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Hello forum members. As the subject implies, I have a parasitic drain occurring that is new. I’ve had the instrument cluster out to be serviced for several months and turned the vehicle on and took around private street for a few laps a few times to keep everything oiled and moving. Parked the vehicle and when I checked on it again, the battery was dead. I figured a number of issues could have occurred (it was in the shop for extensive repairs for a few months, I may have left a door ajar, or, I just drained it by taking it out for too short a drive) but the battery was less than six months old. No big deal, I went to dealership and got a new one, dropped it in and car started right up. I undid the negative terminal and waited for the repaired instrument cluster which I received last week. Hooked everything up and car performs exceptionally well. Went to start it again the next day and it barely cranked. Uh oh. Now I’m not the best with electronics (I studied engineering but it was chem-E and I barely passed circuits! - switched to medicine and I’m far better better suited to that profession) but I did take out the DMM and checked the amperage draw in series on negative cable after charging battery with a CTEK MXS 5.0. The draw is between 2.5 and 3.5 amps (closer to 2.5 amps after vehicle has been driven for several miles and warmed up). I tested all the fuses and could only find slight decrease in draw with passive belt 7.5 amp fuse removed (draw dropped about 0.25 amp). With engine running and measuring AC voltage across battery posts, meter displayed 0.5mV. From what little I know about the charging system, would this suggest a bad alternator/diode since the draw is so great when the vehicle is “asleep” with all doors and theft switches closed?
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