Hi All! As you know, i have been trying to find out why the battery in my truck keeps dying. Most here advised a parasitic drain. My son came over and went through everything with the meter I have and couldn't find anything which would cause the problem. I feel like a dummy but recently I found out that my clamp-on meter doesn't measure in the low or milliamps DC current. My neighbor said that most meters used in automotive repair to test for milliamps have a small clamp, and of course my meter has the large clamps. I should mention that I would prefer to use a 'clamp-on meter' so as not to create a problem this truck has with the alarm system that occurs when either battery terminal is disconnected. So, thought I would ask everyone here if they know of a decent, hopefully inexpensive meter, that can be used to detect the drain? Again, my wife and I are seniors on a fixed income so we can't spend too much, but I am determined to get to the bottom of this! Besides, here in California we can't go anywhere because of the virus, and now there are curfews preventing us from going anywhere. Crazy times.

Again,, let me say in advance thank you for all the advice and assistance offered!

 

This looks like it would do the job:


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Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2016
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I've tried several times to offer help in finding the cause but it never seems to be used according to the replies or lack of you give.
First a ..>>>> OPEN<<<<< ground does not discharge a battery.
Lets start over again.
1. Could be a bad cell in the battery. Cell plates has shed >Lead< material to the bottom shorting that cell out. How to check this. Use a voltmeter set to read up to 3 volts or so full scale on it's dial. Measure the voltage CELL to CELL with the test prods just dipped into the electrolyte only . Any cell at less than 2.1 volts is a bad cell. Do this from a fully charge battery after it has had time to normalize after charging.
I>>>> If the battery has no Cell caps, it has to be Load tested.
2. Motor off.....Alternator test. Remove the Heavy lead from the Alternator. Retouch back on terminal momentarily. Is there any sign of a spark? IF YES, the Alternator is your drain. Be carful not to short this cable to ground doing this test. Its hot from the battery through the big fuse.
If you do the above, it proves or eliminates these areas..
3. A question: Does the motor turn over slow on a fully charge battery. If Yes, there is a cable or Starter problem, not the battery.
4. NOTE: There is normal drain when the ignition is off of about 50 milliamps +/- drawn by the computer to keep it alive for the tables it has "learned' from the driving cycles.
5. TEST METER: Any small multimeter can be used to measure Current up to about 10 amps depending on that meter design.
The minimum level meter can be found in an Auto Parts store, Walmart, in the electrical section, or like store that offers auto or home electrical . $10 - $15.
6. Look at the function dial, relate to the meter scales each function first or the meter can be damages from over load.
7. Get the truck user manual and go the the pages that list the circuits and their fuse locations.
Pull a fuse one at a time, test and replace, then go to the next.
8. Under hood lamp must be removed if the Hood is up. Doors closed so the interior lighting is not On. Some other circuits are hot for up to 30 minutes after ignition off.
9 Other signs of failure; Bad battery cables, dirty battery post connections, broken >> internal battery cell strap << all will cause slow cranking and interior lights will go out from lack of voltage during cranking.
.
No just looking! Be sure. Do the checks. And use Logic.
. Print this out and follow from #1 down the list. There may be more than one issue present at the same time.

 

Bluegrass, he does NOT want to disconnect the battery due to issues explained in his other threads. This is why he wants a clamp meter, not a simple probe meter.

 

Thanks Bluegrass and GLC! The problem with the alarm/crank no-start only happens if the battery has been disconnected, which is a problem the truck has had since it was new. The Ford dealership, while the truck was under it's factory warranty, always blamed it on the alarm. All I know is whenever the battery was/is disconnected - that you can count on a crank-no start condition. Interestingly, although the dealership said the crank-no start was really a non-issue while the truck was still under warranty, after the warranty expired the dealership said there might be a problem and they could try to find it for $125 bucks an hour. And then who knows what they might have said was the problem, but I'm sure it would have been expensive!

Either way, the draining battery issue is something that started just a few months ago. I do try and do the checks and tests that people here suggest, but I don't see as good as I could when I was younger, not to mention getting around is somewhat difficult, so I give the advice (from the forum) to my son when he comes over. He tells me he checks what is suggested, but now that i know my isn't the suitable, I wonder about my son's dedication testing to finding the problem. I can't complain though, my son has his own life and always coming over to help out can be a pain. In any event, I am sorry for being a such a lunkhead but please know I am thankful for all the advice and suggestions!

 

Direct answer to your question; The free meter from harbor Freight will work fine for this. It's more about understanding what you're doing and less about the equipment. Find the HF ad in a newspaper or magazine, go to the store and buy anything and get the meter free.

 

SHORT CUTS OR WORK AROUNDS WILL NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING.
HE WILL NEVER GET THE PROBLEM SOLVED DOING IT THAT WAY AND WORKING FROM SELF IMPOSED LIMITS.
This has gone on long enough to see that..
LAST CALL ....do it right.!
Good luck.

 

If the free meter from HF is a probe-only meter, not a clamp meter, the battery has to be disconnected to insert the meter in the circuit to check for current draw. Their $15 clamp meter only works for AC amps. Their cheapest AC/DC clamp meter is 90 bucks.

 

Actually you can measure the current without breaking the circuit. Setup the meter to read DC amps, then connect one lead to the battery post (you'll probably have to have someone hold it on there), then connect the other lead to the battery clamp and then remove the clamp from the post. You may have to slide it up over the first probe if it's a ring type terminal. Awkward but it works.

But I have to agree with Bluegrass, the OP doesn't know what he's doing, doesn't have the proper equipment and doesn't know how to use it anyway and he's trying to work around a bunch of ridiculous self-imposed limits and he doesn't seem to want to listen to good advice so I'm going to call it quits on this thread as well.

 

Get rid of that dam hack hob alarm.

Take it to a damn shop already.

Yeah, I get it, money is tight. Do you want this truck to run or not?

There is no use trying to explain anything to someone who already knows better....

 

Oldpops- try this meter, at least it won't easily fry and you can even monitor your alternator.

 

Another thing you can do is hook up a battery charger or even a 9 volt battery while you attach the hall effect loop. Some folks call it "Stay Alive" memory.

 

If he doesn't want to disconnect the battery cable, a clamp meter is the only option.

 

Just an update. You guys are/were right. After my son and I tried using my meter, we couldn't find a parasitic drain so we thought the problem must be something else. So we were off chasing our tails & wasting time looking for something else when I found out my meter leads were crap. Today, a guy from Church came over to borrow something and I mentioned the problems I am having with my truck and the battery draining.. Anyway, the guy had a clamp meter in his truck toolbox and he put it on the battery cables. He said I have a 2.5 amp draw, which is said is pretty significant. Then he put his hand on the alternator to see if it was warm. I didn't understand why he did that but I was so happy for the help i just listened. The guy said to charge the battery up, put the meter back on it, and then start pulling fuses. The guy asked me if I had any trouble with the windows or door locks and i told him I do (with a couple of the door locks). Anyway, after he left I thought I should have asked him how to disengage/remove the PATS alarm completely, if there is even a way to do that. I will keep you guys posted.

 

pops - a 2.5A draw is a HUGE parasitic draw! That will kill your battery in one day if you don't drive to recharge. I suspect he measured the draw right after you opened or closed one of the truck doors, perhaps to disengage the hood lock? A draw of that size is perfectly normal for a few minutes after closing a door. The draw has to be measured in the "resting state", maybe about 30 minutes after opening any door, or activating any accessory. A draw of about 0.05A is what you normally see in the resting state.

- Jack