*UPDATE:* Customer decided he did not want to go any further with the repair or diagnosing because it is just his winter beater. He told me if he wants his radio to work he'll just reinstall the fuse 🤷🏼‍♂. Any how, we did what we were hired to do and it's off to the next one. Thanks for watching! -Eric O.

@arjanvanraaij8440

11 ай бұрын

Strange, I would unhook the battery or hook up a trickelcharger if this thing goes in storage.

@Troy_Built

11 ай бұрын

I have a problem with the radio in one of my cars. Just switching it to key on power only fixed it for me. Having to lose a radio preset every time is a little annoying but it isn't driven often.

@munthirkhan1217

11 ай бұрын

wise customer

@Guysm1l3y

11 ай бұрын

And people wonder why garages charge a min hours diag fee. Your time is valuable!

@betomendez4304

11 ай бұрын

Same thing with my Ford truck pull the fuse for radio last few days without killing battery better then one day but didn't fix it all the way Soo now I just disconnecte battery. Only drive it twice a month

Always like these battery draw videos. It amazes me what part of the car can cause these draws.

I have worked on electronics for 40 years and it never occurred to me to check the voltage drop over a fuse for current draw thru the circuit. I have used that method to check for blown fuses , but that is an amazing new insight. Thank you

@sharedknowledge6640

11 ай бұрын

It’s worth noting you need a halfway decent meter for this. The Amazon and Harbor Freight Chinese specials won’t reliably read voltages this low. You ideally want a name brand 4.5 digit meter with a 200mV range.

@throttlebottle5906

11 ай бұрын

@@sharedknowledge6640 or break out an old dinosaur VTVOM and warm the tubes up. lol, they'll measure a fart wafting through the air. 🤣

@steadyeddie7453

10 ай бұрын

@@sharedknowledge6640 A quality meter is a must, for sure. I also try to never use the auto-ranging function. First, it's takes extra time for the display to settle every time you probe a circuit. And second, if you not paying attention in the auto-ranging mode you could think you're reading volts when you're actually reading millivolts, for example.

Eric O is as real as they come, not only in automotive repair but in other aspects about life. He does throw out some great and honest zingers that are on point.

@jimm1819

11 ай бұрын

One of the many Roy Rogers one liners - "If you take the boy out of the man, you ain't got much left"

Mr Subaru had a video on his channel of a similar issue. Turned out to be the factory cd changer. When that was unplugged from the harness to the radio the draw went away.

Dark current is a hypothetical form of current thought to account for approximately 85% of the current in the universe.

@markh.6687

11 ай бұрын

Stop yer babblin', man! Ye canna change de laws of Physics, Eric! :)

The fact I am up this early on a Sunday is only bearable because you downloaded a video ! Thanks

@josephdavis4201

11 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing. 😂😂😂😂

My daughter went out to her truck one morning and it was dead! I found the battery flat. I jumper-ed the truck to get it started and saw that the alternator was fine, so I put the DMM across the battery and saw a huge amount of current draw. After pulling fuses, the current went down after the brake-light fuse was pulled. It turned out that the switch on the pedal was bad. Simple fix!

Hey if it sits for a period of time like that I myself would just put a battery maintainer on it.

@jhorton1600

11 ай бұрын

Or a battery cutoff switch.

@MicroSoftner

11 ай бұрын

​@@jhorton1600big trucks got em

@Boga217

11 ай бұрын

​@@jhorton1600maintainer is much easier

@kahrnivor

11 ай бұрын

Or unhook it.

@Boga217

11 ай бұрын

@@kahrnivor still easier to just clip 2 alligator clips and plug a cord in...a battery that just sits can still die too..much better on 1-2 amp maintainer.

I remember the " good old days " of pulling the fuses one at a time in the dark at see which one sparked .

Another good informative video, I know you have done draw videos before but there is always something different and I learn something every time. Don't hesitate to make a video even if you think you have covered something similar, it really does help folks!

Had a 2000 Toyota Sienna with a similar problem. If it sat for more than a few days, the battery was dead. Battery was fairly old at that time so even a small amount of parasitic draw would kill it after a few days. Did the draw test and found it was the radio doing the damage. Turned out the previous owner had an after-market radio installed. The draw was pretty close to that 150 number on Eric's meter. Got an original radio off eBay, installed it, and the draw went way down to around 15. Funny thing was that I went through the previous owners service records, which he kept meticulously, and found out that around 90 days after he had that after-market radio installed, he had a "hard starting" problem. He took it into a shop and they fired off the parts cannon, replacing the starter and the battery. Problem likely went away for a while because the newer battery would have been less likely to be affected by the 150 parasitic draw. That shop obviously was not of the caliber of SMA.

You are a good all round operator. Your missus said in a previous video that you have not been beaten (yet) on any problem that comes into your shop. I can see why. You tackle stuff that others can't/won't/have tried and failed. You also like a challenge. There are a lot of internet so called mechanics that show how easy it is to fix something. I have a neighbour who looks at many of those videos, but when we actually do the jobs together, I get him to look back and then compare what we did to what the video says to do. There are omissions or worse, just incorrect info, or assumptions that the viewer can use certain tools, like micrometers. The neighbour has never used a feeler gauge - how can he, or anyone else, be expected to get the "feel" of a micrometer by using looking at a video. Keep educating all of us. Even me as 72 yr old retired mechanic/machinist in Land Down Under is still learning from watching you in action. Well done to you and Mrs O. By the way, how old are you?

@neile9435

11 ай бұрын

She did not speak about the mini fog light being from a European country it was watching and shouting at the TV.😂

@Conqueef-tadoor

11 ай бұрын

Unless you want to count "being beaten" as the few vehicles he has given up on. I've seen a few with intermittent problems that Eric gave up on due to lack of time. After 20-30 mins he was getting nowhere because everything happened to be working at the time. It's difficult to chase ghosts, so I would have thrown in the towel as well. Just tell the customer to at least try to get a good video recording, preferably with good clear audio the next time the problem presents itself. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@markh.6687

11 ай бұрын

Or assuming the viewer even HAS those tools!

Good video on Parasitic draw testing don't normally see a 25 amp fuse for a stereo there normally always a 10 amp fuse great work Eric O @South Main Auto Repair LLC

My Subaru 2016 Outback has a power draw and this was incredibly helpful seeing your method of identifying the parasitic draw. I feel it’s important to have some information when you bring your car into a shop so you can help narrow down the issues. Even seeing where the fuse box next to the battery was is great. Thanks again for making this !!

You have been putting out so many videos lately and we are all here for it! Thanks for all you do Eric!

@crackermcwhitey1364

11 ай бұрын

Hunting season is approaching. Freezer filling season, less time for wrench turning.😬

A buzzer beater! Sharp meter leads are a great tip to connect through weathered fuse tops. Nice diag!

Subaru tech here. Watch out for the 17-19 outback/legacy for the current draw. I found that the DCM is causing the draw which is the 7.5a fuse under the hood. The fix is either leave the fuse out or have the dealer reset it back to “Factory Mode”. The dcm in those years are 3g and since they’re discontinued, they tend to look for that signal and stay awake.

@guess1866

11 ай бұрын

Does this affect the same years of forester?

@glennallen7129

11 ай бұрын

@@guess1866 I don’t think so. Forester do have a reprogram available for battery issues. If you think your car is affected, the dealer should change your battery and reprogram your ecm to rectify the issue. You may have to pay some. Subaru had a lawsuit with their battery from interstate.

@chrisforker7487

11 ай бұрын

What’s a DCM? My neighbor has one of these and the battery is dead every couple days. The dealership won’t fix it.

@glennallen7129

11 ай бұрын

@@chrisforker7487 data control module or telematics. If that car doesn’t have any aftermarket parts, chances are it’s that module that kills the battery.

@chrisforker7487

11 ай бұрын

@@glennallen7129 his is all stock, nothing added to it. It’s just unfortunate the the dealer won’t touch it.

Thank You Mr O for the experience of how to find issues of battery draw. You are a great teacher !!!!! I mean that

I've always gone with the old school method because that was all I was taught. Got so irritated with waking up modules. This method is HUGE. Thanks for sharing the knowledge

For this problem I use my Amp Hound. Learned it to know from a Video of Joe's Autoelectric 👍. KZread is so perfect for learning if you watch the right channels. Thanks to all youtubers for their great work 🎉.

Something as simple as a battery draw could turn into a rabbit trail if you don’t do your homework. Great video Eric keep them coming!!

My daughters Subaru does the same thing. I'll just give the ol South Main Auto check. Very nice.

this video and the dodge pick up are my favorites. you teach the basics. you have a big heart

All towns need to have a mechanical genius like that. I wish he was closer to my area. Honesty is his middle name. Has. Taught me a lot. I just can't remember it all. Great person.

Love your videos. The only thing with which I disagree is your refrain “if I can do it you can do it”. I don’t see me doing most of the things that you do in your video; however, they give a level of confidence when it comes to talking about issues with our dealership. Many thanks.

I like watching your electrical videos as that is not my strong area of maintenance. I will log this into my memory bank and save it for future battery issues.

Good job! Love the camera work. Your channel is really enjoyable to watch.

@t5ruxlee210

11 ай бұрын

The audio quality is also tops, especially for a "garage studio" workplace. I watch some news media shows from around the world that are, shall we say, major violators of all the basic rules for achieving minimally acceptable broadcasting sound quality.

OUTSTANDING troubleshooting skills ! Them pesky electrons !

I had forgotten how to test for parasitic draw now it seems so obvious after having seen you do it, adding this video to my favorites list.

Back when I worked at a Chrysler dealership we ran into a few vehicles with and ignition off draw draining the battery and there limit at that time was 75 ma.. One quick test that I found was is using a standard 1156 bulb inline on the negative battery cable. If it lights up it's too mush current draw.

Yep, the standard procedure to check for parasitic draw. A good refresher for me at least.

❤ again you Mr. O found the problem quickly. Now I know more than I did before. 😊😊😊😊

This one brought back memories. Years ago, my wife had a 2000 Plymouth Neon that kept eating batteries. I did a similar test on it, and it turned out the the drive motor in the CD Changer was constantly running. The fix was to remove the CD Changer.

I'll send this to my nephew. He doesn't have the problem, but he does have this year and model. Always good to have "USELESS" knowledge until it's not useless. Like a "It's only temporary unless it works".

Good job, Eric! I have an older Subby and always glad to learn something new about it.

This was interesting. Well, all your videos are interesting, but this one was a bit unique. You’re a really good teacher.

I would have disconnected the radio just to make sure it was the radio no matter what the customer heard or thought he heard . Love your channel!!

I still remember the one and only vehicle I couldn’t fix for a no start, 98 dodge avenger with the speed sensor wires switched around by a shady mechanic. That vehicle still haunts me to this day the endless hours it took to hunt down every wire and module. In the end a 40 year vet master tech found the issue.

Great information. One could (wrongly) easily ignore .2 millivolts as being insignificant or just meter error. The fact that you showed it definitely means current is flowing through the fuse is very important for diagnosis. Another good tip video!

Well my cup of coffee was not even cold yet and Eric O solves the problem. Then the owner does not care about the repair or prevention! SMA needs to relocate here to ChiRaq and show us how to fix rusty year round bombers! Thanks SMA! You made my Sunday morning!

You are correct the bcm is always looking for something open. Be safe

South Main Auto.. Nice process of elimination. Thanks for sharing it Eric.

Hi Eric, we don’t to the best of my knowledge, have “AUTO-START in the UK, and so I’m a little vague as to how they are wired. But, …talking about Parasitic Draw, as you were … as soon as you pointed out that this vehicle has aftermarket Auto-Start fitted, I thought right there and then ‘Where did they take the ‘live’ feed from; and mistakenly thought that you were about to check that out. Over here, the ‘Live Feed’ on the AUDIO seems to be a favourite target with novice fitters of ‘Aftermarket devices’, due to the easy access, and often causes Problems. I guess that’s why ‘You’re the Man’ … and I just sit and watch.😂🤣😂 Thank you for all of the Excellent Vlog’s. 👌👌 Best wishes to you and your family. 👍

Hi Eric. I had a parasitic draw on my old 94 F150. I knew the battery was good, but it would drain overnight. I charged the battery and reconnected it, then i waited a while and booted up my Infared Imager that I use for finding building envelope problems. The back of my alternator was hot in the imager. I tracked it to a bad diode there. I changed out the alternator as it had so many miles, hours on it. Problem solved.

Very easy to understand video on voltage drop. I know it can get complicated, but I need to start somewhere.

Always, always informative and valuable, thanks Eric for taking us along and (hopefully) teaching us something!

I think you did a fabulous job Eric. I didn't know until last year that cars go to sleep like all of us do. He should order a radio from Crutchfield rather than fool with that radio. He'll have a dead battery before the weeks out IMO. I keep the battery disconnected in my F250 since I stay in a dump truck all day now. It cranks every time I need it just have to slide the negative on right quick which is PITA but not as bad as dragging out the chord and my slow 6 amp max battery charger. Plus keeping a dead battery shortens the life of the battery.

So Eric it was one of your videos that helped me find and fix a current draw on my Holden VY Calais 2003 (GM product in Australia). I spoke with various mechanics and an auto sparkie about the issue in-depth and it was as if they didn't have a clue how to repair a battery draw. So not wanting to waste diag time with them I had a go myself and managed to find the problem which was the OE amplifier keeping the stereo alive but draining the battery. So thank you to yourself and others for showing the process without the BS to help me and others who enjoy auto repair.

Hey there ! ...a car guy from New Jersey. I see you are somtimes quite involved with tracing out electrical circuits to find broken wires, blown fuses, shorted components, battery drains, etc. I brought this tone line tracer from Harbor Freight thinking it was practically a kids toy but I found that it works great. I just located a blown fuse in one of three fuse boxes way up under the dash of a 2019 Ford full size transit van. The accessory socket (cigarette lighter socket) decided to stop working when a usb charger must not have been plugged in straight, causing a quick touch to metal on the side. Anyway, these vehicles are a real challenge just to find the fuse chart. I went online a found a general one for this vehicle but it did not show the proper fuse. I pulled out the tone tracer, plugged one end to the dead outlet, and within a minute picked up a clear tone at the exact fuse even with other fuses in close proximity. Just a thought for anyone interested. I have used this thing several times already and it works pretty darn good.

Excellent lesson ! Super helpful !! Learning lots here !!! Thanks !!!!

Great information, better than I could have learned from a book.

Great video! It sure is funny how the letters are getting smaller and the shop is getting dimmer as we age. I reach for my light and glasses more and more every day. Keep up the great work!

Darn, I was hoping we could plug something into the extension cord!

If the car sits for extended periods, my suggestion would be for a smart trickle charger. I have a 1993 C1500 pickup truck that only gets used for the occasional run to the hardware store or to pick up some large garage sale score. As such, connecting and disconnecting a trickle charger is not really a big deal. And, given that the vehicle is so old (lacking constant-draw security and computer modules) I also installed a knife switch at the battery. The knife switch is not really an option with today's examples. But, the trickle charger certainly is.

Had the same issue on my 2012 Hyundai Accent. Dealer said there was no issues found, but using a similar troubleshooting procedure as Eric did I found the radio/CD player drawing 250 milliamps after the BCM went to sleep. Bought a used radio for $25 -problem solved!

Cant fault the pulling the fuse idea to be completely honest. Would agree with the other comments that a battery maintainer probably better for longevity of the battery. But cool vid! Call me guilty on being the pull all the fuses guy😂😂 Learned something new as always Eric, thanks!

Thanks from Denmark for the entless hours of education you give away for free 👍💪

Excellent tip for checking voltage drops, here in Brazil we do the old-fashioned way by removing the fuses, great tip Eric.

Wow. I had that same issue , with a volvo 760 back in the day. The amp relay internal to the radio did not turn off, same issue, they didn't want a new radio so I just installed a relay for the radio power to ko only. Only issue is it took me a lot longer to dio.. love your channel I am a dedicated student. Keep up the good work.

Just use a battery maintainer. Mine puts out a nice quiet 5 amps if needed. That eliminates battery problems unless a larger current draw is found. Nice one Mr. O.

Yes! My 2012 Dodge Journey had a parasitic draw that was driving me nuts and left me stranded a few times with dead battery issues. New battery didnt resolve it. After some google searches and poking and prodding I found the culprit. The bluetooth never shut down and sucked the battery dry after a few days. Went into settings on the info center and stopped all bluetooth transmission. Walla, problem solved.

If my battery ever dies from whatever, I'll definitely ask the mechanic that tells me, you need a new whatever, did you check the fuses to see if there's a draw on them... You're the best!

Audi has fuse boxes under the hood and each side of the dashboard and inside rear luggage compartment so to check for draw doors and front hood and rear trunk have to be open and latched,it can take awhile as there are many fuses. VW has a great matrix chart for checking milli volts across each fuse.

You Are A Good Mechanic Eric Helping People Out

Subaru radios are the worst! My sister's 2015 Forester was replaced three times under warranty and still has issues. Thanks for taking the time to show how to diagnose parasitic draw. Super helpful

@glassvial

11 ай бұрын

You spelled Nissan wrong 🤣

Great video on a parasitic current draw. Thank you

Great tip to measure voltage drop across the fuse. That should be the only way to do it going forward considering how many modules newer vehicles have

Excellent! Precision and understanding exactly what you're looking for is the name of the game. Darned good info!

We have a 2019 Outback. We had a draw. It’s frustrating…… great job.

That is a great diagnositc about Battery going in to dark leakiage..

Easy peasy. Pull the negative ground. Put a red plastic cap on the negative post prevent accidental connections. You can use the red plastic caps that come on new batteries.

Very useful. I have a 2006 Subaru Legacy that stabilises at 0.4A

Great diag, Thanks for sharing! I'm going to start calling it Dark current😂

@SouthMainAuto

11 ай бұрын

Same lol 🤣

@BlueDinnie

11 ай бұрын

When he said it I heard the Darth Vader theme music play inside my head 😞

I did not know and now I do. Thank you Eric for the lesson of the day:)

I used to work for a telephone company out in Utah, to prevent wasted hours circling around the globe, we flew small airplanes to very Remote Mining operations.... We kept junker Ford Ranchero vehicles at each "airport".... to prevent the battery from being dead, or stolen, between rare visits, we just took them out of the truck, stored in a small lockable shed.... only took 3 minutes to get battery and hook up cables, and click, she is running.

Some of these videos may seem simple to most viewers but to some of us they are very informative.

This video came at exactly the right time as a refresher tutorial.

Always love your stuff. Being an electrical guy, I have one quibble, because that’s what we do :-) When you made the mistake about milliamps and inserted the icon of millivolts, the icon showed the AC symbol, not the DC symbol. :-) Another possible solution would have been to Simply run the radio off of a relay, which would disconnect it when the vehicle is not running. Simple, effective :-) once again, I love your demeanour and troubleshooting skills. Thanks.

Eric, I just had my eyes fixed for distance (cataract surgery) so while I can see close to 20/20 I need reading glasses for up close. So when I see you go for the reader glasses is does bring a smile to my face because in that regard we're both living in the same world. You're always teaching us and I for one appreciate every moment of it. Thanks for Sharing!

My pick up 2001 F250 7.3 has a draw that the old school method just couldn’t find. Now armed with this new knowledge I will tackle it again. Thanks for an approach I didn’t know about.

Use the force Eric . The Dark current is all around you Semper Vigians .

I had exactly the same issue with the radio draining the battery on my old pickup truck. If it was left for two weeks or so without use the battery was well down and didn't want to crank the engine over. I just fitted a seperate small isolating switch in the power feed to the radio.

very cool to know a DVM can measure voltage drop across a couple mm of conductor. actually i already knew this but don't get many parasitic draw jobs. i yanked fuses on the last one but will def try this on the next.

Great video. I like a voltage drop across a fuse test because as you say it does not wake everything up again. as always great videos keep them coming

Eric, Nice catch! Your custmers are lucky to have you in their area! Wish I was there!

never seen the 'classic' extension cord before. Cute!

Hey! Thanx for the lesson! .002mV, it ain't much but it's something more than 0.000!

Very good advice and instruction. My education continues. Thanks again South Main Auto. Also for me, I keep a battery maintainer on my cars and mowers all year round. Batteries cost too much in today's world. My mower went 13 years before I had to replace the battery and without a maintainer on it, I could only get 4-5 years out of a battery.

The key to successfully tracing paracitic draw nowadays is doing what you did, and go to the manufacturers service information for critical diagnostic information. I would imagine w/o the info I would have been chasing an false evap problem on this car. Cheers.

Very helpful thank you. Some of us need some of these basic troubleshooting resources!

I’m curious as to why I’ve never seen you use the AMP HOUND for diagnosing parasitic draws. I’ve been using mine for years and it’s an awesome tool. You can test each fuse with it and it will give you an audible alarm if there is current flowing through that circuit and it will tell you the precise amount of amperage that is being drawn. It has definitely sped up my diagnostic time. By the way, I have admired your videos for years. Keep them coming. 😎🤙

Anyway, if it sits 6 months a year, it will need a new battery more frequently than if car is used normally. No question about that.

@dannyw7662

11 ай бұрын

unless it has a maintainer on it.

I have "exactly" the same problem. Glad to see confirmation of my diagnosis🤩

Customers, I always love the way they tell you the key piece of information after you’ve figured out what the problem is 😂😂

@scrappy7571

11 ай бұрын

Service writers are 10X worse, customer tell the writer, but never informs the tech until after he has wasted time.

@desotosky1372

11 ай бұрын

Perry Masons clients NEVER told him the truth or whole story. It's a constant theme but he always figures it out and saves them. (in less than an hour)

Eric, I been long time subscriber since u start ur channel found till this day ur videos are full of information and good humour never get board from listening to you thanks for all u do and u will be AWESOME in my book for years to come. cheeeeeers

Hello grease monkeys. I've recommended loaded calipers in the past and have received some push back. The reason I like them is all rubber components have been replaced. If pads are junk, they can be replaced with better and now it is a new / overhauled part. Saving a binding one sided brake failure. You can always buy the kit and replace all the rubbers yourself just remember to hone the barrels and scotch brite the pistons. Thanks

Thx for pointing out that the best way is to measure voltage between fuse instead of plucking them out. I used to pluck them.

Another dive into The World of Dark Current. Great job, great video.

Again and again, great videos. I modified a blown fuse, soldered wires on it with meter leads, so you just hold the modified fuse on the fuse under test terminals. Is easy GI.