fix and was checking codes... Forgot to take it out (we must be idiots). Removed the code reader and parasitic draw returned to normal.

 

Just stop calling it "parasitic draw" and you are safe from the "idiot" label.

And thanks for closing the loop on this one!

 

I was away for 5 weeks and came home to a dead battery in my 2007 Crossfire.
I purchased a Battery Tender Plus 1.25 AMP Battery Charger and Maintainer. Will this work on my car?
I don’t know if it has a 6 or 12 volt battery… (I’m a girl and know nothing)
The instructions do not tell me how to install the thing! (Again, I’m a girl who knows nothing about cars).
I am going away again for 3.5 Months next week, so it’s not necessary to get it going now, but I wanted to know why it happened.

 

First, you need to know what the voltage is currently. ( it is a 12 volt battery )
For that, you will need a multimeter set to DC and 20 volt range or autorange if it has it. ( you can get one from Autozone or Advance - about $24 )
If the reading is real low, like 2 volts or so, you probably won't be able to charge it, you'll have to replace it.
The trickle charger / maintainer you have is fine, it just won't charge the battery very fast, it's not meant to.
As to why it went dead after 5 weeks, I would say that's normal without a maintainer connected.
To use your maintainer, connect the red ( plus ) lead to the plus battery terminal ( the one closest to the firewall ) and the black lead to the other terminal.
BTW, when removing a battery, it's always negative off first, and when reinstalling, it's negative on last.

 

I believe she has a charger/maintainer with 6 volt and 12 volt charging abilities that is why she wants to know.
As you say it is a 12 volt battery.