Current draw on Fuse 1 (Parking Lamps, Trip Computer, Pwr Antenna)

[Greg SV6]

Troubleshooting an issue with the V6 VS Statesman, the battery has started going flat every 2-3 days in the last couple of weeks.

I've replaced the battery but the problem persists.
Alternator is only a couple of years old and is providing a charge.
I removed the battery earth/negative, and with a multimeter observed current draw of 0.9A.
With the multimeter still connected I removed each fuse one by one, and found that removing Fuse 1 reduced the current draw from 0.9A to 0.06A, a difference of 840mA.

The label on this fuse is 'Parking Lamps, Trip Computer, Pwr Antenna', it also seems to be linked to the AC because when the fuse is out and the car on, the AC display doesn't turn on and fans are all blasting.

For now we're removing Fuse 1 when we're not driving the car, too early in at this to confirm results but I think it will work for now.

Does this confirm something on that Fuse 1 circuit is drawing much more than it should (I'm assuming so)?
How can I further isolate what it might be?
Are there any known failure types which cause an excessive draw in the range of 840mA?
Any other advice for troubleshooting?

 

[Jeda]

Yes, it does confirm there's a current draw on that fused circuit if pulling the fuse drops the drawn current. I'd check everything that's on that fuse one by one and isolate them to see which one is the cause of the power draw.

Are all of the items on that fuse working? Aerial, parkers etc?
If one of the items isn't working, I'd start there.

 

[lout]

i would start by disconnecting the aerial wiring

 

[Greg SV6]

Thanks very much for the tips guys.

Everything that's supposed to be on that circuit works fine - parkers, trip computer, antenna.

I've tested the antenna cable (inside the LHS quarter panel behind the wheel) with a Clamp Meter - no current there (confirmed the Meter was detecting ~800mA current at the battery), so it doesn't appear to be the antenna.

Any other ideas for what I should check next?

 

[lout]

Thanks very much for the tips guys.

Everything that's supposed to be on that circuit works fine - parkers, trip computer, antenna.

I've tested the antenna cable (inside the LHS quarter panel behind the wheel) with a Clamp Meter - no current there (confirmed the Meter was detecting ~800mA current at the battery), so it doesn't appear to be the antenna.

Any other ideas for what I should check next?

you need to test only the positive wire
if you measure the whole harness
800ma plus neg 800ma will show as zero

 

[chrisp]

Any other ideas for what I should check next?

Is your car equipped with one of those early OnStar (or whatever they were called) devices?

 

[Greg SV6]

you need to test only the positive wire
if you measure the whole harness
800ma plus neg 800ma will show as zero

yeah I tested both neg and pos wires separately.

 

[Greg SV6]

Is your car equipped with one of those early OnStar (or whatever they were called) devices?

hmm there's a plug for a car phone under the glove box, but nothing connected to it.

 

[Fu Manchu]

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/alternative-current-measuring-technique-good-for-finding-parasitic-loads.303983/

 

[Greg SV6]

http://[URL]https://forums.justcomm...ique-good-for-finding-parasitic-loads.303983/

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This will identify the fuse on the faulting circuit, right? I've already done that.