Just checked it again, pulling 120ma still, after the initial in-rush. According to what I've found, most car batteries have ~45 amp-hours capacity before they drop below like 7 volts. So if I'm draining at 120ma, then the battery is down to 7 volts after about 15 days. I don't know if that accounts for the chemical reaction inside the battery recharging it - I assume not. So maybe three weeks - just a guess.

So 120ma is at least twice, maybe more like four times, what I would expect. I haven't had time to start pulling fuses; that's next.

 

This morning I replaced the cooling fans - AHHHHHhhhhh. Nice cold AC at idle! Love it.

But while the fans were disconnected/out of the car, I checked the current draw - still 120ma. Bummer...........

I'm going to leave it hooked up for a while and just see how it does.

 

Your best bet to find the culprit is to start pulling fuses 1 at a time at the kick panel on the drivers side. There is something that is drawing an excess 50-75ma that is not functioning correctly. Once you find the circuit, you can track down the component.

 

Seems to be holding its own now for several days. The 120ma draw may be only for some limited time - I need to measure it after the car sits for a day or two. The trick will be to disconnect the battery while inserting the meter without breaking the circuit.

 

I am sure that initial draw is highest, then it may be around 120ma for several minutes...but eventually, mayeb after 30 mins, the draw shoudl go down, when computers that are no longer needed are going to sleep. At that point, your draw should be 20-50mA Max. If you have a good meter, like a Fluke you can force it to stay on, so the connection to your battery is not severed when it turns off... the Harbor Freight red one doesn't have that feature.

 

The old-school meter I've been using stays on. It isn't a Fluke, but it isn't the red HF either; it's a decent meter. I had it hooked up for like an hour, still seeing 120ma. But I'm wondering if full battery power (i.e., not whatever trickles thru the meter) is req'd for stuff to "go to sleep"; or maybe it takes longer.

If I have enough hands, I plan to clip the meter leads to the battery cable and to the post, and then disconnect the battery cable from the battery. Assuming everything is still asleep, the trickle thru the meter should be representative of the long-term current draw since I haven't broken the circuit.

 

If the meter stays on, put a fresh battery in it and let it stay connected in series on the battery lead for 24+ hrs... if its not less than 120ma after a day (I would really expect an hour or less), then something is still leaking. It seems that you don't want to pull fuses to track down any culprits, so there is not much more anyone can help you with on this front, if you don't want to do that.

 

I'm in no hurry - this is not my daily driver, and I barely have any time to drive it, let alone work on it. So spending several hours pulling fuses is last on the list; but it only takes 5 minutes to throw the meter on it and disconnect the battery terminal. If the drain current is still 120ma then I'll have to take the time to pull the fuses and fix the current-sucking device. Which would likely end up taking all day...............

 

It really should take no more than 30-45 minutes to pull each individual fuse, to locate the culprit circuit. Now finding the actual leaking computer or excessive current draw device on that circuit, may be more of a time spending witch hunt. Good luck.