Kaleb Bishop

Hey guys! I currently have a parasitic draw on my 2006 Acura TL (no nav.). I have had my battery and alternator tested extensively, and cannot find the reason for this draw.

My mechanic came over and hooked up his multimeter, and we ran through some diagnostics. We disconnected the HFL, and ALL of the fuses but the draw remains (about 11v [amps?]) Almost as much as the battery is able to put out. The car has always been stock radio/lights, no sub or anything like that.

I'm curious what the issue could be. The only things that come to mind are:

1) My headlights turn off entirely when the hi-beams are on.
2) often, if I hit the brakes and horn at the same time, that fuse is almost guaranteed to blow.

Both of these issues have been present since I got the car about a year ago, so I'd be surprised if that was the issue. Other than that, everything is functioning properly.
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Please advise? How would I find this draw? It seems to be a lot of power.

Thanks for your time.

peter6

1. How did you measure the draw and what value did you obtained? "11v [amps?]" doesn't really means anything. It's like if you wrote "11 mph [kilometers?]".
"Almost as much as the battery is able to put out" - you mean the draw peaks at 600 Amps?
Maybe you measure the voltage instead.

Best is either connect the multimeter in series with the battery, but you need to be careful not to blow the fuse in the multimeter (as most of them are rated for 10 amps), or use an amp clamp.
We can't go any further if you can't measure the current (not the voltage) reliably.
For all tests battery should be charged.

2. You wrote "ALL of the fuses." Was 120A fuse removed too?

Kaleb Bishop

My apologies, I'm unfamiliar with terminology and am doing my best to communicate with what I know. So please bear with me.

My mechanic said my battery should be putting out around 12 or 14 volts (I can't remember exactly). I believe he tested the grounding wire, which read around -11.5. I'm guessing this is volts, because he said this wasn't a small power draw, but almost the full amount of power the battery can put out. I don't believe he tested the amperage.

When I say all fuses, I mean all under dash + under hood fuses, minus the really long black one (which I'm guessing is the 120a fuse).

I don't own a multimeter. I'm mainly just trying to guage whether this is a potentially common issue or if I need to take it to an electrical specialist and drop a stupid amount of money to diagnose and or fix the problem.

peter6

1. Basic terms are must-have if we want to communicate clearly. If you want to know more, google what voltage and current are, but in simplification:
- Voltage [V] - measured in volts, or V, it's a potential difference, for example lead acid battery when fully charged should have around 12.6V between terminals
- Current [I] - measured in amps, or A, it's current, or how much electricity is flowing, for example car batteries are rated for 600A, meaning they can peak (supply for short amount of time) output of 600A (guys who know more, please don't yell at me, don't want to introduce other terms)

Normal lead acid battery should have around 12V. But without measuring anything else there is no way to check how healthy, or how charged the battery is. For example discharged/worn out battery without any load can still have 12V, but as soon as you connect some load it will drop to 8V.

To track any draw you need to measure current, or how much electricity is actually flowing. Measuring voltage gives little no nothing, especially if load is small.

2. No offense but either you don't remember what that mechanic really said, he has no idea what he is talking about, he don't want to confuse you so he didn't give you all the info, or he just doesn't want to help.

3. Solution
- If you feel like handling the issue yourself, I can lightly guide you through, but it will require obtaining tools and learning. No promises but you might get lucky and solve it cheap.
- Otherwise, you will need to visit some shop that can track the issue for you, as there is no way of solving it without getting your hands dirty and buying/borrowing couple tools. Without multimeter there is even no way of knowing if you solved the issue.

First tool to start, or even to go over what mechanic did would be https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O1Q2HOQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zzoYBb6K0FZFE

You can pick cheaper/different one. I just really like this one.