Hi gang. I know this is gonna be pretty vague and it could be a number of things here but I'm just not sure where to start. Myt 98 XJ has a fast parasitic drain on the battery somewhere. The battery is fairly new. Its an auto zone optima type gel battery. It dies a day after being fully charged. I recently had a tech from a Toyota dealership who's a big jeep guy himself, work on it including wiring up my blower motor to the ignition switch because it wasn't working. He told me He ran it that way so the blower would only kick on once the ignition had power to it. I believe He also wired in a relay as well as a fuse. I thought that was the culprit but He assured me it died on Him while before He even messed with the blower and I know it sounds naive but I believe Him to be an honest guy and I think He's telling the truth. He didn't even charge me for the blower work and was real cheap doing the other work.

Anyways I'm still left here with a dead truck. Where should I start? Do I need to go over all His work anyways? I'm currently disabled with an amputated leg and no prosthetic yet so maneuvering around a truck can be a real pain. I'm trying to make every move with the troubleshooting count because of that. So where should I start? Could it be the alternator? What are some other things that could cause such a powerful drain? I also have the electric fan and helps 500 driving lights wired to seperate switches but they be never once given me problems before. The only other thing is at one point a long while back my interior lights stayed on constantly. It ended up being the switch for tjhew back driver door so I cut it out but the wires fell in the door panel and I couldn't fish them back out. There wasn't any exposed wire though. And I highly doubt that would all of a sudden give me problems years later.

I'd really like to at least try a couple things myself before shelling out even more money for this thing. I do have a test light and digital mutimeter. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

A good place to start would be AutoZone and them check it out. We were having issues with the wife's work truck an F-350 Power Stroke with the same issue as you. I had her take it buy AutoZone and in fact it was a bad alternator that was drawing it down. I would do it in a day or 2 even whilr parked both batteries.

Nothing $190 didn't cure, everything for diesels are expensive.

 

Try pulling the Ignition Off Draw (IOD) 15 amp mini fuse in the PDC. Its location is marked on the inside of the PDC cover. This will isolate all the IOD circuits from the battery. If the battery still drains with the IOD fuse pulled there's another circuit that's causing the problem. If the draw stops, the IOD circuits must be isolated one at a time.

The process would be to pull any add-on circuit fuses (if any) to see if that/those circuits are causing the problem.

Next would be to pull (one at a time) the maxi fuses in the PDC, etc., etc., working your way to the mini fuses.

 

Test light draw .....http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you..._off?#slide=16

 

Thanks guys. Those are all excellent tips, especially the test light one. I would have never thought of doing that. Thank you guys so much. Problem with getting to Autozone is I actually got a DUI when I crashed my bike and lost my leg and still dont have a license or a good inspection on my Jeep. THATS the reason I was getting all this work done, so I could get it inspected. I guess I will try the test light thing first and have my Brother help me in the truck pulling the fuses. I will let everyone know how it goes, but it might be a few days. Thanks again.

 

Nevermind I found out. Power distribution center, got it thanks.

 

Power Distribution Center. Under hood, next to battery

 

Hello again, Im back. I was told I could check where my drains coming from by using a test light. I was told to disconnect the neg battery cable from the post and then bridge the cable and post with the test light and wire. THEN have someone pull fuses one by one and if the light stays on(I think) then the drain is coming from THAT circuit. Does that sound right to yall? I was also told I could do the same thing for the alternator but I cant remember what to unplug on the alternator.

The problem with taking the XJ to autozone or where ever is that the inspection and registration are both expired. Thats why I have it at home trying to get it running right. Thanks in advance.

 

When the light goes OUT, you've found the draw.

 

Here you go.

 

Sorry to hear about your health issues wish you the best of luck with your progress on that.

Hope you find the problem soon most times they boil down to a single simple issue that's the last thing we check.

Good Luck,

 

My bet is the issues is in the DOME light circut....... Lights staying on is the clue.. Mine was a cut wire at the rear hatch.. tiny cut, found it on accident. Pull the rear panel on the driver side. carefully inspect the wires where they intersect the body. Mine was in the wire that goes to the soundbar light.

 

i DID THAT WITH THE TEST LIGHT AND THE ONLY FUSE THAT TOOK THE TEST LIGHT OUT WAS THE IOD FUSE...nOW WHERE DO I GO. mINE DRAINS IN 2 DAYS..

 

Okay, there are only a few things that are hot with the ignition off. Headlights, brakelights, PCM memory, radio memory, interior lighting, keyless entry receiver, and the 12v power outlet. If your rear wheelwells are rusted, you might want to check the wiring behind the cargo area side panels. My trailer module shorted and the whole harness went up in flames! Just before that, my battery was dead in 3 days.