diagnosing a mystery current drain

[davidpertuz at mindspring.com]

Well, I'm glad my first thought for an approach seems to have been a good one. good enough to be seconded, anyway, and seems good in principle. I've got full FSMs for the car (the cute mini versions for the trunk) so I've got all the info I need if it comes to it. Wiring diagrams were helpful to me in diagnosing my charging system issue.

David

>On Nov 18, 2008, at 10:27 AM, davidpertuz at mindspring.com wrote:
>
>> Can some of you who are more electrical people than I am (I'm an  
>> engineer, but while I am a lot better at electrical diagnosis than I  
>> used to be, I'm much more of a mechanically-minded person) lay out  
>> for me the most time-effective method for finding what'd draining my  
>> battery?
>
>Here's what I would do.  First, you'll need a meter with an ammeter.   
>Open the fuse box, and with the keys out and the car off, pull each  
>fuse, insert the meter probes, and see if there is a current.   
>Continue through each fuse until you find something interesting.  A  
>small draw will be normal for some things (keeping dash/radio clocks  
>set, dome light, etc), but I'm guessing that the culprit will be  
>obvious when you find it.
>
>Having a wiring diagram for your vehicle will be very important in  
>tracking things down further. 
>