Hey fellas

 

Started diag on a battery drain today.

Seems when I disconnect the alternator the drain goes from 480mA to under 50mA ........ how do I determine if I have a bad ground on alternator an open circuit ..... or just a bad alternator.

 

And, you've been sitting on this problem for how long? Ha  ha.... oh...

 

Ed

OOOOOOOOOooooooooo...... That was bad.... Funny, but bad.....

Check for draw. Since you passing power into the seat motors some how draining on the batteries then the switch must be making a weak connection.

You could unhook each seat motor one at a time to see which switch could be causing it. When you find the motor that is bleeding the current then when it unhooked the draw will vanish.

Moparman I bet it's the seatbelt retractor circut that's causing the problem. Didn't that year have that type on them. Most all current draws I have found on these trucks are either that or the glove box light/switch brakes off and hangs in the glove box and drains the batteries.

But it should be on a different circuit though. Electric seats are on a circuit breaker and the seat belt module should be on a normal fuse.

But it should be on a different circuit though. Electric seats are on a circuit breaker and the seat belt module should be on a normal fuse.

I worked on one not long ago and the only fuse that killed the seat belt module was the IOD fuse. Just like the glove box light that drained my battery that was the only fuse that killed it also. The seat belt retractor unlocks when you get out of the truck and have the key off and then in five or so minutes it locks because it goes into a sleep mode or something as such. It may be the other way around too like lock then in five minutes unlocks in sleep mode. I check by hooking up the vom and seeing the readings and waiting for fifteen minutes if no change reach under there and unplug the seat belt module and then see the readings if it drops below 50 ma I know it's the problem. The op may also be unplugging it think it's just part of the electric seats.

Edited December 11, 201410 yr by redwagon02

Moparman maybe you could look at some prints of the seatbelt module circuit and see just how it works. I don't know really know how it does and would be interested in seeing it myself. You probably have the prints at the ready. My boy has a 98 with that setup on it I think but the 02 I have doesn't.

Edited December 11, 201410 yr by redwagon02

I would say go down to a wrecking yard and find a different front seats. There is only like a few years that didn't have the module which is like my year no seat belt module no wiring not BS.

I'll have to check mine, as they have seat belts built onto the seats & factory ones bolted to the cab (Someone swapped the seats).Looks to be 3 wires feeding them & I have the built in switches. Must be the Quadcab setup. Johnfak, if you need the seatbelt systems, I can pull mine for you.

 

 

Ed

Edited December 11, 201410 yr by Yankneck696

Below is a link to troubleshoot seatbelt retractor timer module. Has a drawing and a wiring digram of the module. Might help to understand and future reference.

http://www.justanswer.com/dodge/14zi0-1999-dodge-ram-2500series-truck-ext-cab-5-9-eng.html

Thx guys

Haven't had time to look any further to the the seat itself ..... been chasing down a lockup issue ..... tracked down to a faulty tps ..... but won't know 100% till mid week when new one arrives

Appreciate all the help and ideas

I hope you ordered a TIMBO APPS.

Nope .... a tps ppump conversion also switched to tps

Tranny shifts like a dream ...

Oh....... I didn't realize it was a P-pump conversion. That makes a bit of a difference!

Nope .... a tps ppump conversion also switched to tps

Tranny shifts like a dream ...

tps is for the trans.. I get that. What does the ecm 'think' about the sudden loss of it's partner? (vp44) LOL

tps is for the trans.. I get that. What does the ecm 'think' about the sudden loss of it's partner? (vp44) LOL

It's works well .... little smoky at idle but it's s powerful setup

I had a similar problem...about 470 mAmp continuous drain - and I figured I would post my troubleshooting results here.

 

Per the Tech Manual - the Ignition Off Device Fuse provides power to the very few items that need to stay powered up with the key off...maybe 10 to 20 mAmps.  I was way past that, and the truck batteries (both fairly new) would drain down over 3 or 4 days.

 

I hooked up a milliamp meter between the negative terminal of the passenger side battery and then disconnected the driver side battery negative terminal.  (This keeps any surging on power on/power off from occurring.)  With the meter in place - I saw about 470 mAmps.  I proceeded to disconnect 1 fuse at a time, check current reading - then re-insert.  I did this for every fuse in the dash fuse block and in the Power Distribution panel under the hood.  NO CHANGE.  Very frustrating.  So - I disconnected all fuses and left them out.  Still the same reading.  (Actually -when pulling the IOD fuse, the current drain decreased by about 15 mAmps.)

 

I then even disconnected the red lead to the power distribution block AND the black lead from the alternator.  Still saw 470 mAmps.  Okay - at this point - the only 'un-lifted positive lead went to the engine starter.  So - I went under the truck to see if there were any power wires going from the starter main power lead to some other location.  NONE.  

HOWEVER  - it was a bit dirty and greasy on/around the starter terminal - so I wiped everything down and cleaned up around the main power lead and the starter terminal.  Checked the ammeter - and the current drain was gone.  

 

I was more than a bit surprised - oil and grease are not conductive....but with enough moisture and enough dirt, apparently there was a low resistance path (maybe about 25 ohms) for current to flow.  After cleaning...the battery drain is a normal 10 to 15 mAmps - as expected, and my battery is not being discharged over a few days.

 

Moral of the story - cleanliness might not be next to Godliness - but it sure can eliminate some bad battery draining resistance!

One of the few reason I wash the engine off every time I was the truck. I might not have oil leaks per say but if you have enough mud in the wrong place it can do the same thing to.