well I replaced all the door jamb switches and the battery is still draining. Does anyone have a solution to the problem. It could be the alarm system on it, which doesn't work, but is still wired. There is a wire going from the pos to the neg terminal with a fuse in it but the fuse is pulled. Anyone have suggestions I need them. Also I have a clicking noise like a relay coming from the dash when I take off from start. Let me know what yall think. Thanks.
It isn't a very pretty suggestion, but it will work. Try pulling a fuse, start with the 15 amp ones. Let it sit over night. If it drains down with the fuse pulled, replace it, and go to the next fuse for the next night. As indicated, you are simply trying to figure out which circuit has the drain. At least you will narrow down your search area. Also, you can pull the fuse each time you stop and stop the drain, then your car will start in the morning when you need it. At least a bandaid fix until you figure out the exact problem.
Have you had the charging system checked out at a place like AutoZoo? Could be a short in the battery. Could be a bad alternator.
Electrical problems are definitely a pain in the .....
You could try the fuse pulling trick to narrow it down, but instead of letting it sit overnight, get a volt meter, disconnect the positive terminal and check voltage with ignition off, and door plungers taped shut...
Then read your baseline draw between the positive terminal and the positive cable, then remove fuses and replace until the number goes down, that will be the circuit in question.
Then trace the wires to find your drain.
Also, check the fusible links (3 of them near the end of the positive cable).
It could be any number of things.
Turning on a VOM and using it will yield faster results over speculating and tossing parts at it.
You can use a test light to see if there is current being drawn but a VOM with the ability to read amps will let you know what is really going on.
To check for a current draw have the ignition in the off position and disconnect the ground at the battery.
Hook up the leads to the meter for amps, one end of the lead to the cable and the other end to the NEG post.
Check current, anything over .5 amps and you will have a dead battery.
To trace down what is drawing start by disconnecting the power cable from the alternator. A bad alt will cause a draw.
If that pans out start pulling fuses until you find the circuit that is drawing.
Don't forget the fuses in the engine bay.
When using the amp feature on a VOM do not exceed 10 amps or you will pop the meters fuse. Which costs about $10 for the one in my Fluke.
You can use a test light by hooking it up the same way. Disconnect the NEG cable and one end of the light on the cable and the other on the NEG post. Don't use an LED test light for this, they do not need much current to work and will give false readings.
A cheap one from NAPA works fine.
If the light is on start pulling the alt cable and fuses until the light goes out. You can sorta gauge wow much current is being drawn by how bright or dim the light is.
The relay you hear may be the alarm system trying to actuate the power door locks (a feature I hate, by the way). Think about removing the alarm. I did mine, but I could see what was factory and what was hacked in. I unhacked mine, and it was easy. Alarm systems are notorious for parasitic battery drain.
Powermad's suggestion of using a test light is very good. If you tried to start the truck, the light would go full bright and nothing else would happen.
If you take the nut off the positive battery terminal (ring lugs), you will have 3 fusible links and the big cable that goes down to the starter.
Use the test light from the + terminal to each of the ring lugs (isolate them). If one is lighting up the light, post here which one it is. We'll help you troubleshoot it.
Pictures are valuable. Also, please tell us what year your lawnmower is.
Hint: edit your signature, please
