2001 Impala with 1.4 Amp parasitic current draw?

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JimPghPA

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Our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine and somewhere around 79 K miles has a parasitic current draw of 1.4 amps. No lights are on inside or outside of the car.

And of course a constant 1.4 Amp draw is plenty enough to kill the battery.

Any suggestions as to what might be drawing the 1.4 Amps?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,



JimPghPa
 
I don't know much about an Impala, others can help you with that, but I know how I'd go about trouble shooting.

Start with the fuses, and go one by one (preferably reinserting after each pull) until you see the draw change.
 
That's a pretty hefty current draw -- about as much as a brake light. You might be able to feel warmth around the part, or see a difference in where frost forms.
 
Kind of sounds like a motor of some sort, like a wiper motor. Or maybe a defrost grid? Listen for something humming or running once the vehicle is off. Like someone else mentioned, you should definitely be able to feel 1.5 amps in reference to temperature.
 
knowing the my problems from my 01 impala start pulling fuses. I bet its the BCM. Pull the fuse for the BCM and see if it goes away. If it does than is time for a bcm.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
I had the same on a Cavalier. it was the radio/dome light circuit. As mentioned pull fuses until it goes away


Now that you mention the radio/dome circuit, both the radio and the dome light have been intermittent, sometimes the radio will work, and sometimes it will not work. And a few times the dome light has not come on when it should.

I think the radio/dome circuit is a very likely suspect.

I wonder what will have to be replaced to get it back to working properly? Any information regarding this?

Thanks again.


Sincerely,




JimPghPa
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
I had the same on a Cavalier. it was the radio/dome light circuit. As mentioned pull fuses until it goes away


Now that you mention the radio/dome circuit, both the radio and the dome light have been intermittent, sometimes the radio will work, and sometimes it will not work. And a few times the dome light has not come on when it should.

I think the radio/dome circuit is a very likely suspect.

I wonder what will have to be replaced to get it back to working properly? Any information regarding this?

Thanks again.


Sincerely,




JimPghPa

The light and radio (locks and security system) in the impala is controlled via the BCM which is a known and pricey failure. Try pulling out the bcm fuse and see if the draw gets away to normal range. I am almost 100% sure its bcm related. If it is we are talking a couple of hundred dollars.
By any chance did you recently have a security light appear?
 
1. Disconnect the positive battery cable. Don't let it touch anything metal.

2. Take the black lead of your ammeter and clamp it to the positive battery cable.

3. Take the red lead of your ammeter and clamp it to the positive battery post.

4. Set your ammeter to 10 amps DC.

5. Start pulling fuses until the reading on your ammeter drops below .035 amps.

6. When you pull a fuse and the parasitic draw stops, you now know which circuit the draw is on.
 
Here's a wild card that has thrown me off with testing for parasitic loss on newer cars--- if you are getting weird findings consider this--- the ECUs stay awake for some period of time and do internal diags and tests. If the car has been running, I've read up to 20 minutes of semi-active processing.

You almost have to set the ammeter in place and then walk away for half an hour to get something. Or, what I've done, use a jumper cable to join batt (-) to ground, run the car, turn it off. Walk away. come back and then put the ammeter in place, remove the jumper cable (you are inserting the ammeter without ever breaking the circuit). that will give you a better baseline.

Of course, the moment you re-insert a fuse that drives a computer, it may re-start its cycle. hard to know without documentation...
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
http://www.harborfreight.com/20-amp-automotive-fuse-circuit-tester-67725.html

Less "fumbly" than an ammeter.

When powering up a circuit, give it a little time to "boot up" and stabilize.
I wonder what would happen if you use this tool on a faulty 5A circuit! It would be like putting a solid wire instead of the fuse. If you are not smart in using this tool, you will cause fire.

I still don't understand how this tools saves you any time vs just using the 10A multimeter.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine and somewhere around 79 K miles has a parasitic current draw of 1.4 amps. No lights are on inside or outside of the car.

And of course a constant 1.4 Amp draw is plenty enough to kill the battery.

Any suggestions as to what might be drawing the 1.4 Amps?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,



JimPghPa


JimPghPa,

Funny you say that cuz since bought new my 08'/09' Impala SS has had it's battery replaced twice due to dead battery issues.
The last time it was worked on then did an electrical test on my car and found nothing but this time instead of replacing the battery again they gave it a full recharge and so far no issues have come up again. It's been a couple years now and no problem yet. I should know as the battery for my SS is unusually small for a V-8 engine!!!

My advis is to have you battery fully recharged and you might get the same results. With all the electronic stuff in your Impala I'm not too surprised at your issue.

Good luck,

Durango
 
Originally Posted By: Durango
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine and somewhere around 79 K miles has a parasitic current draw of 1.4 amps. No lights are on inside or outside of the car.

And of course a constant 1.4 Amp draw is plenty enough to kill the battery.

Any suggestions as to what might be drawing the 1.4 Amps?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,



JimPghPa


JimPghPa,

Funny you say that cuz since bought new my 08'/09' Impala SS has had it's battery replaced twice due to dead battery issues.
The last time it was worked on then did an electrical test on my car and found nothing but this time instead of replacing the battery again they gave it a full recharge and so far no issues have come up again. It's been a couple years now and no problem yet. I should know as the battery for my SS is unusually small for a V-8 engine!!!

My advis is to have you battery fully recharged and you might get the same results. With all the electronic stuff in your Impala I'm not too surprised at your issue.

Good luck,

Durango


Bingo!!! Worth a try...

A friend fought a Dodge Dakota with similar issues all because the battery was tired... Because voltage was a little low, for what ever reason the BCM never went fully to sleep... That's just the opposite logic I would have thought, seems it would shutdown to save battery but apparently when it started with a low voltage it never did... Took a buddy of his that works at dealerships to say yeah it happens on those to convince us...
 
I took our 2001 Impala to Edds Generator last night, and used the key drop. I called them this morning and told them that it probably was the fuse that is for both the Radio and Dome Light. The battery was an Interstate that is less than a year old. This problem has drained that battery twice recently, and combined with the cold weather that battery was bad. I purchased that Interstate battery at Edds Generator less than a year ago and the new interstate battery cost us nothing. Edds charged us $35 + tax for finding the problems and removing the fuse. They do not replace that kind of electronic items in vehicles, and recommended a local shop that installs radios.

It will be interesting to see how much this ends up costing us.

I just got out of the hospital so I am not up to doing the work myself, so it will probably have to get done at the radio installation shop, or a stealership.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Durango
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine and somewhere around 79 K miles has a parasitic current draw of 1.4 amps. No lights are on inside or outside of the car.

And of course a constant 1.4 Amp draw is plenty enough to kill the battery.

Any suggestions as to what might be drawing the 1.4 Amps?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,



JimPghPa


JimPghPa,

Funny you say that cuz since bought new my 08'/09' Impala SS has had it's battery replaced twice due to dead battery issues.
The last time it was worked on then did an electrical test on my car and found nothing but this time instead of replacing the battery again they gave it a full recharge and so far no issues have come up again. It's been a couple years now and no problem yet. I should know as the battery for my SS is unusually small for a V-8 engine!!!

My advis is to have you battery fully recharged and you might get the same results. With all the electronic stuff in your Impala I'm not too surprised at your issue.

Good luck,

Durango


We rented a 2012 Impala SS when our 2001 was in the shop getting a sideswipe of the entire length repaired. The extra HP was nice, but not worth the stiff suspension that comes along with it to handle that extra power. In general I hated that car. The all black plastic interior is a real dud, and the ride on bumpy roads is not anything that a person with a bad back should have to put up with. I was glad to get our 2001 back with its softer suspension, even if it has 100 or so less HP.
 
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