Thanks for the help!!!
Seraching online I found a Vector Portable 12-Volt LCD Voltage Meter.
This Portable Voltage Meter plugs into your vehicle's cigarette lighter and
measures the voltage output of your car. Could I use this type of device to
measure the current flow as you suggested?

Ad is on this site
http://www.cssauction.com/main.php?a... nq=13616#prt



bungalow_steve (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/toyota/200510/1

"BlueWagon via CarKB.com" <u14833@uwe> wrote:

No it isn't...

Easy...when you get home and take a battery lead off (negative
lead I'd suggest) put a DC ammeter set to a fairly low scale,
maybe 0 to 300 mA, between that lead and the post that you took
it off of.

Note when you connect the lead which way the meter moves, if it
moves 'downscale' then swap the leads...let us know what kind of
a reading you get...make sure that all the lights are out and the
key is turned off...make sure that there isn't an 'underhood'
light on...


--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)

bungalow_steve (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:

Yes, this can certainly happen...all cars now-a-days will have a
little draw for things like the computers, clock, and radio
backup etc...and some batteries are so poor that they can't
handle even this small draw, so you could have one of those...but
the amount of draw will tell us, so let us know...
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)

"BlueWagon via CarKB.com" <u14833@uwe> wrote:

measuring capability', plus it's 32 bucks...plus you CANNOT do
this check at the cigarette lighter socket...hell, ask your
mechanic if you can't borrow his VOM (or let him measure the
current for you)...

Make damned sure that you don't put someone's meter set to
'current' ACROSS your battery...you'll likely blow up his
meter!...
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)

On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 19:56:39 GMT, "BlueWagon via CarKB.com"
<u14833@uwe> wrote:

Stupid question: Is your normal driveway parking place level?

If you are parking on a severe incline, you can be activating a
trunk or hood light with a tilt switch and not know it. That will run
a weak battery down overnight (and a good battery in a few days) and
you'll NEVER find it...

Other than that, you (or your mechanic) will have to get a digital
voltmeter with a DC milliamps current function and see if you have a
parasitic draw somewhere, either a short circuit, or bad diodes in an
alternator, or an accessory that isn't turning off as it should.

Realize it's normal to see 5 to 10 milliamps of draw (.0005 to .001
amp - I think I have the decimal point in the right place, point being
it's tiny) for the computer memory circuits and the clock, and toward
the high end if you have an anti-theft system or remote unlocking
receiver. A good battery can supply that much current for a few weeks
easily, but more than that is trouble.

You won't even see the needle move on a small draw like that with an
analog gauge you can afford - and a good analog gauge that will
indicate into the milliamps range is really easy to blow up by running
an overload through it. Just open the door. You either need a good
digital voltmeter to check this, or a fused analog meter, or a series
resistance to protect the meter, that's the time to let a mechanic
that knows these tricks mess with it.

--<< Bruce >>--

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

No but this $7 DVM will work, use the DC Current reading, you need to
remove one cable from the battery and then connect one lead of the DVM
to the cable you removed, then connect the other lead of the DVM to the
disconnected battery termimal (the terminal you just removed the cable
from). The meter will then be reading the amount of current flowing
out of the battery. Then you can start removing fuses while watching
the meter.

http://elexp.com/tst_820b.htm

oh, use the 10 Amp current setting

bungalow_steve (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:

Nah..that's way too high a setting Steve...you're expecting to
see a MUCH lower figure, ALTHOUGH he could set it to 10 Amps
initially, then if he sees no reading he should select
progressively lower settings till he gets a reading near half
scale...You should (normally) see something like...oh, I forget
now but like maybe 10 to 15 mA?...lessee now ...100 mA is 1/10 of
an Amp, so 10 mA is 10% of that or 1/100 of an Amp...that sounds
reasonable to me...isn't it?...
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)

10 Amp setting only means that's the maximum reading the DVM can
handle, not the minimum, its a four digit display so with that setting
it can still read into the 10's of millamps (with poor accuracy, but we
don't care for this problem). If the display only shows 3 digits we can
still read in the 100's of millamps.

In any case a typical car battery is rated at about 50 amp hours,
meaning if the car battery is dieing overnight the short has got to be
pulling some serious current, 10's of milllamps isn't going to kill it.
Even 100mA at 24 hours is only going to suck 2.4 amp hours out of the
battery, still not enough to kill it. So the short is probably in the
amps area, or at least several hundred mA. I would think if the battery
has 30% of its life in it it will still start the car (wild guess).

Car headlights draw about 10 amps a pair, for instance, on low beam.
The best sears diehards are rated well over 100 amp hours and will
still start your car if you leave your lights on overnight in the
winter (remember those old sears commercials with a car frozen in a
block of ice with the lights on). Anyway, an exposed wire shorting to
the chassis pulling a few amps could be the cause, or maybe a shorted
power window motor, or shorted door lock solenoid, if its a relay
embedded deep inside your dash, you done for! (unless you go to the
disconnect your battery every night routine).

bungalow_steve (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:

While I can agree with most of what you say there's a few zingers
in there...like leaving the headlights on overnight...I realize
that the figures stack up that way but just try it yourself (make
sure that you have a friend primed to come over to boost you
first though)

What I was referring to was a bad battery which can't handle even
the slight current that modern cars draw when shut down. And I've
had new batteries like this...

Also what you say about digital VOM's could well be true, not so
with analogue units though...I hate digital VOMS, never use
them...
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)