Tracing Electrical Problem....

[Ripley Bryant]

Ok.. I'm getting frustrated here...

I have a short or drain somewhere that will drain my battery if it sits for 3 or more days.

I have been trying all day to figure out where it is with no luck.

Here's my attack so far... I have my multitester connected between my battery and the positive battery cable.

Registers 12v...

I have removed all fuses from the fuse panel and unplugged the wiring from the radio that the PO installed.

No Change, Registers 12v drain...

I have one by one unplugged and reconnected every plug in the engine bay... No change.

I have unplugged the dome/cargo light wiring... No change

I have removed a bunch of extraneous wiring the PO had to help clean things up a bit.

Under the dash, if it wasn't connected, I removed it..

Under the truck, I traced 3 wires, two for a plug the PO had for the canopy lights, removed those... No change.

Traced the wiring for a bed mounted gas tank/diverter valve, removed the wiring... no change.


At this point, I just need some guidance. Am I correct in thinking that with the ignition off, and the doors closed that my multimeter between the + side of the battery and the + battery cable should register 0v?

Any suggestions on how to proceed from here?

The only obvious thing I haven't checked is the wiring for the tow lights. There is an aftermarket (I think) bunch of wiring for this on the firewall, some of which I removed when removing disconnected wires and the 2 toggle switches the PO had under the dash. One was for the bed mounted gas tank, and the 2nd was connected to the trailer brake stuff...

Other than this drain/short, everything works fine.